That Tingle Means it's Working
Doesn't it set a wonderful example for democracy when leaders in this country, both Democrat and Republican, call for the ouster of the elected Maliki government in Iraq?
And now for your first lesson in elected democracy -- the coup d'etat.
Oh, and number two -- installing a CIA-backed emergency government.
But let's all see this for what it is: another excuse to buy this shitty war some more time.
The whole idea of the surge was to establish some semblance of security and provide "breathing space" so that the Iraqi leaders could make political progress. And while the military has done a better job creating pockets of security, even while overall violence is up from last summer, the political side of the equation has gone backwards. The Sunnis have left the government entirely, and an emergency summit designed at bringing them back in has failed. Half of the 36 ministries have withdrawn support for the government and don't even attend meetings. Which raises another question: how do you tell who is showing up when they're all on vacation?
So what do we do now? Try to install the Allawi government back in. That way, when General Petraeus testifies before Congress that the surge has not created an environment where political reconciliation could take place -- i.e. the surge has failed -- we'll then pretend that was because we had the wrong team in charge. But now we have the right team in charge! And you can't pull the plug now that we have the right team in charge! Just you wait and see! It's all going to turn out great! Just give us a couple more months!
And by months, I mean years.
Meanwhile, this is the kind of spin you get from the right wing, who likes to think that we're actually in control of this situation. Here's a recent National Review editorial:
"The fact is that the surge is President Bush's policy, and one that he implemented over the vociferous opposition of Democrats who thought the best strategy against al Qaeda in Iraq was to begin to leave. Now the surge has helped turn Sunni tribes against al Qaeda, advancing the goal that nearly everyone in the U.S. notionally shares of routing the terror group from Iraq."
Then, of course, there's the reality: it was the Sunnis in Anbar province who decided to create an alliance against the Al Qaeda types, and that happened before the surge even started. So we didn't do that. They did. We simply armed them, funded them, and helped them. But they're not on our side. They're on their side. They were shooting at us and blowing up our convoys just months ago. We didn't stop and suddenly realize that we're in love with each other. You're thinking of a Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan movie.
Plus, Anbar is entirely Sunni. It's like Utah for Mormons. So they don't have to deal with the Sunni-Shiite dynamic like the rest of the country. This is regular crazy Sunnis organizing against the extremely crazy Sunnis. With our guns and money. Is that the best we can do for now? Probably. Is it a long-term solution? Shit no.
So don't let them fool you with all the talk of "progress." They've simply, and for the 37th time, re-defined what "progress" means. And when we get to #65 - that more Iraqis have access to NFL Network than ever before -- I'll say, "Okay, okay. That is progress. ...Can we come home now?"
Bill Maher is the host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" which airs every Friday at 11PM.
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Regime change is a mantra for the musical chair game of grab your resources.
It is shameful that in this day of instant electronic communications, you can commit a burglary in broad daylight and still get the vast majority of Congress to be your willing accomplices.
The oil in the gulf region is "strategic" for the U.S. - read we're totally f...ked without it.
The region is just a big chessboard. Maliki is a rook on the board. Allawi wants to take the rook and set up a gambit for the Queen.
Russia and China are lining up with Venezuela and Iran forming the second rank. Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to two presidents said recently that, "We are being wrestled to a draw by opponents who are not even an organized state adversary.
The tightening market in oil and natural gas, which has enhanced the power of hydrocarbon-rich nations as never before; rapid economic expansion of the mega-nations China and India; the transformation of China into the globe's leading manufacturing base; the end of the Anglo-American duopoly in international television and the Bush debacle in Iraq are major determinants of an imperial power, brimming with hubris, overextending itself, and falling on its own ass.
Bush has been foisted on his own retard. His only prior foreign policy experience was at IHOP. Maybe with the help of Senators like Larry Craig we can blow our way out of there.
"....estab
As Capt Kirk would say, "Earth, Hitler, 1939".
We need people to blame and right now the Maliki government is convenient. However, they're no more to blame, then We the People are for letting this escalate to this point. We blame Bush, Bush blames Maliki and so on. Where does the dinar stop?
Hell, we've been a nation for over 230 years and we still don't have all the answers. What does Bush expect?
The United States is like the abusive husband who blames the battered wife (aka Iraq) for making him hit her... What Iraq needs is a shelter for battered countries. What the United States needs is rehab.
"What Iraq needs is a shelter for battered countries.
I believe that's called the UN.
"What the United States needs is rehab."
Close to answer #1, this time, though, it's called UN sanctions.
Wow. "The United States is like the abusive husband who blames the battered wife for making him hit her....Ira
Perfect. From the first time I saw Bush I said to myself, "this guy is a dry drunk" - he scared the bejesus out of me.
God help us and God help the Iraqi people.
Mr.William Maher,
How are ya?. ;o).
So far,we have....
"Mission accomplish"
"The war on terror"
"We fight them overthere so we don't have to fight them overhere"
"They will follow us home"
"We should have stayed longer in Vietnam"
And the latest..."
