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In another example of how Republicans continually drive -- and dominate -- the political narrative in Washington, the current discussion in advance of tonight's Oval Office address on Iraq is whether President Obama should acknowledge that George W. Bush's troop surge worked.
Here's John Boehner in remarks he'll deliver later today: “Some leaders who opposed, criticized, and fought tooth-and-nail to stop the surge strategy now proudly claim credit for the results… [T]oday, we mark not the defeat those voices anticipated, but progress.”
And here's John McCain in a Wall Street Journal op-ed: "Though most Democrats still cannot bear to admit it, the war in Iraq is ending successfully because the surge worked... It would be nice if President Obama could finally find it in himself to give his predecessor the credit he deserves."
What's striking, though, is how this argument focuses only on what happened from 2007 to 2009, not what happened from 2002 to 2006. As Politics Daily's Jill Lawrence argues, "The issue isn't who supported or opposed the surge. It's who supported or opposed the war in the first place." (Both Boehner and McCain voted to authorize the war against Iraq.)
Lawrence adds, "There are also, of course, the huge issues raised by the way we ran this war once we were in it: the dearth of planning and regional awareness, the massive level of incompetence... Home-schooled 20-somethings with no accounting background chosen to manage Iraq's $13-billion budget. A 24-year-old with no finance experience tasked with re-opening Iraq's stock exchange. Incompetents worrying about smoking prevention while Baghdad burned. Experts pushed out in favor of people whose main qualifications were that they opposed abortion and had voted for Bush. Please, never again."
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We have change the reason we went into more than some people changer their socks. It was a war that should not have happen, may we learn from it.
Thanks for reminding me why I voted for and will keep voting for this guy!
We wont learn from it any more than we learned from Vietnam. There is only one way we can stop the next war. If a war is started then the draft must be restarted. No student deferments. If your number comes up then you are deffered only till the end of the semester. Only veterans can serve on draft boards. Draft the sons and daughters of the rich and powerful. Believe me once the children from the rich and powerful families have to join, any wars will quickly end or not even be started. As long as the wars are being fought by the lower socio-economic classes nobody gives a damn.
Sir, you have said the truth! It's real easy to send someone elses kids off to war, but when it's your own, well that's another matter altogether.
Also this is the first war where not only didn't we find a way to pay for it, but pulled the money out of an enemies ATM credit card service and are now beholding to them for President Bush's off the budget war.
Thank you for your service Blackbelt Marine!
There are members of Congress who have children/family members who served or are serving in the military.
Joe Wilson (R), Max Baucus (D), Jim Webb (D), John McCain (R), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen(R) (both son and daughter-in-law), Sam Brownback (R), Kenny Hulshof (R), Sen. Kit Bond (R), Rep. Duncan Hunter (R), Biden (D).
And that the list from 2007.
Thanks for your service as my Dad said 'war is never the answer" in a perfect world I agree but most who volunteered for the wars now unfortunatly took the military route to better there futures. The rich when drafted into nam deferred to air national gaurd who never set foot in nam so there is always a way out for the rich..just look at our last president. My brother was killed in nam and my father threatened to cut off one of my toes to keep me from going..I got very lucky and the war ended and was spared
I know there has been quite a bit of talk over these past several years that Phil Donahue was let go from MSNBC because of his anti-war stance. But after watching Keith Olbermann it's pretty clear that this wasn't the case, otherwise Keith would have been let go as well a long time ago.
As I think back to all the coverage of this war through the years, my thoughts always go back to MSNBC and the tremendous reporting they did once people started opening up about the lies that were set forth in order to go into Iraq. MSNBC did not quiet Keith. They let him do his job, which was reporting what people were saying, finally. And I don't think anybody else out there was doing it before Keith.
So in many ways this evening belongs to the MSNBC/NBC management who we have learned were under constant pressure from the Bush Administration to fire Keith. Much like what the Nixon Administration did to Katherine Graham/the Washington Post during the Watergate years.
Thank you for letting the truth get out NBC/MSNBC. And for not giving in to the pressure from the White House. And to all those guests over the years who opened our eyes. Bill Moyers comes to mind immediately As does John Dean with his books - Worse Than Watergate and Conservatives Without A Conscience.
John Dean's books especially, I may not have known about unless I saw him on MSNBC. He's been one of the brightest, no nonsense guests I have seen through all these years.
"No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices." Edward R. Murrow
Amen, Pat--thanks also to Keith Olbermann for continually pushing these issues. Yesterday I used the analogy of the fable "The Emperor's New Clothes"--well, Keith and his guests kept saying that the emperor had no clothes.
