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 Half of the 36 ministries have withdrawn support for the government and don't even attend meetings.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.

Comments

[verisimilitudeness]

We can all agree that bullets and bombs are the most effective profit makers in history. They're expended and blown up, and they will need to be replenished as long as the perceived enemy exists.
And for the real simple amongst us, they look real neat when they're expelled and blowed up. Why consider the costs? We're all gettin one heck of a show!

[Manx]

Bill, your post puts the whole thing in perspective, succinctly. The only thing I would add: In the short-term, the Sunnis will be shooting at Al Qaeda but in the long-term, they'll be shooting at us.

One other thing: I would like to see Aaron Brown on your show - if HBO will allow it. He is a true journalist, who got a raw deal from CNN.

[naschkatze]

That's a great idea about Aaron Brown! I hope Maher reads these comments, or at least someone on his staff.

[lulabellpetunia]

At least the Government Accountability Office is taking action to ensure efficient governance in our colonial territories.

[pizzmoe]

Bush doesnt want them to have democracy, he wants them to have our democracy

[azphil]

The government in Baghdad has been a fiction for American consumption from day one. The power of that government has been limited to the small area of the Green Zone. The Kurds run the North, the Sunnis An Abar and the Shia the South and most of Baghdad.

The Maliki cabal has two purposes, putting the lipstick of democracy on the pig of sectarian in fighting and providing an efficient means by which the billions in development funds from the US tax payer can be stolen. On both counts it has been successful.

The fact that elements within Washington are working towards a coup d'etat has been evident since the start of '07. After all it is part of our standard CIA play book, so when "W" talks about the comparison with Vietnam he's really tipping his hand. Rest assured if there is a coup we will not just support it, we'll have engineered it.

[wisechild]

Great post, Bill, and thanks for saying things that make the Right squirm.

what bothers me more these days is Allawi blaming us for the sectarian violence. While we are to blame for lots going wrong there, the price is still being paid with American blood and treasure.

We need to commit to withdrawal and get the troops out of harm's way. This is a no-win situation and the sooner we recognize that things can begin to change.

There is no victory. There is no progress. It is a moving target and the sooner people recognize what the game is, the better the chances to revise this and save lives.

There is no 30 day withdrawal but a scheduled withdrawal will send the right message in my opinion. Whatever the government in Iraq, it is their government. Democracy is only a word, a concept. In places like Iraq it means little.

They will not follow us home when we leave, the terrorists if they are going to attack us have that in motion already and Iraq has nothing to do with that.

Keep speaking the truth Bill and maybe the choir will get bigger. Alas, we are the choir here but new members are always welcome to join and maybe, just maybe we can shift back to center a bit more and regain our national sanity.

[JimReed]

Don't listen to him, Bill. The way to national sanity is to understand the insanity of those on the right. The purpose of the Republican party is to draw dividing lines between the people so that the rich can feel good about cutting off the less fortunate. They are outnumbered, so the only way they can accomplish this is through high priced pundits that can generate the groupthink that moves people far enough to their "center" to let them get away with what they are doing. Meeting Rush half way won't work. We have to convince the masses who are influenced by the groupthink that the high priced propaganda might sound good, but it is not really in their best interests.

[Qbear]

btw.
Princess Diana STILL DEAD
Larry Craig STILL NOT GAY
Virginia Tech students STILL DEAD
Tucker Carlson STILL LYING about gays bothering him in Georgetown Park restroom

[peterg76]

In the words of Bill Maher:

"Bush lost the war. Period."

It's that simple. I can understand Bush obfuscating his own failure, but what's stopping everyone else from just coming out and saying the plain truth.

[JimReed]

The plain truth is American christianity is the voter base that put Bush in power. Blaming Bush leads nowhere. The Bushes you will always have with you. American christianity needs to repent of the global horrors they have unleashed, and ask the rest of the world for forgiveness. When they do, I know I will be ready to forgive them.

[Ramus]

I am an atheist. But in defense of some Christians..they are not all Bush supporters. Many loathe and detest him as much as HuffPo readers..(and the Quakers are not into having leaders...relates to your other post). There are religious organizations that help people around the world and do not try to convert the people they assist. Don't paint them all with the same brush. And I loved the Dawkins book and the Harris books.

