Watching Iraq from our rear-view mirror
NOTE: This post, a copy of today’s AJC column, includes material published earlier on the blog.
Eight years ago this week, the Bush administration was set to launch an all-out “shock and awe” publicity campaign designed to drive us into war in Iraq. (You may recall that the effort was held back until after Labor Day because, as a White House official later explained, “from a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new products in August.”)
It’s important that the American people remember that campaign, because it reminds us how easily fear can be used to manipulate public opinion. Dire warnings of mushroom clouds rising over American cities and of Iraqi unmanned aerial vehicles launching WMD attacks against us may seem implausible in hindsight, but coming from top U.S. officials, they seemed all too real. Over the next few months, they frightened the American people and Congress into an ill-conceived invasion that would cost more than 4,000 American lives and hundreds of billions of dollars.
Tonight, President Obama is scheduled to go on national television to announce that the U.S. combat role in Iraq has finally ended. Although 50,000 troops remain, they are no longer actively deployed in support of Iraqi security. In fact, in his radio address Saturday, Obama reiterated his pledge that “by the end of next year, all of our troops will be home.”
The most interesting thing about the president’s speech tonight will be its tone. As he did Saturday, Obama will no doubt offer a well-deserved tribute to the more than a million Americans who have served in uniform in Iraq. He is also certain to note that the drawdown honors his 2008 campaign pledge. (It’s hard to give him a lot of credit for that, though, since the withdrawal schedule was largely set by President Bush.)
In a speech last week to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vice President Joe Biden was largely upbeat about the situation in Iraq, noting that violence has decreased from three or four years ago and that Iraqi security forces now have responsibility for defending their country. Biden also claimed that “Iraqi leaders who once settled disputes through violence are at this very moment ironing out their differences in face-to-face negotiations,” predicting that those negotiations will soon produce a new Iraqi government.
I wish I shared Biden’s optimism, but I don’t. While the 2007 surge of U.S. troops succeeded in halting the unraveling of Iraq, the larger goals of the surge remain unmet. The Iraqis have yet to enact an oil law to fairly distribute the proceeds of their national wealth, and they have yet to work out how to share power among their major sects. As a result, more than five months after national elections in March, no new national government has taken shape.
And without progress, there will be regression. Although it remains below peak levels, violence has begun to increase again, and the Iraqi people appear increasingly discouraged about the prospects of democracy actually functioning. Each week without an elected government moves them closer to reverting to cruder, more familiar forms of authority.
For all those reasons and more, I suspect that Obama will be more careful than Biden in expressing his expectations about Iraq’s future. At best, he could argue that the U.S. military mission in Iraq has been a success, but he cannot claim that the war itself has been won.
In fact, the Iraq war is likely to end as the war in Vietnam ended. That doesn’t mean that the last Americans in Baghdad will have to be airlifted by helicopter from the Green Zone. It does mean that as in Vietnam, events in Iraq have now been arranged to allow U.S. forces to be withdrawn under seemingly honorable conditions, leaving Iraq’s future to be determined by Iraqis.
As it should have been all along.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
305 comments Add your comment
Normal
August 31st, 2010
10:39 am
I lived just accross the freeway from Pat Robertson’s palace/college/mosque when I was in the Navy. Quite a sight. Had armed guards at the gate to his house though. Imagine that.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
10:40 am
Bosch
August 31st, 2010
10:38 am
Hmm, let me see if it fits.
Kiss my lib.
Stop acting like a lib.
Don’t be such a lib.
This stupid lib pulled right out in front of me.
I don’t know Bosch. It just doesn’t seem to have the necessary flair of the original.
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
10:41 am
Bosch –
Woman: (sneezes and moans several times)
Man: “Excuse me, but is everything OK?”
Woman: “Yes, it’s just that I have this condition where every time I sneeze I have an orgasm.”
Man: “Yikes! Are you taking anything for it?”
Woman: (smiling) “Pepper.”
