McCain to Obama: Could You Pick Up a Few Things for Me at The Baghdad Market?

Listen, Barack, while you're at the market can you pick up a few things for me?

With Obama's visit to Iraq expected any day now, the Right is about to move into full belittlement mode.  They'll attempt to trivialize, satirize, and diminish whatever occurs on this trip.  So this is a good time to remember John McCain's last visit to Iraq, a visit that he now claims helped form his war policy. 

In case you missed it, this week the media reported heavily on the way McCain "mocked" Obama for laying out an Iraq and Afghanistan policy before visiting the region - without reporting that McCain had also "laid out a policy" before his visit. __________________________________________________________________

And how did that visit go? That's the one where McCain claimed he was able to move freely around town, where one of his Republican colleagues claimed that the market was "just like Indiana," and Lindsay Graham bought a rug for $20 that street vendors said later was worth about a dollar.  (That's your GOP military procurement system for you.)

Remember those claims?  And how the truth came out eventually?  If not, here's a walk down memory lane:

The delegation arrived at the market, which is called Shorja, on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armored Humvees -- the equivalent of an entire company -- and attack helicopters circled overhead, a senior American military official in Baghdad said. The soldiers redirected traffic from the area and restricted access to the Americans, witnesses said, and sharpshooters were posted on the roofs. The congressmen wore bulletproof vests throughout their hourlong visit.

The market was shot up by snipers the next day, as a matter of fact, so it's a shame McCain didn't leave that bulletproof vest behind for some innocent civilian to use. 

Somebody should ask McCain how that highly scripted visit, which eventually brought ridicule upon his campaign - and which cost the U.S. military a great deal of money and effort - helped define his current war policy. And whether it was representative of the way he plans to run the military.
__________________________________________________________________

Now McCain is claiming that "the surge" worked. But he and the President are also claiming "the surge" (a euphemism for increased troop levels) is over - despite the fact that the current deployment of 150,000 is 18,000 higher than it was before the surge was announced. (Question:  If an increase of 28,000 troops is a "surge," isn't a continued increase of 18,000 two-thirds of a surge?)

Actually, McCain and the President (sounds like a movie, doesn't it? Like "Smokey and the Bandit," but without that Burt Reynolds charisma ... I digress. Sorry.)

As I was saying, McCain and the President actually spent the week implementing Democratic policy initiatives in the Middle East - first by opening diplomatic talks with Iran, then by embracing troop increases in Afghanistan, and now by embracing timetables for troop withdrawal in an agreement with the Iraqi Prime Minister.

If you're going to follow Democratic policies, why not eliminate the middleman and elect a Democrat?
__________________________________________________________________

Oh, but wait.  About that agreement?  There's a loophole.  In fact, it's all loophole. What they agreed to turns out to be - and I quote - "a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals." Man, who writes this stuff? If truth is the first casualty of war, language runs a close second. Let's try to do some decoding, but be warned: the experience may be hallucinogenic. 

First, what are "aspirational goals"? Well, the dictionary says that "aspirations" are "a strong desire to achieve something high or great," while a goal is "the end toward which effort is directed." So an "aspirational goal" is really just the "desire" to achieve an "end" - not a commitment to actually achieve it.

As for that "time horizon" thing, Merriam-Webster defines "horizon" as follows:

1 a: the apparent junction of earth and sky b: the great circle on the celestial sphere formed by the intersection of the celestial sphere with a plane tangent to the earth's surface at an observer's position c: range of perception or experience d: something that might be attained .

So what's a "general time horizon"? As far as I can tell it's a non-specific time along a tangential intersection of planes and celestial spheres - or maybe just a perception or experience somebody had at some unspecified time. And with enough time anything is possible. If a million monkeys typed war plans for a million years ... you get the idea.

While you're at the market, Barack, could you pick me up a copy of Huxley's "Doors of Perception?" __________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile McCain bragged this week that "I know how to win wars." But which wars would those be? America's only clear military victory of his lifetime was the first Gulf War, and he was preoccupied at the time with the Keating Five scandal.
__________________________________________________________________

So, has the "surge" accomplished anything? Well ... If all we can agree upon are "aspirational goals" along a protracted "time horizon," then no. Violence is down, and some of that is the temporary result of using U.S. troops as an internal Iraqi police force - which means as long as we're willing to continue standing between warring Iraqi factions, with no limit on time, expense, or human sacrifice, then of course we can continue to have some effect.

But much of the reduction in violence is the result of ethnic cleansing.  At what human cost? There  are 2.8 million internal refugees and millions more leaving the country:

Women and children have been hit especially hard in Iraq's refugee crisis, often forced to beg and in some cases turn to prostitution to provide for their families because so many men have been killed, a report said Friday.

If you kill the men, and then separate their families by force, there will be less fighting.

So ... mission accomplished ... I guess.
__________________________________________________________________

The media has failed to ask why McCain is "mocking" anybody in this horrific situation.  And he and his right-wing supporters will only redouble the "mockery" as Obama moves through the region.  They should be asking Obama to pick up a few things at the market for them instead ... like their next two or three military initiatives, to follow up on the last bunch they lifted from him.