Am I missing anything else?
Got to go to work now...
See ya Friday night on tv.
Love ya
Gemma
*How about imminent threat (and then they said they didn't say imminent)
*Saddam has WMD's
*We're in the last throes
*Jessica Lynch was a hero
*Tillman died under heavy enemy fire
*It will be over in 6 weeks
I know there are many more
You do realize what all of this means, exactly...
The President just cannot admit he made a mistake. The whole myth of hearing God's voice would shatter and reveal a super egocentric on top of a failed life. How much courage does it take to throw this investment overboard, when your whole self is questioned? It is this perception of the underachiever to use whatever it takes to become President, instead of starting to face reality, even if the image reflects the emasculated monster in a Dorian Gray moment of clarity. Courage and strength cannot be measured by the tough talk and stubborn insistence of the absolute truth. It is mere appearance for the appearance sake, clinging onto the voice in your head being Gods absolute truth instead of the reflection of a fallible man. Unfortunately, this is easily said and very difficult to do, and I mostly failed in this endeavor myself, however a great person lives within the paradigm of his own existence.
Hey Bill, down there in Red State Land, the folks don't give a rat's ass if Bush and Cheney murdered their mothers. The Xtians figure out a way to rationalize it....If Jeeeezus wants war, then by God, we're going to have war. When religious faith is what people are fighting over, it's hopeless. Fundamentalism is all the same. We can bitch, moan, laugh, cry, rant, rave, stomp and kick all we want, but unless the freaks who are high on the Lord get off their religious crack pipes, we're done.
LOVE LOVE LOVE YOUR SHOW!!!!!!
This administration is neither in tune or respectful of its electorate. There will be grave consequences for this and we won't have to wait until the next generation to suffer them. Yes, Maliki's government will be replaced by another American puppet regime preparing the way for an imminent attack against Iran. Bush must believe he has a better chance at this one and who will stop him anyway? Both Democrats and Republicans have not ruled out the military option, which is going along with this president's unprecedented "preemptive" foreign policy that he implemented and, if not changed back to a defensive one, will be the ruin of this once proud nation.
Am I the only one who remembers the slogan for Normal Mailer's and Jimmy Breslin's 1974 campaign for New York City Mayor and City Council President?
"No More Bullshit!" or, as the billboard barons allowed them to say, "No More Bull****". That should be Bill's motto.
Talk about being fooled by talk of PROGRESS--what about being fooled by talk of DEMOCRACY ! Anyone who THINKS democracy had anything to do with this war is an IDIOT !!!!!
Hey, it's the American way -- vote with your guns!
It's a bloodbath over there. The best we can hope for is to remove American troops from the swimming pool. Trying to make them lifeguards can't work -- when everything's soaked in blood who can tell friend from foe from innocent bystander from sociopath?
Once we leave, the blood will just get deeper. The only real question is who will have to apologize for the genocide.
The sane amongst us know that the one true solution to this catastrophic, idiotic war is a quick, orderly and complete end to the U.S. occupation in Iraq. But be that as it may, I'm actually a bit frightened by that prospect. If Junior doesn't have his toys to play with in the sandbox of Mesopotamia, it means he'll focus his laser-like attention on domestic issues here at home -- and I'm not so certain it's such a great idea to have the destructive little bastard running loose in our own back yard. Of, course if we had an opposition party that had so much as an ounce of collective moral courage that little dilemma could easily be solved by a little thing called impeachment. Sigh . . . yeah, I know -- dream on.
The only progress I'm looking for is evidence that our Congress is preparing articles of impeachment for Bush and Cheney.
Bill, once again ... a great post.
I think that it is wrong for any U.S. presidential candidate to suggest that the current Iraqi leadership be removed without democratic election. It's solely up to the 'people of Iraq' to elect the leaders they want, NOT U.S. presidential hopefuls!
At the end of World War I, Germany felt that it had not “lost” the war, because it
not been invaded. That but for those fresh American troops, the Germans could
have made one last surge, and beat France and the UK back to their capitals. That
Wilson would protect it at Versailles. They must have had a better PR machine then.
Then, one day, while scraping the lid of a garbage can for lunch, Adolph Hitler
decided they had lost it. So he got an even better PR machine together. You know
what followed. Does anything change?
As for General Betrayus, er, Petraeus, once one becomes a colonel, it’s all politics
after that.
Presidents (no names) once pinned hopes on General Westmoreland, who had no
clue on how to win except body counts, then lost political favor, and was promoted
to Army Chief of Staff.
Bush once pinned his hopes on General Casey, who then lost political favor, and
was promoted to Army Chief of Staff.
Rumsfeld’s Chairman obviously saw his job as saying “yes” to the Secretary.
Bush’s Chairman obviously sees his job as saying “yes” to the President.
Seen any statesmen lately? Or just politicians? Seen any great leaders as generals
lately? Or just Joint Chiefs Chairmen?
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