The President explains why he's right and everyone else is wrong.
As George Bush's time in office winds down, he's found time to sit down and reflect on his tenure with author Robert Draper. The resulting book is called Dead Certain, the title an apparent reference to Bush's defiance and stubbornness in the face of harsh reality.…
Article comments
126 - Nancy
Aw, now the computer's doing it to me; yesterday it was Doc.
127 - Doug DeLong
I have no problem with his manner of speech
Okie dokie...and would you care to answer part 2 of my question, which was...
Are you willing to endorse his assessment that "we're kicking ass" in Iraq?
128 - Nancy
Hell no-! ;)
129 - Clavos
No, I'm not willing.
I have no idea what the situation is like over there.
I do not trust any of the media reports; they are all (left, right, and center) pushing an agenda.
I trust the politicians' assessments even less.
I do trust the military, because they have their lives on the line, and because I've "been there, done that."
Ask me again when Petraeus presents his report.
130 - Doug DeLong
Ask me again when Petraeus presents his report.
Oh, you mean the Petraeus Report that's going to be written by the White House...that Patraeus Report?
131 - Clavos
Gee, I didn't know that. I thought he'd write his own.
Forget it then.
I guess I'll never know what's going on over there, I'm certainly not going to travel there to find out.
132 - Nancy
Petraeus will write what Georgie Boy (& President Cheney) tell him to, I'm guessing. We'll see in a few if he's an honest man or just another dick-licker.
133 - Doug DeLong
Gee, I didn't know that. I thought he'd write his own. Forget it then. I guess I'll never know what's going on over there, I'm certainly not going to travel there to find out.
I'm gonna go ahead and assume you're being sarcastic, but seriously...you just said that you don't trust politician's assessments of the situation, so how is it you can trust a Patraeus Report that will be written by the White House?
134 - Nancy
I don't. I trust my own assessment, based on what the independently-reported numbers tell me: how many US dead, how many ieds, how many suicide bombings, how many civilians dead, how much we're spending, etc. To paraphrase the song, "put them all together, they spell 'FAILURE....' " I mean, the least Dubya could have done was manage to secure some really good antiquities from the Iraqis, since he couldn't manage to snag control of the oil fields for Halliburton et al. Still, they & Bush's other buddies, the Saudi royals, are lining their pockets well enough with non-bid suppliers contracts, etc.
135 - Doug DeLong
More excellent presidential adventures...
Following up on his incisive "We're kicking ass" comment, the president went to the Sydney Opera House to deliver a speech. After referring to the APEC Summit as the OPEC Summit and thanking the Australian prime minister for sending "Austrian" troops to Iraq, the president...
"strode away from the lectern on a path that would have sent him over a steep drop. Howard and others redirected the president to center stage, where there were steps leading down to the floor of the theater."
That's our president!
Full article here.
136 - Baronius
Doug, if you're going to chronicle all the dumb things Bush says in public, you're going to be busy. I remember people praising his speeches after 9/11, but I don't know because I didn't watch them. I consider him unwatchable. Maybe Clavos is defending Bush's presentation, but I'm sure not. I don't see how anyone can.
Nancy, you've set up a perfect trap. Any good words that Petraeus says are sucking up. Anything negative is being honest. You've set up those traps before. Like with Bush planning a coup: either he does it, or someone talked some sense into him before he tries it. Your theories are unfalsifiable.
137 - gonzo marx
Doug is correct on that one, Clavos...
the WH has already admitted that the report will be written up by the Administration, nothing directly from the Generals, until they show up in front of Congress
but here's the kind of thing to remember when anyone starts talking about the situation, do note that al Anbar province is where all the "success" stories are coming from, and rightly so...it appears that some security matters there are indeed getting better...
well, there's a few reasons for that...going from ONE division of troops to EIGHT divisions is one thing...paying off factions to not fight each other for a few months is another (some of these local "warlords" are being bribed off with American rifles and ammunition)...then there's how you take your statistics
shot in the back of the head counts as "sectarian violence", shot in the front of the head is "criminal activity"
on and on
my fucking favorite bit of shittiness surrounding this fiasco is the stench the Admin raised over the GAO report...which initially said that 3 of the 18 benchmarks passed, the rest failed, was the Admin screaming to get partial credit for the ones where they felt they had "made progress"...
i guess holding themselves to the same kind of standards in something like a war is not going to be as stringent as they hold teachers/schools/students to with "no child left behind"...?
there's an Article all right..."no Iraqi left behind"
heh
Excelsior?
