In the wake of their cynical presentation of the interim July 15 Iraq report mandated by Congress explaining the the effect of their escalation of their occupation, Bush and his White House cabal are trying to deflect public interest in this week's flurry of Iraq legislation in Congress by continuing to point to the prospect of some sort of September surprise from General "Surge" Petraeus.
The AP reported this week that, despite the full compliment of U.S. forces in place and in full battle against resistant Iraqis, in July, 'civilian deaths jumped backed up to levels of violence not seen since December, with an average of at least 75 Iraqis being killed each day.' The U.S. 'protectors' suffered their own heightened casualty rate over the same period, pushing the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq since the initial invasion to over 3600, with over a hundred U.S. deaths a month in repetition since Bush's decision to deploy more forces.
With the Iraqi parliament fully committed to their plan to advantage themselves of the sacrifices of our soldiers, Iraqi legislators are firmly resolved to take flight from the oppressive heat of the Iraqi summer and vacation out of country for the month of August; leaving 160,000 of our troops bogged down even deeper into the scorching sand in defense of their recalcitrant government. Yet, Petraeus still insists that "September is September" as he resisted congressional legislators' refusal to wait until Fall to declare the obvious inanity of the administration's deadly gamble.
In an interview this week, Petraeus said his September report to Bush that he and the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq will collaborate on, will provide a "forthright, comprehensive assessment of the situation at the time and provide discussion of the potential consequences of various courses of action that might be considered." Petraeus is clearly angling to keep our soldiers engaged in assaults against the resistance to the propped up Iraqi regime, even as he admits that their government's progress and effort that our soldiers are supposedly defending "has been less than what all of us -- the Iraqis as well as coalition leaders -- had hoped to see."
Weighing in from her uncharacteristically muted post at State, Secretary Rice took time today to personally hawk Petraeus' and the administration's September dodge, calling the floundering Maliki regime a "work in progress."
"Let's look at the whole picture," Rice said during one of her several morning show appearances Friday, ignoring the inanimate political spectacle of the reclining Iraqi legislature, "You're not going to be able to go by step by step, benchmark by benchmark . . . We'll have a much better view of that whole picture when Gen. Petraeus and (U.S. Ambassador) Ryan Crocker report in September . . . that's the wisest course" she said.
In their September alibi, Petraeus and Crocker are destined to provide more cover for the Iraqi regime's summer stall by referring Congress again to the Iraqis our combating forces succeed in cowing or killing while they're waiting for the parliament members to return from their privileged retreats. Petraeus reportedly brushed past the escalating deaths of the 600-plus U.S. troops who've lost their lives since the start of the administration's cynical 'surge' to highlight 600 servicemembers in Iraq who re-enlisted on the fourth of July. The General wants us to know that his self-perpetuating war business is booming.
Petraeus enjoys the personal 'trust' of Bush. "He's an honest man . . . he's a straight shooter," Bush told reporters Thursday as he declared himself in an imperious partnership with his general in controlling every aspect of the use and direction of our nation's defenses in Iraq; except for the money he expects Congress to oblige him with to further wage his escalated assaults against Iraqis.
Unembarrassed by his aversion to truth and reality, Bush had, anyway, pronounced himself 'satisfied' Thursday, as he trumpeted the 'progress' his public relation wizards had conjured out of an Iraq report that was reported as a total failure the day earlier; 'progress' declared by the Decider in reaching eight of the 18 'benchmarks' Congress legislated two months ago. His declaration to Congress Thursday was the predictable response from the proliferate abuser of 'signing statements' in which he regularly redefines and ignores settled law, as he rhetorically obliged the letter of the new law he cited, requiring him to report on "whether satisfactory progress toward meeting these benchmarks is or is not being achieved."
Bush told reporters how hard it was to conduct his 'war' without popular support. "Do you, personally -- do you ever have trouble balancing between doing what you think is the right thing and following the will of the majority of the public, which is really the essence of democracy?" Bush was asked.
The presidential Decider re-framed the question before he answered, "Their question, it seems like to me, is, can we succeed?" he parried. To respond to the myriad of weekly polls of Americans who overwhelmingly reject every justification and every aspect of his occupation, would, Bush said, "dispirit our troops." Sectioning off the military and their families from that overall negative verdict on his fiasco, Bush insisted that he would be using his own "judgment" as a substitute as he decided to press ahead anyway.
Bush sees Congress as his handmaiden to his imperious reign over every aspect of the deployment and "positioning" of our military forces. He doesn't mind 'consulting' with legislators as he presses our troops forward in Iraq, as long as they leave the 'deciding' over the direction and scope of that deployment to the Executive's military cabal. The commander-in-chief will just position himself behind his decidedly uninhibited general until the next time he's obliged to write his next 'progress' report and present it to Congress.
Democrats, and whatever number of nervous republicans emerge to oppose Bush on Iraq, don't have to wait until September to see whether Bush is satisfied enough with his destabilizing military muckraking to admit his deception and retreat. Every action they take should assume a confrontation with an Executive which has effectively assumed unilateral control over the constitutionally shared responsibility for the exercise of our military forces, especially in Iraq.
Every action by Congress regarding Iraq should be an assertion of their own inherent power to determine who our country will war against and for how long. Such a determinate expression of authority from Congress will represent the demonstrated will of the majority of Americans who voted in the last election to replace republicans with legislators pledged to end the occupation. Congress should act as if they're prepared to take our country back from these would-be usurpers, and approach this administration as if they understand that these lame-duck traitors in the White House are akin to the very danger, within, that they intend to defend our country against from without.