Paul
August 31st, 2010
10:41 am
sfd 10:19
The theme of the post was how the Beck/King example illustrate the tactics of those who disagree with them. With Beck, it’s the familiar playbook of personal attacks, demonizing, searching for character flaws to weaken credibility and support.
My experience on this blog is that flaws in Dr. King’s past are raised in response to this tactic by the Left on one of their heroes. The Left, perceiving it an effective tactic, minimizes or downplays its importance relative to their icons.
It has nothing to do with length of service. There was, what, 11 years from Dr. King assuming leadership of the SCLC to his assassination, while Beck’s been on Fox how long? If anything, that illustrates how rapidly the Left moves against those whom they want to neutralize.
Bosch
August 31st, 2010
10:42 am
Blog God has turned all Puritanical…..
Bruno
August 31st, 2010
10:42 am
“The “pre trib rapture” is a hotly debated topic nowadays, but if you believe in it, then Jerry’s right.”
Leg Lamp–If I’ve learned one thing on this earth, it’s that reality and our THOUGHTS about reality are two distinct entities. All the debates/hopes/wishes in the world don’t change Physics.
As I stated to Mike last night, if you want to get your Bible out, we can together discuss the beautiful concepts of Grace and Salvation. But, the moment you start claiming that mythological stories are factual in a Scientific fashion, then you open yourself up to ridicule.
Normal
August 31st, 2010
10:43 am
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
10:41 am
WillieBee
August 31st, 2010
10:44 am
Where are the racist allegations from the media about the government supported Sharpton rally? His crowd sure looked a lot less diverse than the Beck rally.
stands for decibels
August 31st, 2010
10:45 am
dB – 10:19 – you liberals and your excuses …
Driving to work this morning, I allowed myself to listen to thirty-seven minutes of professional concern troll Little Tommy Friedman being interviewed by Brian Lehrer. I don’t really have an excuse for that.
But anyway, Friedman informed me that he was perfectly fine with building “the World Trade Center Mosque”, he supported the people who provided the permitting, etc. All very good. Very civilized, nothing to offend the New York Times’ readership, nor NPR’s listeners.
You know there’s a “but” coming, right? I’ll paraphrase Mister “Suck on This”–
“…but wouldn’t it be good if they raised the money for this World Trade Center Mosque project from a million American Muslims, sending ten dollars each, in support of this outreach?” For good measure Little Tommy repeated this to make sure we Got It.
There was something so… so our-Paul about this.
So very “Yes, I’ve carefully considered both sides and I’ve staked out a Perfectly Reasonable position. But I will feed the FoxNews Stupids something they can hang on so that I will continue to have some cred in the opposite camp, if only to get myself quoted far and wide as That Liberal Who Can Bravely Disagree With You Dirty Hippies.”
And really, to fully appreciate how intellectually dishonest and offensive his little “one million Mooselems” bit really is, consider this. Consider how I’d be regarded if I were to note a local synagogue or Jewish community center being built, somewhere. Suppose I were to suggest “sure, this is a nice synagogue they’re building, but wouldn’t it be nice if it were funded by a million American Jews sending ten bucks apiece, to tell the world they’re not cool with Israel routinely incinerating Palestinian children in retaliation for some jerry-rigged Hamas attack? Very reasonable suggestion, yes?”
I’d go on, but I’ve probably fed my soul’s Evil Wolf enough this morning.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
10:46 am
Bruno
August 31st, 2010
10:42 am
I wasn’t trying to drag you into a debate. As I said, the pre-trib and post-trib camps debate this issue regularly. I know of a preacher who does NOT believe in pre-trib rapture but won’t preach his stance because the majority of his church members subscribe to the pre-trib school of thought.
My thoughts? I believe God can do anything. I just don’t waste a lot of time trying to figure out just what He can do, why He would do it, and how would He do it.
@@
August 31st, 2010
10:48 am
Bruno:
Why it was just the other day when you committed yourself to letting the topic of religion go…
yet here you are.
The rapture is never mentioned in the scriptures, and me, being the crummy Christian, you have deemed me to be, don’t share in Falwell’s interpretation. O.K. with you????
