HOLY SCHMIDT

WHEN WILL REPUBLICANS declare war on the Pentagon?  While "withdrawal" has been attacked by the dislikable likes of she wolf of war loving Jean Schmidt in the House of Representatives, talks of a "drawdown" have circulated for months at the Pentagon [story]

If Iraqi elections are successful in December and a new parliament seated by January, withdrawal could begin almost immediately. Military officials say it would be an incremental or phased withdrawal — beginning slowly at first, with one or two battalions — up to 2,000 troops at a time.
Entire battalions of soldiers and Marines, now scheduled for duty in Iraq next year, would also be told they don't have to go. Some American troops would be placed on temporary standby in neighboring Kuwait — ready to respond, if needed, to any major outbreaks of violence in Iraq.

THE PLAN IS contingent on Iraqi forces being “ready,” which the Bush administration alone will determine. Ready or not, here we come home.  The 2006 midterm Iraqi elections are all important.   As the  Iraqis  stand up, we the Bush Administration will fall down stand down as fast as we can and blame the Democrats for everything.  Look for more propaganda and distortion intelligent discussion as the  United States Iraqi elections draw closer.  And draw your own conclusions.

IRAQ WILL NOT go away. It threatens to dominate everything Bush dreams of accomplishing. Bush is losing the war at home and if he has not yet lost his Republican base with voters, he has lost significant support among less rabid Republicans who base their decisions upon the first noble principle of politics: survival. [story]

"Iraq is now a cloud over everything," said Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan political analyst specializing in Congress. "It's the 800-pound gorilla in the room."
. . . Public opinion has, in turn, emboldened Democrats to sharpen their attacks, and it has freed some Republicans -- especially Northeastern moderates -- to chart a new political course that separates them from the White House but wreaks havoc with the GOP's legislative agenda.
"The central new development is the decomposition of the president's support in Congress," said Ross K. Baker, a Rutgers University congressional expert. "I think there is a very acute realization on the part of Republicans that they no longer can hitch their careers to his popularity. That, combined with the new aggressiveness by the Democrats, means you're seeing basically a Bush agenda that is largely being derailed."

BUSH WHO BRAGGED of his political capital last year now looks spent.

VOICES OF TRAITORS, COWARDS, AND PATRIOTS: The Jean Schmidt Edition.  All picks reflect the current political “thinking” of Jean Schmidt.  Management does not endorse nor does it necessarily approve such characterizations.  Got a problem?  Contact Jean here.

COWARD [Juan Cole] Well, this stupid [Republican] resolution is not what Murtha was saying, and the vote on it is meaningless. It is worse than meaningless. It is political clowning.
Indeed, given the GIs being blown up on a daily basis, the Republican phony resolution was the equivalent of trying to do a stand-up comedy routine at the funeral of someone's beloved son who had died at age 20.
I don't think the American people will find it amusing. We'll see in 2006 whether they did.

THE HERETIK AGREES and has previously worked the “stand up comedy” joke. Laughter is the most honest sound in the world, even when it is bitter.

OTHER TRAITORS: All Spin Zone on benchmarks to stay in Iraq.  The Boston Progressive on the vitriol.

PATRIOT HERO [Adesink/Oxblog]  . . . it is remarkably disingenuous for Murtha to talk about how his recent visit to Iraq changed his mind about the war. If you listen to the full interview, he also lists a number of other recent data points as contributing factors. In other words, Murtha himself is now peddling the myth of his sudden conversion from hawk to dove. Karl Rove would be proud.

THE HERETIK SAYS oy.  Just oy.  The time has come to stop attacking who said what and when and why.  The time has come to discuss the issues for what they are.  Democrats would do well to pin Bush on specifics of what makes the Iraqis ready to stand up.  And at some point the Democrats need to shed some light on the shadow the White House casts on all arguments.  That would be the endless war against our new enemy we don’t seem to be fighting anywhere else but in Iraq, but which Bush has signed us up for all eternity.  Bush needs to define what “success” is in the war.  We have all endured enough failure.

A POX ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES [WaPo] It sounds like the final days of a bitter, mud-slinging political campaign. [via TMV]

 

Comments

[Eli]

Remember, Parliament = Democracy = Unconditional Success!

Pay no attention to the insurgent behind the curtain.

The Republicans and probably the media are going to spin like crazy about how it's been a long, bumpy road, but Dubya resolutely stayed the course in the face of disastrous poll numbers (which he doesn't pay attention to, of course) and has now been Vindicated By History.

And I think it'll work... temporarily. His approval rating will go back over 50% for about a week or two, until the bombings start again, and everyone realizes that Iraq is still broken.

[Night Bird]

'Tik, thought you would appreciate reading What we Lost

[Chuck]

Eli, I'll have to call that 50% and raise you by Syria.

If the PRETENDENT'S numbers ever see 50% again, I won't drink a beer for a week. That should make me damn good and cranky! :)

[GreggMT]

There is going to be a war- finally - bewteen Bush and the war-mongering Neocons when Bush tries to pull the troops home before the 2006 elections, and the Neocon/evangelical wing will demand that the troops stay to fulfill their long-term dream of Mid-east domination. It will make the Harriet Miers dust-up look like a tea party. Pass the popcorn.

[Craig McDonough]

GreggMT says: "and the Neocon/evangelical wing will demand that the troops stay to fulfill their long-term dream of Mid-east domination"

My personal opinion? Place the emphasis on the extreme evengelicals -- some of them *want* the Mid-East as destabilized as possible -- they think it will hasten the "end times"

Always bew wary of someone who thinks that have a use for a universal solvent...