Iraq war comment, analysis

16 September 2007 |permalink | email article

“What is this enduring relationship? What does it require in the way of troops, bases, and other resources? … Do the relationship’s elements include stepped up diplomacy with Iraq’s neighbors? None of these vital questions was broached, much less answered.” Slate’s Fred Kaplan on Bush’s speech, questioning whether it was deceptive or delusional. It was a little of both, but W.’s intent is certain: to box ?44 in with a permanent U.S. military oasis in Iraq.

“If I knew that the Iraqi army was not going to be available, then I probably would have made a different recommendation about the total size force going in.” Retiring Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace -  A candid, if tragically tardy, reassessment of fatal recommendations the Marine general made in early 2003. 

“In 2002, Hillary Clinton voted to authorize military action in Iraq, because she believed it was the right thing to do. Just when our troops need all the support to finish the job, she is turning her back on them.” A stunning web-only Giuliani attack ad on her for questioning Gen. David Petraeus’s veracity, in response to leftist MoveOn.org’s NYT ad blasting the general as betraying the nation, unsettles Democrats, notably hurting Clinton’s attempt at reinvention. The bullying ex-mayor is trying to jump start a General Election race between the two New Yorkers. Despite conventional wisdom, such a match between two candidates with high negatives is far from certain.

“I don’t oppose all wars…What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is a cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats…” Barack Obama, a state senator in 2002 on the eve of the congressional vote to authorize the Iraq war. Last week, he reprised his own words in a speech chastising those who “took the president at his word instead of reading the intelligence for themselves – a clear shot at both Clinton and John Edwards.

“It’s great [Obama] had such good judgement. But there’s no clarity of message.” Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of the liberal blog Daily Kos, criticizing Obama for not coming out firmly against any bill that offers funding without a timetable for withdrawal, like Edwards. This smacks of rank hypocrisy by war critics who insist his actions don’t match his rhetoric since he arrived on Capitol Hill. Obama’s retort: “The judgement that matters most is the judgement that is made first.” 

 

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