A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma….are we not?
Finn McCool
August 31st, 2010
10:49 am
What is it with conservatives claiming some conservatives aren’t “real” conservatives just because they might disagree on some points?
This is eerily close to the christian mantra that unless you believe exactly what I believe then you aren’t a real christian and you can’t get into heaven. Where does this arrogance come from?
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
10:50 am
Finn McCool
August 31st, 2010
10:49 am
“What is it with conservatives claiming some conservatives aren’t “real” conservatives just because they might disagree on some points?”
Who are you talking about?
Bosch
August 31st, 2010
10:50 am
Off to probate — later folks!
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
10:51 am
dB – “I’d go on, but I’ve probably fed my soul’s Evil Wolf enough this morning”
gah … it’s like hearing an awful song on the way to work and planting hte ear worm on everyone else you see … evil. just evil. and Friedman’s 15 minutes should sooooooo be up by now.
stands for decibels
August 31st, 2010
10:51 am
The theme of the post was how the Beck/King example illustrate the tactics of those who disagree with them.
Paul, I’m well aware of what you were trying to do. It’s little posts like that, that remind me that as reasonable as you can sound most of the time and as swell a guy as I’m sure you are, that you continue to get a decent share of talking points from the likes of BOR, and that for all the efforts you make to be reasonable there are some things you and I simply aren’t going to be in synch with, perhaps ever.
Put another way—if you really want to do a like:like comparison of Beck’s peeps:MLK’s peeps, here’s a shovel. Feel free to keep digging.
anyway, other stuff awaits. Back later…
Finn McCool
August 31st, 2010
10:52 am
Where are the racist allegations from the media about the government supported Sharpton rally?
Sharpton’s rally wasn’t a “pity the black man” rally. The Beck rally was a “pity the white man rally”.
Bruno
August 31st, 2010
10:53 am
“My thoughts? I believe God can do anything. I just don’t waste a lot of time trying to figure out just what He can do, why He would do it, and how would He do it.”
No problem, LL. You’re certainly entitled to your beliefs. I guess what puzzles me is the intense desire on the part of Christians and other religious groups to believe in supernatural phenomena, despite all evidence to the contrary. To me, Nature is more than phenomenal in Her own right.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
10:53 am
Finn McCool
August 31st, 2010
10:52 am
Sharpton is a tragedy pimp. I wouldn’t use him to support anything I might say.
stands for decibels
August 31st, 2010
10:53 am
one other thing:
the pre-trib and post-trib camps
I doubt I will see anything funnier than that all this week.
Finn McCool
August 31st, 2010
10:53 am
Leg wrote: “Who are you talking about?”
Well, since you asked, leg, on the previous page you claim Hitchens isn’t a conservative. I don’t suppose you ever heard him defend W on the Bill Maher show the past several years?
But in your book, he isn’t a “real” conservative?
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
10:55 am
Bruno
August 31st, 2010
10:53 am
I won’t speak for other Christians, but mine is not based on a belief “in supernatural phenomena”. Instead, mine is based on faith. Faith in a higher power. Faith in a sovereign God. Pretty simple actually.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
10:57 am
Finn McCool
August 31st, 2010
10:53 am
Hitchens describes himself as a socialist. I’ll take his word on himself over yours.
Bruno
August 31st, 2010
10:57 am
“Why it was just the other day when you committed yourself to letting the topic of religion go…”
I never made such a commitment. My commitment was to stop judging whether bloggers/people lived up to the high standards they set for themselves by claiming that they are great Christians.
“O.K. with you????”
Why are you asking my permission? That seems to be at odds with your oft’ repeated statements that anything I say is irrelevant to you.