138 - Clavos
Doug,
Re my #131:
No, I wasn't being sarcastic, I honestly had not heard that Petraeus' report was being written by the WH.
A pity.
So, in the absence of information I accept as reliable, I can neither endorse nor repudiate Bush's assessment.
139 - Dan
Retired General James Jones spoke on behalf of his 20-member independent commission of retired military brass created by Congress to evaluate the progress of Iraqi Security Forces yesterday.
Looks as if things are working out.
Democrats are starting to shift positions. No one is calling it a "disaster" anymore.
As is typical, some Dem's are now claiming the success of the surge is reason to begin drawing down. Well duh, that's kind of like what Bush had in mind.
Although I imagine the Dem's draw down strategy will be a race to try and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
140 - gonzo marx
Dan...didn't you see the GAO reports on all of this?
i'd advise folks like yourself, and Clavos to take a look, it's probably the closest any of us can get to a complete and unbiased look at what is actually going on over there
but no matter how ya slice it, failing on at least 11 of the 18 benchmarks is not satisfactory by any standard...and these standards and benchmarks were the ones the Administration signed onto and said "wait until September" for the results...
well, it's September...we have the results...ANY honest and objective view can easily see that failing 11 of 18 is a failure in toto
nuff said...
Excelsior?
141 - Clavos
gonzo,
I've been saying for some time I think we should get the hell out of Iraq.
I wouldn't mind seeing us pulling back ALL our overseas troops and reducing the overall size of the military by at least 50%, either. Put what's left on the borders and coasts.
I'm tired of paying for it; in both blood and money.
And having already personally participated in an idiotic military venture, I'd like to see us withdraw and just mind our own territory.
142 - gonzo marx
Clavos...i'll second that Emotion, as you well know
hey now...i know what we need, some genetic material from Dennis Cuccinich and Ron Paul!
a few hours in the lab splicing...force grow the new clone while it watches the Fountainhead and Easy Rider on endless loops
we could have something here... lemme check my notes
Excelsior?
143 - Clavos
Damn, gonzo, you been checking up on me???
"...the Fountainhead and Easy Rider..."
Two of my all-time favorite works-never saw the Fountainhead movie, but read the book a couple of times, and actually did a term paper in college (my whole grade for the course; had one of those really hippy-dippy 60s profs for that course) on Easy Rider. Got an A, too.
144 - Dr Dreadful
Doug:
That 14-hour flight to Sydney is enough to fry anyone's brain, let alone Bush's. What a classic, though. I'm sure the Aussies loved it.
Just a shame that Stan's out of the country and missed it.
145 - Dan
Gonzo, the GAO report you referenced is from 2004. Not to nitpick though. Clearly an understandable error.
A more comprehensive view of what the 18 benchmarks mean is to understand that if all 18 are met, Iraq would be peachy keen. And it would be time to come home.
In the highlight of the study, the GAO acknowledges that Public Law 110-28 requires different standards from their study and the administrations assessment.
GAO:
"In comparison, the Act requires the administration to report in July and September 2007 whether satisfactory progress is being made toward meeting the benchmarks, not whether the benchmarks have been met."
One benchmark that has failed is the one requiring legislation to be enacted and implemented requiring equitable distribution of energy resources benefiting different groups of Iraqi's. Although "3 of 4 components have been drafted" they're yet to be considered by the Iraqi Parliment.
Another legislative benchmark has been drafted, and enacted, but won't be implemented until 2008. So there's no hope of satisfying that benchmark for several months.
So far there are 3 benchmarks met, and another 4 partially met. To be fair, there are several benchmarks the GAO reports no progress on, and a couple where there appears to be some backsliding.
I suspect war supporters will see "satisfactory progress" and war opponents will see failure.
146 - Nancy
Baronius #136: thank you; I've been studying Gonzo.