July 11 Comes and Goes: No Iraq Indicators
July 11 Comes and Goes: No Iraq Indicators
Two weeks ago, David Broder pointed out that the Bush administration would soon face a congressionally mandated make-or-break moment regarding its Iraq policy:
Under a little-noticed provision of the defense spending bill passed by Congress in May, Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld has until July 11 to send Capitol Hill a “comprehensive set of performance indicators and measures of stability and security” two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein […]
The information required is specific and detailed. It includes measures of the security environment, including the number of engagements per day, the count of trained Iraqi forces and more. It orders up indicators of economic activity. It directs Rumsfeld to provide — either in public or in classified annexes — an estimate of U.S. military forces needed in Iraq through the end of calendar 2006 and the criteria the administration will use to determine when it is safe to begin withdrawing forces.
The deadline came and went yesterday without a peep from DoD. Today, a Pentagon spokesperson told me that those Iraq indicators have indeed been “delayed” and that there is currently no specific date set for their release. Apparently the administration is willing to do just about anything — including violate the law — to avoid giving Americans a detailed assessment of our progress (or lack thereof) in Iraq.
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32 Responses to “July 11 Comes and Goes: No Iraq Indicators”
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Wowyzowi! So, are you the only one who noticed that Rumsfeld missed the deadline?
Doesn’t he get detention or something? Fined? Do we have to sue DoD to get them to comply with Congress? A lot of good that would do anyway, huh?
Does anyone have any doubt now who is behind the throne in this country? Where’s the money? Who’s calling the shots?
The election 2000 was a military coup and this is what we have to look forward to until we take this country back from the Pentagon.
July 12th, 2005 at 3:42 pmI wonder where our Founders saw the “War Department” in the grand scheme of checks and balances…
“One of the ideas that George Washington and the other founders of our country believed in was that no one person or group should have too much power. So they spread the power among various parts of the government. They did not want too much power in the hands of the military, so they decided on civilians to represent the army in the executive branch.” - Source
(It is worth noting that this come from a teacher’s lesson on Reading Comprehension)
Even by revisionist historical standards it would be hard to imagine that our Founders intended for the Pentagon to be able to casually ignore the demands of Congress.
July 12th, 2005 at 3:55 pmThat’s the problem when the Republicans control all branches of government and soon the judiciary… It’s a monopoly, like ..hmmm… Microsoft! So, Rummie takes after the software giant:
July 12th, 2005 at 3:59 pm“the program/update/fix will be releashed then… not now, maybe later, when we’re ready…..”
So, What happens next? Is this Contempt of Congress? Will Rummie join Rove in the Brig?
Anyone know?
Z.
July 12th, 2005 at 4:08 pmRummy is included in Ramsey Clarks petition to impeach.
This will be an added charge and make the process so much easier.
Thanks rummy for giving us more ammo.
votetoimpeach.org
July 12th, 2005 at 4:10 pm#3 so how is that different from when democrats controlled everything way back when? It wasn’t a monopoly when Kennedy and LBJ were in office and you had even a larger majority in congress?
July 12th, 2005 at 4:42 pmKennedy and LBJ weren’t wacko loons like the current bunch.
July 12th, 2005 at 4:48 pmThis needs to be section A news, not in editorials and not solely covered by Think Progress.
July 12th, 2005 at 4:54 pmThat is your opinion and you are entitled to it because the last time I checked this is still a free country thanks to our men and women in the armed services protecting it. I happen to think that LBJ was a far bigger kook than any president we have ever had.
July 12th, 2005 at 4:58 pm“That is your opinion and you are entitled to it because the last time I checked this is still a free country thanks to our men and women in the armed services protecting it.”
No. No. No. This is a free country because citizens demand and CAN demand accountability from their government “By for and of the people”. The military, just as in this illegal Iraq war, simply do what they’re told. They will stomp on our freedoms if told to do so, much like what you saw at the national Republican convention when there were mass arrests of protesters exercising the very freedoms you mention.
July 12th, 2005 at 5:25 pmThat is your opinion and you are entitled to it because the last time I checked this is still a free country thanks to our men and women in the armed services protecting it. I happen to think that LBJ was a far bigger kook than any president we have ever had.