Paul
August 31st, 2010
10:58 am
sfd 10:45
Having a difficult time discerning your point. Are you saying if Muslims in America raised the money it would be no different, or neutral, compared to Muslims outside America raising money to build the mosque? And that the same applies to any religious group in America?
sfd 10:51
“Paul, I’m well aware of what you were trying to do. It’s little posts like that, that remind me that as reasonable as you can sound most of the time and as swell a guy as I’m sure you are, that you continue to get a decent share of talking points from the likes of BOR,”
See, you just illustrated the point. You began with a backhanded compliment, then immediately associated me with a Fox commentator, completely disregarding the fact books that predate any particular commentator have been written on the subject. You didn’t address the questions or issues raised – just went right in with personal comments.
Scoreboard!
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
10:59 am
“the pre-trib and post-trib camps
I doubt I will see anything funnier than that all this week.”
I just don’t understand what the Chicago Tribune has to do with it.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:01 am
Finn McCool
August 31st, 2010
10:53 am
Here’s further evidence of Hitchens’s “conservatism”.
“In 2006 in a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania debating the Jewish Tradition with Martin Amis, Hitchens commented on his political philosophy by stating “I am no longer a socialist, but I still am a Marxist”. In 2009, in an article for The Atlantic entitled “The Revenge of Karl Marx”, Hitchens frames the late-2000s recession in terms of Marx’s economic analysis and notes how much Marx admired the capitalist system he was calling for the end of, but says that Marx ultimately failed to grasp how revolutionary capitalist innovation was. Hitchens was and still is a strong admirer of Argentine revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, commenting that “[Che's] death meant a lot to me and countless like me at the time, he was a role model, albeit an impossible one for us bourgeois romantics insofar as he went and did what revolutionaries were meant to do — fought and died for his beliefs.”"
larry
August 31st, 2010
11:03 am
Here’s an interesting read for your lunchtime about my buddy, Paul Broun Jr. and why i want him out of Congress. Its a little long but it is a good read.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/08/31/will_bunch_the_backlash
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:04 am
Finn McCool
August 31st, 2010
10:53 am
One last reference on the “conservative” Hitchens.
“In 2009 Hitchens was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the “25 most influential liberals in the U.S. media”. However, the same article noted that he would “likely be aghast to find himself on this list”, since it reduces his self-styled radicalism to mere liberalism.”
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
11:05 am
Tear it down, blow it up, build it part way back, abandon it,
another failed government program…
JF McNamara
August 31st, 2010
11:05 am
It’s not our problem anymore. Hopefully, the media start giving Iraq the Darfur treatment. Just don’t report on it, because I don’t want to know.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:06 am
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
10:59 am
Ha! Good one. It truly IS interesting to listen to members of the same church debate the pre-trib versus post-trib philosophies. Both come well prepared for the debate, but I find it amazing that they will sometimes use the same verse to support their position. I don’t believe a pre-trib OR post-trib will happen in my lifetime so I just try to move forward in my faith.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:07 am
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
11:05 am
“another failed government program.”
Sounds like you’ve described LBJ’s “Great Society”?
GOP is Gone
August 31st, 2010
11:08 am
Iraq in a rear view mirror should hold the warning of “Objects in mirror appear stupider than you Think” After reading David Brook’s take on this subject I can only shake my head in consternation. I wonder if we would ask American’s before we invaded if it would be worth the price in lives and treasure, would they would have been behind it? And not just American lives, our casualties have been miniscule in comparison to Iraqi deaths. Sadam was definitely a very bad guy but in my opinion the entire war was not worth the price of deposing him. Not to mention the black hole it left in the Middle East which Mahmoud Ahma-crazy-jad was more than happy to fill.
I would venture that everyday Iraqis would agree. Brooks mentions they have more cell phones now. Now there’s a trade off, personal communications are up but life expectancy is considerably down. Oh, and oil production is nearly to pre-Sadam levels, and wasn’t that the whole point friends and neighbors? That is a hard choice to make, an I-phone or your kid blown up? I dare say that they might just choose not to be blown up. I doubt if they would ask if there is an app for that?
Iraq was and still is a big fat waste, and will be deemed by history as Bush’s defining failure as a leader.
Cekker
August 31st, 2010
11:08 am
That Luckovich cartoon today is disgraceful. He is too chicken to even let people post. Loser.