Why should they get away with it? This situation is the direct result of foolish and sloppy policies that McCain has enthusiastically endorsed from the start - an act for which he shows neither remorse nor comprehension.

It's sad. John McCain used to be an admirable guy. I liked him, even if I didn't agree with him. But now he's cozying up to the extreme right, abandoning veterans on key issues like this one, and clinging stubbornly to a failed and lethal war policy.

It looks like the only war he knows how to win is the one with his own conscience.

RJ Eskow blogs:

A Night Light
The Sentinel Effect:  Healthcare Blog
RJ Eskow at the Huffington Post

Comments

[Lilybart]

Excellent post, thanks for putting all these points in one post so we can search it when answering the Right in debate!

[Lisette]

I always read your posts
They are always good and make the point perfectly.

[TRex86]

The one thing the Republicans do well is propaganda. For eight years we've had the War of the Words. We've gotten numb to the propaganda blitz. The lazy, craven media recycle meaningless slogans without the slightest critical analysis, and nearly every word issued by the Bushflacks has its own private meaning:
War on Terror (war on an emotion?)
Enhanced (harsh) interrogation (aka torture)
WMD (three utterly dissimilar categories of weapons, none of which terrorists have)
Detainee (aka prisoner, prisoner of war held in violation of treaties and US Constitution)
Islamofascism (not applied to actual Muslim fascists, eg, Saudi Arabia)
Insurgent (rebel against duly constituted authority?)
Extremist (disagrees with us)
Al Qaeda (our enemy in Iraq; harmless cranks on Pakistani frontier)
Surrender (ending illegal occupation)
Victory (see surrender)
Appeasement (talking to evildoers)
Militants (see extremist)
In short, we drown in meaningless, empty words. But of course, using words correctly is only something that would concern elitists...

[ktthecarguy]

Not to mention much of the cessation of violence is due to a cease-fire with Al Sadr's militias. And unfortunately, that is on shaky ground. This could get ugly fast.

[plafayette]

Spot On! McBush continues to flip and flop on all basic and major issues while attacking Obama at every opportunity. If he insists on parroting Obama's policies and trying to claim them as his own he would do well to remain quiet beforehand so that he doesn't have to keep publically contradicting himself. They continue to say Obama is naive, inexperienced, arrogant etc.. and the man has been RIGHT about everything he has said about Iraq and Afghanistan. Whatever leg the McCain campaign was standing on has just been firmly kicked from underneath him. I wonder what he will claim as his strong suit now? so far we have eliminated economics, domestic and foriegn policy, public speaking, and social appropriateness. Is there any reason remaining for McCain to continue in this race? Are they allowed to forefit or concede defeat? It would save us some much needed time, money and aggrevation. Not that I am whinning or anything like that.

[El]

RJ, great post. I always read what you have to say, whether I'm interested in the subject or not (I usually am), because you are a great thinker, great writer.

[Mattjoe]

Good point RJ.

Incredible that it is lost on so many how IRAQ, when adequately scripted, can go from a complete train wreck to a resounding success in three weeks, just because the administration and CNN tells us so?

By the way, "violence is down", does that sound like a "wartime" quote to you?

Funny, the MSM takes Presidential candidates to task on war strategy more so than the supposedly active CIC that started the disaster. Yet McCain can bandy the "surge" around as if he"d drew up the battle plans himself.

Surge, no surge, troop increase, withdrawal, horizons is blather. The success, failures, wins and losses and how we see"m, have little to do with what those "feet on the ground" are actually doing.

How would we really know anyway?

[Ramirez]

This is good news, I think.

KFC opens francise in Fallujah.
Pictures, info, and directions here:

http://www.dvidshub.net/index.php?script=images/images_gallery.php&action=viewimage&fid=103745

[karrezza]

I know isnt it disgusting?? My brother said they also opened a Harley-Davison and truck/car dealerships in the green zone now.
Lets get those soldiers in debt nice and early.. forget they have wives/husbands at home with kids , or will return home with a truck debt or harley hog and $5 gasoline to fuel it.

[researcher]

they pay the price of american imperialism while americans whine about gas prices

one more time

capitalism leads to imperialism and imperialism leads to wars for profits

wars for profits bankrupts the nation

we now borrow from communists, socialists, and kings to keep our imperialism afloat

[knighthowl]

Interesing theory. Do you have any facts to back it up? As for instance, when did we become an empire? I know the British and the French had empires, but strangley they are not bankrupt. Please explain.

[justobserve]

So, has he learned about Shia, Sunni, Iran, al-Quada... yet?

[beaupritchard]

Huxley's "Doors of Perception?" I haven't read that in years ... well done ... I laughed til there were tears in my eyes.

There were sad parts too ...

"Women and children have been hit especially hard in Iraq's refugee crisis, often forced to beg and in some cases turn to prostitution to provide for their families because so many men have been killed, a report said Friday" ... "If you kill the men, and then separate their families by force, there will be less fighting. So ... mission accomplished ..."

different tears.

[Gma11]

Yes, brings back memories of reading Huxley's book . . .

Cogent assessment here. I've been trying to articulate to others the difference between correlation and causation when it comes to the so-called "surge". The point about ethnic cleansing is especially relevant.