Bush-Cheney's current rhetoric on the Middle East seems designed to provoke Iran and the bellicosity is strengthening Iranian hardliners.
PS - Bush is sending 21,000 combat troops. The actual escalation is closer to 50,000.
Iraq is at the stage where escalation of American involvement is the wrong answer. If the administration was going for a temporary surge and then starting to withdraw later this year - fine, but I don't think it will work, that is the wrong policy, and my track record on Iraq, like Molly Ivin's, has been so much better than theirs. When do we finally stop listening to people who have been constantly wrong?
ADDED - Bush submits a cut-and-run budget, completely out of Iraq by early 2009.
UPDATE: TONY BLAIR was warned today to stop the Americans and Israelis from launching a "disastrous" military strike against Iran rumored to be scheduled soon.
LAT: Leonard Weiss and Larry Diamond: Congress must stop an attack on Iran.
It is, of course, possible that the president's truculent language and actions toward Iran are a bluff, an attempt to rein in its irresponsible behavior.Last ditch effort for Iraq - call in the social scientists.
But the administration's mendacious and incompetent course of action in taking the nation to war with Iraq gives us no reason to provide the president with the benefit of any doubt. And stiffening economic sanctions — at a time when Iran's economy is ailing and the regime is losing popular support — offers a better and safer prospect of exerting leverage.
Another war of choice would only pour fuel on the fires of the Middle East. And the history of this administration shows that if Congress does not constrain this president, he could well act recklessly again, in ways that would profoundly damage our national interest.
Juan Cole: Iraqi authorities estimate that 1,000 Iraqis have been killed in political violence in the past week. The US military admitted that 4 military helicopters have been shot down by guerrillas in recent weeks, killing 20 servicemen, along with one helicopter belonging to civilian security guards. Also - Bush laughed at in popular Arab video.
Malkin urges Senators - don't watch or read the news media, get you Iraqi information from biased right-wing bloggers. We provide the only real 'fair and balanced' news.
Think Progress - 57: Percentage of Americans who say it is likely that the United States will be at war with Iran before another year goes by.
Increasingly hardline US position on Iran.
Froomkin: How the media can prevent another Iraq.
Confused over who the administration supports in Iraq? Lets choose the best option.
U.S. Soldiers in Iraq already view troop surge as a lost cause.
"To be honest, it's going to be like this for a long time to come, no matter what we do," said Hardy, 25, of Atlanta. "I think some people in America don't want to know about all this violence, about all the killings. The people back home are shielded from it; they get it sugar-coated."
No comments:
Post a Comment