Bruno
August 31st, 2010
11:08 am
“Faith in a higher power. Faith in a sovereign God. Pretty simple actually.”
LL–Maybe I’m splitting hairs a little bit, but any God which exists outside of the world we know, who can “do anything” as you stated above, is the very definition of “supernatural”:
1. Of or relating to existence outside the natural world.
2. Attributed to a power that seems to violate or go beyond natural forces.
3. Of or relating to a deity.
4. Of or relating to the immediate exercise of divine power; miraculous.
5. Of or relating to the miraculous.
I understand the motivation for believing in such a supernatural being, given our limited powers of understanding and our desire for security in an unsecure world. Personally, I believe in God as well, or more specifically, Emmanuel: God Within.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:09 am
GOP is Gone …. until November.
Get Real
August 31st, 2010
11:10 am
I still impressed that Obozo and the Dimocrats can and have spent more on the stimulius than the Iraq War cost! But they keep bashing Bush on how much the Iraq War cost! I guess they have never looked in a mirror but then again Pelosi would break a mirror and stop a clock!
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:12 am
“It truly IS interesting to listen to members of the same church debate the pre-trib versus post-trib philosophies”
angels dancing on the head of a pin.
seriously, if there is a god, he’s probably irritated that folks spend so much time on such trivial issues
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:12 am
Bruno
August 31st, 2010
11:08 am
I’m not measuring your faith, or lack thereof. I won’t criticize you for what you believe. I just find it sad that so many relish the opportunity to take a shot at Christian’s about virtually anything. These same people play PC with every other group in the world, but Christian’s are open game.
Get Real
August 31st, 2010
11:13 am
Also funny that no one remembers Biden, Kerry, Hillary, Pelosi, Reid and the list goes on ALL supporting the decision to go to war in Iraq! They all had seen the intellegence reports on WMD’s but when the intellegence reports were found to be somewhat unreliable they all blamed Bush!
Jefferson
August 31st, 2010
11:13 am
Get our troops home.
Dusty
August 31st, 2010
11:17 am
hmmmm
nothing new here this morning.
Bookman throws in the repetetive old bait & barf
USinUK jumps on the “pasty, white” cons
Bosch talks about drinking …alcohol that is..
Bruno talks about religion and somebody’s song
Doggone “corrects’ everybody’s posts
RedNeck is a lying lib
@@ gets admonished for supporting the “great generation”
Paul sits on the fence
Scout speaks for what he believes
Normal, who cries over dead soldiers while giving no support to live ones
AmVet speaks from his self made pedestal.
Is there nothing new for you folks? Every day ..the SAME THING???? Get outside. Get some fresh air..
PS Luckovich’s cartoon today was sick. It was a picture of his own mind.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:17 am
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:12 am
Unfortunately the Bible is often used out of context. Take for instance when Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. He was illustrating how many “rich” people make their wealth their god and cannot seem to let it go. But this verse is often used to ridicule Jesus’s comment. It’s a “big picture” thing. Yoiu can take one verse that says Judas went and hung himself. You can then find another verse in the Bible that says go do ye likewise.
Again, I don’t pretend to have all the answers about the Bible. I just profess to be a Christian and try like crazy to live through Christ’s teachings.
AmVet
August 31st, 2010
11:17 am
B, great Deep Blue Sun song.
I (sic) still impressed that Obozo and the Dimocrats can and have spent more on the stimulius (sic) than the Iraq War cost…
So is I, English teacher.
What a shame though that the stimulus was ostensibly for the benefit of American families and not for the furtherance of the failed military industrial complex.
Priorities, man, priorities.
Off to pay for some welfare for the wealthy…
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:21 am
ohnoes!!! Dusty is displeased!!!
quick! sacrifice something!!!
TaxPayer
August 31st, 2010
11:21 am
If Beck could undo the Bush era, that would go a long way toward restoring the honor of the cons. I don’t see that happening though because the cons, including Bush, think they have done no wrong. Losers.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:23 am
Faux TaxPayer
August 31st, 2010
11:21 am
Wow, how insightful. And so sincere as well.