Plus John Dean wrote Broken Goverment. I'm reading it now and it's very interesting!!!
And Dean called all Republicans Racists and Bigots a day or so ago. He is a very tolerant progressive, isn't he?
Just like actor John Cusack:
Actor John Cusack went on a caustic Twitter rampage Sunday evening, attacking former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Fox News.
“I AM FOR A SATANIC DEATH CULT CENTER AT FOX NEWS HQ AND OUTSIDE THE OFFICES ORDICK ARMEYAND NEWT GINGRICH-and all the GOP WELFARE FREAKS,” Cusack tweeted.
Cusack has long been outspoken about politics. He supported Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election and has contributed to The Huffington Post, but this is the first known time he has stooped to the level of making threats.
He has more than 200,000 Twitter followers
As I reflect on my time in the Military and my tours both in Iraq and Afghanistan I think of all the young men and women who have suffered terribly for these wars especially the war in Iraq I wonder how people in the Bush administration can sleep at night knowing the we went to war for no good reason.
Thank you Retired Military for your service!!!!
I've always wonder that too, but then they would touch their money in their back pocket and roll over and go back to sleep with a big grin on their face.
The surge was of little importance. The revulsion against Al-Qaeda in Iraq by a large part of the Sunni community plus the fact that Baghdad was ethnically cleansed of Sunni by the Shiites (i.e. the Shiites won the war) were the main reasons for the lessening of violence. But the country is still a basket case, not far from civil war, with the Kurds and Arabs at each others throats in the north and the insurgency still capable of anarchy.
On the other hand the invasion was illegal and immoral and put the U.S. in the group of international outlaws for violating the UN charter and waging an unprovoked war of aggression.
So please give me an article that makes it Illegal. After the first gulf war we signed a cease fire not an end to the war. Saddam kept firing at our planes ect which is an act of war meaning cease fire was off. So please please post what laws were broken cause there wasn't any.....
6000 violations of the Cease Fire by Saddam. 1991 UN cease fire stated in black and white even 1 violation was enough to invade. UN also stated Saddam murdered over 100,000 people with WMD.
After 911, he had to be removed.
What did 911 have to do with Saddam? I agree he had to be removed, but did we have to spend thousands of American lives, hundreds of billions (if not a trillion) dollars, and kill 100,000 Iraqi civilians (the same number Saddam is said to have killed in your post above) in the process? Sometimes the ends don't justify the means.
I see that he did not die in Iraq trying to remove Saddam.
Cracks me up these far left liberals.... Illegal war then the have no Docs or anything to back their claims. It was a Legal war 100%. Bad timing Yes. But we would have gone in sooner or later dem or rep president. Bush picked a bad time rushed into it.
so many references to Palin. Your lemming fear is fantastic and well placed.
The only credit Bush should get is for running our country and it's people into the ground. I wouldn't be doing a victory dance just yet and fortunately Obama is smart enough to realize that....unlike his predecessor.
And my daddy war bucks investments are doing very well!!
Cheers to the GOP!!!
On this issue BO was against the surge that is now allowing him to try and take credit for bushes timeline and the surge. BO should stay shh over this in 2012 or hell get his ass handed to him.
Our president is not interested in taking credit for the surge, he is more interested in making sure our troops come home, whole and in one piece. He is, also, along with the Dept of Vet Affairs which is run by General Shinseki, more interested in making sure the injured and damaged vets are well taken care of and not cast aside as is what happened under the previous administration.
The cost of care for our vets, much needed and deserved, will continue to cost our nation further billions for a long time to come.
The removal of Saddam Hussein was the biggest stratigic bludder our country has ever made. Saddam was a counter balance to Iran. How soon we forget how we supported him in his war with Iran. We have created a new Iraq that is now controlled by people who are closely alligned with Iran due to their common religion. It won't be long before Iraq and Iran are one in the same. Bush will be remembered as the dumbest president who ever lived.
howitzer8
You are absolutely correct!!!!
Bringing our troops home should be celebrated, a faux war for faux reasons should not.
If you set timetables then war will have a better chance of ending more sooner then later. When you just leave an open end of war the rich will do their best to keep it going. Republican are no patriots since Vietnam era. I can't stand phony people such as palin, Beck, Limbagh & Fox news not.
What is there to brag about, maybe Bohnoer and McCain should explain how the two police actions both financed on the taxpayers credit card, killing thousands was worth it. Obama needs to get our troops out of Afghanistan. If something needs to be dealt with using military force you should be willing to kill your enemy, destroy their country and leave, if not military force should never be an option.