Ron Fullwood, is an activist from Columbia, Md. and the author of the book 'Power of Mischief' : Military Industry Executives are Making Bush Policy and the Country is Paying the Price
The Bush administration got to submit its own self-graded report card to Congress, the grade point average of which allows it to continue to stay in school until September, at which time it will submit (and the principal, one David Patraeus, will do the submitting) another self-graded report card to Congress, the grade point average of which will allow it to continue to stay in school, until such time when the next self-graded report card is due?
Is this the same grading method that permitted George Bush to make it through Yale?
Does anybody else have a problem with this?
When does Congress get to submit its own report card? When do the people?
Of course, in the case of Congress, that report card should take the form of impeachment!
by
Todd Huffman, M.D. (80 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 109 comments)
on Friday, July 13, 2007 at 2:53:11 PM
OK, According to all accounts, (even the members of congress who have been most vocal in their complaints..) CONGRESS set forth how progress, or lack there of, is to be judged.
Congress should draw up articles of impeachment? On what Grounds? Hillary Clinton stated that she did her own research when coming to the conclusion on whether or not to invade...
several years later, she develops a case of amnesia about that and said that the shrub LIED to her...
Now, an INTERIM report demonstrating that 10 of the 18 benchmarks have not been met, and I read the complaints that the failure was not horrific enough, and that the only reason it was not a complete and total disaster, is because the whitehouse is judging its own progress.
I am amazed by this Assessment, because I always thought that if anyone was going to cheat at something, he/she would go all out.. As in at least 16 out of 18 benchmarks would have been made and surpassed, not 8..
But whatever... Let's suggest that you are correct, and it is a complete disaster.. If this is the case, Why then, does the NY Times report on a 17 page AlQaida memo stating that they, the terrorists, are losing? Article Here
then does the Washington Post write a story that describes how insurgents are trying DESPERATELY to gain support from outside of Iraq?
you want the war to be over, but everyone reading this knows that no matter who wins the white house in 2008, nobody will be bringing the troops home based upon what happened the last 5 times we pulled the troops out without achieving victory... If you need it spelled out, re-read what happened in Iraq to those who helped us , in 1991, when we pulled out..
Anyway, if you want to believe the political body with the 15% approval rating, (congress) go ahead... nobody there has ever proven to be an outright liar...
Ciao, CZ
by
steve scheetz (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 667 comments)
on Friday, July 13, 2007 at 4:50:48 PM
If the General believes in anything beautiful, September will prove wether he is a man who believes that WE, the billions of people of Earth can break the chains of militant suppression by the few, forever.
Or a man who knows he will CHOOSE to join those who believe WE! should be exploited for every last ounce of self determination in our bones. He'll also get a great chance to prove his IQ because anyone who believes the last sentence is a possibility is ignoring the fact that America is about to enter a civil war between the have sort of's and the haves on the other. Who do you think the have nothing will side with? I see the smile of 6 Billion people minus .001 percent (depending on your take on the most powerful gentry.)
If he's a human of any soul, DC could be brought to its knees.
Peace—Chris
by
Senjo (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 20 comments)
on Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 12:45:24 AM
Iran has a population of 68 million, Iraq has a population of 26 million, or, 2 & 1/2 times LESS the population of Iran. Iraq has three well known religious factions that do not really acknowledge each other in a respectful way, plus there are several more smaller factions, each with their own agenda.
There is NO WAY that Iraq can ever control this mess. Anything less than a tyrant like Saddam and his INSANE TWO SONS couldn't control this mess.
Many of the warring Iraqi subgroups seem to agree that it is better without Saddam BUT they refuse to behave peacefully until the U.S. leaves, and therein lies the problem. Don't be abusive and non-supportive of the very people (the United States) who risked their lives to stop Saddam and his two rapist sons from another 30 years of rule!
If the war continues to see the most violent die, then all would not be lost, but sadly, the most violent insist on taking out as many as innocents as possible. But isn't that a sign of a horrible cancer that needs to be destroyed?
To somehow claim that our leaving would help the situation is not a truthful statement, it's just that one could then choose to not have to hear about it and go back to drinking lattes in their air-conditioned Starbucks hangout.
by
Alessandro Machi (13 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 174 comments)
on Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 11:03:29 AM
To somehow claim that our leaving would help the situation is not a truthful statement, it's just that one could then choose to not have to hear about it and go back to drinking lattes in their air-conditioned Starbucks hangout.
I would agree with this, except for the fact that the people of the US are already doing just that... They go to Starbucks, sip their lattes, wait with baited breath for the latest Harry Potter movie, and complain about whether or not there are transfats in the muffins that they are eating...
Pretty sad commentary, is it not?
Steve
by
steve scheetz (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 667 comments)
on Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 11:14:37 AM
All those who say the US should not pull out of Iraq because things will get worse, how do you know the US is not fomenting hostilities between groups in Iraq in order to be able to claim that they are needed to keep order?
That is the standard technique used by the military in Indonesia where they shoot a few christians then a few moslems to get them fighting one another, so they can claim more funding.
The US admin has lied to get the war going in Afghanistan and lied to get it going in Iraq. Why wouldn't they play dirty tricks to keep the war going?
by
gravity32 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 173 comments)
on Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 5:29:36 AM
If the U.S. was actually intentionally causing ill will between different factions in Iraq and it could be proved, than that would a SOLID reason for impeachment and in my opinion makes all the other reasons cited for impeachment pale in comparison. If this was going on and President Bush knew about it and didn't stop it, then he would become as big a monster as Saddam and sons.
by
Alessandro Machi (13 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 174 comments)
on Monday, July 16, 2007 at 6:17:18 AM
7 comments
How would you rate this?
You must be logged in (if signed up) to do ratings.
It's free to signup! And easy. And takes just a minute or two....
Must Read (
Well Said (
News (
Touching (
Funny (
Supported (
Interesting (
Inspiring (
Valuable (