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:24 am
leg – 11:17 – and that’s the most anyone can ask … like I said, when people start nitpicking, all I can picture is the Almighty giving himself a facepalm over people not getting what they’re actually here FOR
Jumping Turtle
August 31st, 2010
11:26 am
Just a quickie———————-
We know Saddam once HAD WMDs because,
our Harvard educated State-Department had the receipts.
Bruno
August 31st, 2010
11:27 am
“I’m not measuring your faith, or lack thereof. I won’t criticize you for what you believe.”
No problem, LL, that’s probably the most loving position to take anyway. The reason I don’t buy into mainstream Christian/Jewish/Muslim thought is due to the dichotomy which is created by appeals to the supernatural. In my entire life, I have never seen the Laws of Physics violated. To be forced to repudiate everything I have seen/heard/felt/experienced in order to join some club, however grandiose the promises of an afterlife that membership to that club includes, is too steep of a price to pay for me. I’ve got enough of my own schizophrenia to deal with without having to rationalize two different realities: the reality we can see, hear, taste, touch and smell vs. the reality described in supernaturally based books like the Bible.
“I just find it sad that so many relish the opportunity to take a shot at Christian’s about virtually anything. These same people play PC with every other group in the world, but Christian’s are open game.”
I can’t speak for others, since I lump all mythology into the same boat, but my guess is that Christianity is picked on more here in the US simply because it is far and away the dominant religion. Thus far, I have never been proselytized by a Muslim, Buddhist or Shinto.
TaxPayer
August 31st, 2010
11:27 am
Wow, how insightful. And so sincere as well.
Oh, stop it, Leg of Lamp. Your praise is just too much. I’m gonna blush.
Big D
August 31st, 2010
11:28 am
Leg lamp..
The original passage was” it would be easier to pass a camel through THE (not A) eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” The eye of the needle was a very low gate to old Jerusalem and you had to get off and lead your animal through. It was intended to mean difficult not impossible.
@@
August 31st, 2010
11:28 am
Bruno:
My commitment was to stop judging whether bloggers/people lived up to the high standards they set for themselves by claiming that they are great Christians.
And I was your intended target, yet you failed to offer any evidence where I claimed I was a great Christian. To the contrary…I’ve admitted to my flaws while asking no one to meet a standard other than the one they feel comfortable with. It’s for God to judge whether they meet His standard.
You, on the other hand…seem to possess a fount of knowledge and advice to offer on the subject.
The thing I find most peculiar is how so many on the left ask that religion/faith/what-have-you be held within a private space. jay’s left-wingers wanna bring it into a public forum time and time again. Even when the topic is, in no way, related to faith/religion.
A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma…
Party on.
John Birch
August 31st, 2010
11:30 am
Jay, please tell us why we invaded Iraq, inquiring minds want to know.
Bruno
August 31st, 2010
11:32 am
“Bruno talks about religion and somebody’s song”
I’m confused, Dusty. You got something against religion?? Music??
“Is there nothing new for you folks? Every day ..the SAME THING???? Get outside. Get some fresh air.”
Physician, heal thyself.
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:33 am
“jay’s left-wingers ”
got that B-dog … you left-winger, pinko, commie, socialist, fascist, you …
Paul
August 31st, 2010
11:33 am
Hi Dusty!
“Paul sits on the fence”
Hardly. I just don’t feel compelled to see everything in terms of “here are your only TWO choices. Choose ONE.”
John Birch
August 31st, 2010
11:34 am
Maybe Iraq won’t be a stable democracy as many of us would hope. Maybe that’s because Obama published his withdrawal schedule in th NY Times. While the cost in lives and dollars is horrendous, the implication that the Iraqis will wid up doing what they wold have done anyway is insulting and preposterous. Here are a few of th epositives. An evil dictator was displaced. The Iraqis have at last a chance at democracy, a chance they certainly wouldn’t have had otherwise. Tens of thousands of terrorists have been killed. There hasn’t been another 9/11 tragedy. The oil has been flowing.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:35 am
Big D
August 31st, 2010
11:28 am
Thanks. I had heard that before, but the metaphor I mentioned is what I’ve heard more times than not. Both work for me.