It's really simple folks. A repulsive as it sounds to any Republican war hawk, we need to ask the French for 'permission' to go to war. They get it right, we get it wrong, everytime.
The French told us not to go into Vietnam. 58,000 dead US soldiers later, we left under attack.
The French told us NOT to go into Iraq, now we've killed 100,000 Iraqis and nearly 5000 coalition soldiers, and we've leaving under attack.
Why George Bush and Dick Cheney and Rumsfield and Rice and Rove are ALL not in jail (or fairly tried and hung) is beyond me. What they did to our country was a flat-out series of humanitarian crimes of the highest possible magnitude.
These sick people, FOX TV, and EVERYONE who voted for them, committed high treason and war crimes. Wake up America, 1953 is NOT coming back - it's 2010 already. 25% of us must be FELONY STUPID.
LBJ was also a genious
The war in Iraq was an unmitigated disaster. The deciderer couldn't have screwed up worse than he did. He fabricated "evidence", The GOP made it clear, support this nonsense or you're a traitor. They fired generals telling the truth. Then the fools rushed in, didn't have a plan and needlessly put American lives at risk with the "army they had". When "mission accomplished" turned out to be crap, they didn't acknowledge that the war was not over. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's died. They lost billions in cash, just simply disappeared. Would Americans have supported this adventure if they knew what it was to cost? Not on your life, well maybe on your life but not the neo-cons. Bush deserves credit for having an army general come up with a plan to retire from the field. You notice they didn't tell the American public that the largest reason for the surge working was because they put Sunni's on the payroll. Whatever, so long as we get the hell out of that sh..thole that we never should have gone in the first place. Bush and Cheney are traitors, selling the American people this turd.
as he believes he IS a genious
Ah, another genious from the left- do we really need more?
Snarky Republicans will never admit to anything....anything that in any way agrees with this administration in any way. They will run the country in the ground before agreeing with the President on anything that will help this country. They will run it in the ground and then say Obama did it. The war was a mistake. 911 could have been avoided if the Bush Adm. were doing their job in the first place. True story.
Although the decision to enter the war was certainly the "more consequential decision", the tone of the article makes this the negative thing and the surge the positive. We have conveniently forgotten the history and facts and have substituted statements like "Bush lied". Saddam was a really bad guy, who tortured and eliminated many of his own countrymen. He may have hidden, moved, or destroyed his WMD but there is little doubt that he had or was pursuing such a program. Even Bill Clinton acknowledged this but the media conveniently forgot when it became popular to blame Bush. The surge was important in that it finally put enough troops in Iraq to stabilize the situation. But the entry was the more consequential event and the more important (and necessary) one.
A (the) major element of the 'surge' was to pay the Sunni 'Sons of Iraq' to protect their communities. They were not a typical militia. The US no longer pays these people and the new Iraqi government refuses to pay them. They are unemployed and have no means to care for their families. What do you think is about to happen?
How much money were they receiving compared to the cost of the surge? Is Afghanistan any different in this respect?
why do you want to give Bush credit .for death and destruction Boehnor and McCain sound just like Hitlers puppets give credit to the master of war .salute the king of the republican party.
Oil..oil...oil....just follow who has most to gain from oil and I think the road will lead back to the Bush and Cheney families. Last I knew, Obama didn't have any stock or own any oil wells. Bush left the office of President and will go down in history as the worst President this country has ever had. He's an imbecile and somewhere on a Texas ranch is where he and Cheney both belong. The only thing Bush deserved when he left office was a size 12 cowboy boot in his rear.
The Republicans ran from Bush and Cheney .now they want to give him a hug and kiss ,and give him credit....I would say a trophy with a dead child on it.that would be a great gift .....the both can look at the trophy and be reminded what great deed they both did for America.
Great...Mark Murray the liberal hit and run specialist uses Jill Lawrence as his hit-woman today! Uh. Jill...Mark...you wanted to talk about who VOTED for the authorization to GO to war?
There's a healthy list of Democrats you failed to mention...the same people that claimed to be "lied" to in their decision...you know...the people in the MAJORITY now!!!! Since they have the MAJORITY, where has their resolution to LEAVE Iraq been in their legislation?
Yeah, you forgot that....
Oh, and let's listen to Hillary...in her own words...address Code Pink...go to the 6 minute mark and listen to her talk about her vast knowledge on Iraq, and her "experience" over a decade in her husband's administration.....not ONE MENTION of Bush telling her anything to help her make her decision!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYATbsu2cP8
When you liberal shills start telling the truth, instead of your liberal lies, you won't need people like me to hit you with the facts!!!!!!!!!