[mac33z]

It's the corporate party of the century! Yeah, you want the oil, but in the
meantime you can steal billions of American tax dollars. So there's a constant
flow of money into contractor’s pockets.
Munitions, contractors, and energy are the true "axis of evil."
The fact that this is an actuality is horrifying.
Hopefully there'll be some kind of revision in '08.

[Whatsleft1]

Let's not forget that Saudi Arabia also has a dog in this fight. They will back the Sunni's, if they haven't yet.

This isn't anything like Viet Nam, it's worse.

I also wonder about those right wingers who talk about "defeat". To have "defeat" you would have to have a clear vision of "victory". What does "victory" look like? Running water? Electricity 24/7? Free Elections? oh, yeah, they had one of those but that wasn't victory, was it?

[JonathanDS2U]

The only time Republicans are truly results-oriented is when money is the issue, otherwise, they are "Life is a slowly growing tree, my grasshopper, be patient." I'm hearing "Show me the money!" as the buried track on that tune, and it isn't Cuba Gooding, Jr. doing the vocal.

[UltraClassic]

Bill, great post, you write in a manner that pursuades and convinces.

But as is the norm on the HP, I see lots of complaints and no solutions. It's just not that simple. And this nonsense about republicans wanting to extend the war for a money, that's getting old. Do you believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that what we need to do is withdraw in the next 30 days? It seems that several liberals and leftist democrats who have just now come to power have come to realize it's just not that simple.

I would like to see your's and Arianna's "5 point plan" for Iraq. I think that would be very interesting. By the way, I am no more happy than you are on how we got where we are. It cost me 18 months away from my business, and it cost some of my friends more than that.

[JimReed]

UltraClassic,

You can't have a five point plan, but here is point one...

We need to admit as a nation we went into Iraq for greed. It was a mistake. We can't limit our options to only those where our government saves face. We have to be willing to look into solutions where the United States looks bad, and until those all the way at the top of our government get to that point there will be no solution because our nation will reject any real solution.

[Postmastergeneral]

Ultraclassic:

The question you pose seems to the story of George Bush's life. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he has a knack for getting himself in trouble and having others figure out what to do about the messes he creates.

[Postmastergeneral]

Ultraclassic:
I forgot to mention that an 83 point plan was given to the administration on a silver platter by the Iraq Study Group which called for withdrawing troops. But since the group was made up Bush Senior's old pals, Junior decided to escalate the war instead as if to snub the advice from Dad's friends.

[philjames]

Can we also get just one other thing straight? Can we all stipulate to the fact that theocracies are autocratic, that religions all are based on authority figures telling the common sinners what to do...that's what the Taliban and Christian Right have in common. Right? In contrast, a democracy is the closest thing yet invented to embody the will of each of the separate individuals governed. So to call whatever the mish-mash of sects that comprises the "elected" government in Iraq a democratic body is flat absurd. If they have any government at all, they have a coalition, theocratic, authoritarian State. Democracy is hiding under a rock somewhere and likely won't be seen in Iraq for another thousand years.

[Qbear]

You sound as depressed about what the hell will occur in Iraq until Cheney is no longer commander-in-chief, as I feel. It's like a long drawn out train wreck (in excrutiating Peckenpaw slow motion.)I'm ready to just go out to the popcorn and candy snackbar counter until 2009.
Democrats are going to have a teaching moment next month, after we get the White House tweaked version of Petraeus report. The statements we've heard about no good choices, only bad and worse choices... that's the Democrat's next month. Bad choice, vote to end funding this war, Worse choice fail to vote to end this war and the incumbant flush in 2008 isn't just for Republicans anymore.

[PADDYWHACK]

I hope you're right and all those who voted for or support this nefarious expedition into the heart of the most unstable region in the world are removed at the polls.Larry Craig's expedition into the heart of the men's room is causing far more outrage unfortunately.Many of those calling for his head including McCain also call for more slaughter in Iraq.Outrage is relative but a quickie in the crapper never sent a lot of people to Walter Reed.If Craig also boosted the war he deserves it since no one will ever be held accountable directly only indirectly ala Scooter LIBBY

[joeycollins]

This is why Republicans want the Iraq catastrophe to last forever:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16076312/the_great_iraq_swindle

There is no danger of them being charged with war profiteering/war crimes.

No danger whatsoever.