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:35 am
well … since we’re all addressing the individual criticisms … “USinUK jumps on the “pasty, white” cons”
I’ll do a lot of things with pasty, white conservatives (btw – you forgot fat) … jump on them, however, is not on the list …
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:36 am
“Maybe Iraq won’t be a stable democracy as many of us would hope. Maybe that’s because Obama published his withdrawal schedule in th NY Times”
yeah. it’s was on such a great trajectory before then.
TaxPayer
August 31st, 2010
11:36 am
A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma…
Confucius say, Ponder not what the egg roll is made of.
AmVet
August 31st, 2010
11:37 am
“quick! sacrifice something!!!”
The old gal is consistent, you gotta give her that.
She seldom discusses the issue at hand, but she is ALWAYS troubled about somebody here.
If she couldn’t show up from time to time and serially insult numerous people, she would have to have some other hobby.
And if Bookman insisted that bloggers actually talk about the issues and not each other she would have been gone LONG ago.
OK, off to pay for more welfare for the wealthy…
Dusty
August 31st, 2010
11:38 am
Bruno, dear heart,
I have nothing against religion or music. I just don’t like to see it used as fiddle faddle on a blog for discussion.
TaxPayer
August 31st, 2010
11:38 am
Only a con would consider the outcome in Iraq as a trillion dollars well spent while just sayin’ “charge it” and then complain about the bill when it comes due.
Bruno
August 31st, 2010
11:39 am
“You, on the other hand…seem to possess a fount of knowledge and advice to offer on the subject.”
Why thank you, @@. I do try.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:40 am
TaxPayer
August 31st, 2010
11:38 am
And just how well spent has been the money thrown at LBJ’s “Great Society” programs? It far outweighs the $1 trillion you have assigned to Iraq.
Doggone/GA
August 31st, 2010
11:43 am
“yeah. it’s was on such a great trajectory before then”
and it was negotiated in the SOFA with Iraq by George Bush, et al
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:44 am
Doggone – 11:43 – yet another example of the “everything was going along swimmingly before the Kenyan got here” philosophy …
Honu
August 31st, 2010
11:45 am
Congratulations, Dusty @ 11:17a — the comment you made about Normal and his non-support for live soldiers makes you the biggest jerk posting here today. That is truly beyond the pale. . .
(Sorry in advance, Jay — I’ll dial it back, but I just couldn’t let that one slide. If anyone supports the soldiers, it’s Normal.)
SMDH up here. . .
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:45 am
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:44 am
No, no, no. It’s not “before the Kenyan got here”. It’s “before the Muslim got here”.
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:46 am
leg – I thought it was before the half-breed muslin got here
http://img.wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/obama-half-breed-muslin.jpg
@@
August 31st, 2010
11:47 am
Bruno:
Why thank you, @@. I do try.
Yes you do! All the while, declaring that everyone else’s fount runs dry, and that their advice is not welcome.
Whatever, dude. Again! It’s that mote/moot thingy.
John Birch
August 31st, 2010
11:47 am
USINUK – When Obama took office Iraq was on a better or worse trajectory (to use your phrase) than it was when Bush took office?
Doggone/GA
August 31st, 2010
11:48 am
“When Obama took office Iraq was on a better or worse trajectory (to use your phrase) than it was when Bush took office?”
It should not have been on ANY trajectory involving US forces at all. We had not business being there in the first place.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:49 am
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:46 am
One last correction – “before the mulatto muslin got here.”
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
11:52 am
Big D
August 31st, 2010
11:28 am
Leg lamp..
The original passage was” it would be easier to pass a camel through THE (not A) eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”
———————————————————————————————————
probably should read; it would be easier to pass a camel, than for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of heaven..
