Or, more to the point, 1002 points of light and counting have now been extinguished in the service of Dubya’s unnecessary and mismanaged neocon sideshow in Iraq, and that’s just the American count. (The Faces of the Fallen) As this site notes in an update of John Kerry’s famous question, how do you ask a man or woman to be the last person to die for a lie? Update: And now it appears we’ve already reached another dubious milestone. “With the latest spike in violence in Baghdad, more U.S. troops have died since the turnover of power to an interim Iraqi government at the end of June than were killed during the U.S.-led invasion of the country in the spring of 2003.“
Category: Donald Rumsfeld
Ring around the Rummy.
With Rummy on the ropes, Dubya and Cheney rush to the defense of their man in Defense. Hey, hold him to your breast as long as possible, Mr. President…maybe then, you’ll all go down together come November.
Blowback.
From The Economist to the NY Times, Salon examines the growing calls for Rumsfeld to resign as a result of Abu Ghraib. When even Karl Rove is forced to admit the damage done by these horrifying pics, you know it’ll be rough for Rummy in the weeks ahead, even with Dubya’s vote of confidence. Well, I’m all for getting rid of Rumsfeld, but I don’t think he should be the only fall guy for this Iraq fiasco…the decision may have began with Cheney, Wolfowitz, & co., but it ended with Dubya. For Abu Ghraib as with so much else, they all gotta go.
Revisionist History.
Once again, it seems, the Bush administration is falsifying records to cover up their shadiness. This time, the Pentagon deleted key remarks made by Rumsfeld to Bob Woodward on the certainty of the Iraq war. (Regarding an invasion of Iraq, Rummy told the Saudis in Jan. 2003, two months before operations commenced, that they could “take that to the bank.”) Given the other times the Bushies have been caught doing this, their withholding of Reagan and Bush Sr. papers, and the general moral turpitude of this administration, one has to wonder how snarled up the historical record is at this point.
Two-Front War.
I haven’t spoken much about it here, but obviously the situation in Iraq is getting much, much worse. I think it’s now safe to assume that our war president‘s June 30 pullout date is an election-year fantasy. Who the hell’s running this half-assed outfit? You’d think that after getting us involved in this unnecessary sideshow of a war, Bush and the neocons would at least have the decency to execute it properly. But, no, they’re still prattling on about a peaceful transfer of power and hoping we ignore the unmistakable signs of an incipient civil war, and all the while the US casualties mount. What’s the plan? (War prez link via Medley.)
Werewolves of Baghdad.
Slate correspondent Daniel Benjamin pokes holes in Condi and Rummy’s recent spurious comparisons between postwar Iraq and Germany. Yep, it’s more revisionist history emanating from Team Dubya. In related news, Jack Beatty laments Dubya’s lack of postwar vision, which now seems ever more constrained to lining the coffers of Halliburton.
Bottom-Dealing.
Remember the officers punished for complaining about Rummy’s Iraq exit strategy (or lack thereof)? It seems the powers-that-be have looked the other way while marines created Dem-threatening cards. Tsk, tsk…
Grand Slam, Eggs Rummy.
“Now is not the time or the place to talk. It’s the time to order, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.” Donald Rumsfeld orders breakfast at Denny’s.
Dropping the Other Shoe.
In a strange moment of candor, Wolfowitz tells Vanity Fair that the WMD argument for overthrowing Saddam was chosen “for bureaucratic reasons,” since “it was the one reason everyone could agree on.” (He also lends credence to the argument advanced in this Fred Kaplan article that removing troops from Saudi Arabia was one of the central purposes of the Iraq war.) Meanwhile, in the same AP story, the head of US Marines in Iraq says of the WMDs, “they’re simply not there.” Looks like the Bushies have some explaining to do…If they follow the usual pattern, I suspect they’ll answer any tough question with a flurry of 9/11-esque horror stories.
Running the Table.
Although Saddam’s regime appears to be on its last legs, the Bushies have not yet begun to fight. In fact, this administration now seems recommitted to the task of destroying whatever remaining credibility America has left in the Middle East and the international community. For, despite recent setbacks in Afghanistan, Rummy, Wolfowitz, and the rest of Dubya’s neocon hawks now turn to Syria as the best candidate for our next splendid little war, a war that even England is loath to enter. And one has to assume Iran, Irkutsk, and Yakutsk are next. (Then maybe the Bushies will be content to take a card.)