In Closing: Escalation

Most Americans are soundbiters, people who do not dig deep into politics and news, but instead listen and read simple soundbites, soundbites that can be printed or aired without any concern to facts. It’s not that Americans are stupid, it’s just that busy lives keep people from prowling the 24 hour news stations, blogs, and online news sources (not that I do… really….).

Tomorrow, when Bush announces his escalation plan (which I‘ll be live blogging *ahem*), very few Americans will really fully understand what is going on, as the soundbites that come out of it will most likely not tell the whole story. It’s important to look for many things in this plan, and frame them in a way that the facts will allow.

• Will Bush’s plan actually contain anything new, other than more troops? There will be padding to make the escalation seem more sweet, but will any of it actually matter? Will Bush just simply promise to try harder and set goals where no action will be taken if they are not met? Or, will Bush set clear benchmarks that must be met, complete with penalties in case these benchmarks can’t be fulfilled?


• Will Bush explain why he isn’t listening to the American people, most of Congress, or the soldiers and leadership in Iraq? Will he explain why he knows more than all of these people, and who exactly it is that he’s taking tips from?


• Will Bush undertake diplomatic policy, like the ISG report suggested?


• Will Bush explain how more troops will solve another country’s civil war?


Can Bush adapt to a roll where he is no longer solely in charge of this country? A roll where he is at odds with the American people?

It should be interesting.

Technorati Tags: Bush•Iraq•Surge•Escalation

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Troops Out By November? Yeah, Right

Bush’s escalation plan is set to begin right away, according to news reports.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush is prepared to send about 20,000 more troops to Iraq in an effort to pacify Baghdad, with the goal of handing control of the country to Iraqi troops by November, a senior administration official said Tuesday.

Most of the additional troops will be deployed in Baghdad, where American and Iraqi troops fought a 10-hour street battle with insurgents on Tuesday.

But about 4,000 would be dispatched to the restive Anbar province, the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency, the senior official said.

The first troops in the new wave could be a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division that is already in Kuwait.

The official cautioned that the November date for Iraq control does not mean U.S. troops would withdraw by then.

The newest thing to come out here, is the idea that Iraqis will take control by November. Is this one of those, “that’s our goal, which doesn’t really mean anything, because it’s not like we’re going to actually do anything if that goal isn’t reached”, things? My guess would be, yes.

Technorati Tags: Bush•Iraq•Surge•Escalation

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McCain And The Nutters- BFF

Jesus Christ, you must be fuckin’ kidding me.

John McCain guest blogs over at strange, Arab obsessed Powerline, trying to drum up some escalation points from the far-far-far-far-far-far-far-farthest of the far-far-far right.

Read it, and then ask yourself why McCain is trying to gain support from the nutter minority in politics, while ignoring the important, sane, anti-Iraq majority in America.

It’s almost like they only care about one group of people….

Technorati Tags: McCain•Iraq•Surge•Escalation•Nutters

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Peso's For Pizza

Do you want to see how people kidnap a story and use it to prop up their political beliefs, in real, live action?

Watch the way people are using the “peso’s for pizza” (Gawd, I feel dumber just writing that) story to further their immigration agenda (more can be seen on any of the 24hour newsers).

Living in Detroit, I can honestly say that at least 25 percent of the businesses around here will accept Canadian money, without even a second thought. I even worked at a fastfood place that would accept Canadian money at face value, without even making a calculation for exchange rates.

And you know what?

Not one single person ever bitches about immigration, or our country losing its “identity”.

Technorati Tags: Immigration•Peso’s For Pizza

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Murtha's Nosehorns

Is it just me, or does Murtha have nosehorns?

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Why?

Sally Quinn takes a step back and actually focuses on the American soldiers in today’s WaPo.


It’s nice that someone actually takes the time to think about these young men and women. As many times as the Right uses our troops to further their liberal bashing agenda (you know, the soldiers snub Kerry, lie) , they never seem to actually want what is good for the troops.

We have three choices here. All three are immoral. We can keep the status quo and gradually pull out; we can surge; or we can pull out now. When I think about those young soldiers on that plane coming back from Japan years ago, I believe pulling out now is the least immoral choice.

This is one of the truest things I’ve seen written. No matter what some would have you believe, we will eventually pull our troops out. This surge is not going to solve the civil war in Iraq, and Bush seems to not have the ability to do the things that will actually calm the violence. So, what we are left with is a simple escalation plan that will kill and injure more of our men and women, before the inevitable withdrawal.

The question everyone needs to ask themselves is why.

Why are we going to send more of our people to die?

Why can’t we just skip the deadly step and get to the inevitable point of withdrawal?

Why are the people who use “support our troops” as a political platform the least likely to truly support our troops?

Why?


Technorati Tags: Soldiers•Surge•Iraq•Escalation

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