Big D
August 31st, 2010
11:53 am
USinUK….11:35
Just what would you “jump” on…
inquiring minds would like to know…
Big D
August 31st, 2010
11:54 am
Frog…
Now, that was funny…
joe
August 31st, 2010
11:55 am
I agree with Jay on this…hope Iraq to become a stable country in an area of the world where unstable countrys and dictatorships are the norm.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
11:57 am
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
11:52 am
That’s no big deal. I drove past a camel once at a petting zoo (thus satisfying the stipulation that I “pass” a camel).
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:57 am
John Birch – 11:47 – no, I don’t think there are a lot of differences between Iraq today and Iraq in December 2008.
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
11:59 am
Big D – 11:53 – trampolines.
conclusions.
my husband. any day of the week. (twice on sundays). or my celebrity free pass, Damian Lewis.
Normal
August 31st, 2010
12:00 pm
Honu
August 31st, 2010
11:45 am
Thank you for your kind words, but don’t blame Dusty, In her alter-world, G.W. Bush is the Second Coming and she can’t stand any implication that he is not. Also, she doesn’t understand that by constantly reminding our “Leaders”(whatever ilk they be) about the lives lost by our young men and women on such a useless, doomed cause, may actually help bring our live children home sooner.
But thank you again.
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
12:00 pm
Leg Lamp 11:57 if it’s that easy i guess the rich will stroll the
streets of gold..
USinUK
August 31st, 2010
12:00 pm
leg – “(thus satisfying the stipulation that I “pass” a camel)”
as long as it’s that kind of pass … any other kind doesn’t bear thinking about.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
12:02 pm
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
12:00 pm
Don’t know if they’ll stoll it, but perhaps they could fund it.
Normal
August 31st, 2010
12:02 pm
When I smoked, I smoked Camels, does that count?
I’ll tell you one thing though, it sure was hard keeping them lit…
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
12:02 pm
Leg Lamp, USinUK, like always the rich guy gets a pass…
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
12:04 pm
Normal 12:02 which end did you light?
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
12:04 pm
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
12:02 pm
That or a good looking woman….
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
12:05 pm
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
12:04 pm
If you light the wrong end of a camel you stand the chance of being incinerated by a blue dart.
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
12:08 pm
leg lamp 12:05 yeh but the camel go through the needle
eye quicker..
TaxPayer
August 31st, 2010
12:08 pm
Only a con is ignorant enough to believe that their trillion dollar war can be paid for with a tax cut too.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award", much like Cynthia Tucker's Pulitzer and Obama's Nobel
August 31st, 2010
12:10 pm
barking frog
August 31st, 2010
12:08 pm
Ha! good point.
John Birch
August 31st, 2010
12:29 pm
USINUK – Well the Kurds aren’t being used as guineas to see whether or not the nerve gas works, but the Sunni-Shiite civil war may be more imminent, since Saddam was pretty good at repressing that. As long as they’re no threat to us, which includes stopping the oil flow, I don’t care what they do.
ken
August 31st, 2010
12:32 pm
The opening scene of the war was excellent. The closing scene will be terrible.
Dusty
August 31st, 2010
12:33 pm
Sorry, Honu and Normal
Unless you think our troops cannot read, posting words about what a useless job our troops are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan is NOT supportive.
If you want to tell the leaders of our country that you disagree with our military policies, don’t broadcast it to the people who are fighting for us at our command. Write to your president, congress and representatives. Don’t try to demoralize our troops by undermining them in public. THAT is NOT support.
Now I have more important things to do than post all day on a liberal blog where conservative opinions are ridiculed ad nauseum. I come when I feel like it just as you do. Isn’t free speech wonderful. Why waste it?
How are the turtles, Honu? Did you rescue some in the Gulf?
Mick
August 31st, 2010
12:34 pm
Dusty
I disagree, that luckovich cartoon is spot on. As great as America was, and still is in many respects, we trashed that country and its people for a lie, WMD. Remember, this plan was on the books as soon as cheney errr bush was selected president. What’s your take on jimmy carter, georgia’s native son? Now, there is a truly honest man but definately not one of our better presidents in my opinion,