Comment by Always Right
Blow it out your ass. Since 1945 the ACLU and even the NRA has had more to do with keeping our country free than the military. You are a moron. But if it gives you goosebumps to fantasize about about such paranoid silliness, go watch Red Dawn another 5 times again today. Just substitute Saddam’s Republican Guard for the Cubans and Russians, you incredibly sick cretin.
July 12th, 2005 at 5:32 pm#3 so how is that different from when democrats controlled everything way back when? It wasn’t a monopoly when Kennedy and LBJ were in office and you had even a larger majority in congress?
Comment by Always Right  July 12, 2005
“You guys did it first!” Damn right! And it’s really going to hurt this time. Bend over.
July 12th, 2005 at 5:36 pmI happen to think that LBJ was a far bigger kook than any president we have ever had.
What exactly did LBJ do that has you classifying him as a “kook” (other than being a Democrat)?
Or are you just angry that he actually managed to pass all that “awful” civil rights legislation?
Can you show how LBJ was “kookier” than say, Andrew Jackson?
July 12th, 2005 at 6:22 pmAlways Right is an incredibly xenophobic and paranoid stooge. Your typical Bushbot droid.
July 12th, 2005 at 6:55 pmThat is your opinion and you are entitled to it because the last time I checked this is still a free country thanks to our men and women in the armed services protecting it. I happen to think that LBJ was a far bigger kook than any president we have ever had.
Comment by Always Right
Not really sure how my comment attacks the men and women serving in the armed forces of the US. I know that is a common plank to drag out when trying to argue the Bush admin talking points.
example: Liberal: “Gee I think that Rumfsfeld should have listened to his military Generals when they told him we did not have enough forces in Iraq to complete the job”
neocon: “what you don’t support the troops you lousy (insert current insult to democratic party here).
But like you said you are entitled to your opinions.
July 12th, 2005 at 7:39 pmWow… second time in 2 days I feel compelled to point out that the comments get off the subject as soon as a jerk tries to spin it in the direction of partisan politics! We must all be vigilant (in real life and chat rooms) that we do not hand over our debate to the enemy…
July 12th, 2005 at 8:48 pmSara:
Quite right, and I have pointed it out myself quite often. We need to take a page from the GOP playbook:
STAY ON MESSAGE
July 12th, 2005 at 9:16 pmWhats this I hear about a Pentagon leak?
Supposedly there are documents that plan an 06 withdrawal.
Whats Bushco’s angle on this one?
Anybody?
July 12th, 2005 at 9:38 pmIf I were a bookie, I’d lay odds in October 06 our troops start coming home.
And mid-November they go right back in.
July 12th, 2005 at 10:24 pmJohn, Sarah, I think we need a marketplace of ideas, not a message to stay on. “Stay on message” is going to take on an acid sarcasm as more events unfold. Don’t touch it. IMHO.
I quote a great American when I say, I do not belong to any organzied political party. I am a Democrat.
July 12th, 2005 at 10:27 pmDOESNT BUSH KNOW WHAT IS FREEDOM MEANS, SO WHERE THE FREEDOM IS.
July 12th, 2005 at 10:37 pmI think we need a marketplace of ideas, not a message to stay on.
I think you misread my intent. I am not suggesting that we all adopt talking points, and start uttering the same phrases over and over like a mantra.
What I mean is that the ‘marketplace’ be organized, so that when you want to address a particular topic, there is a clear and direct path to it.
Shills come in here and start slinging around nonsense, and all of a sudden the entire forum turns to a “lets comment on the commentor” festival. This is precisely what they intend to happen.
I am merely urging that we focus on the relevant topic, which in this case is the Pentagon being in contempt of Congress, more or less. To discuss anything other than this trivializes the issue at hand.
July 13th, 2005 at 12:03 amYes! Exactly!
July 13th, 2005 at 12:10 amI agree we need a marketplace of ideas, and we need to “police” the marketplace (sorry for the awkward simile, it’s the best I can do at this moment) so that we can learn from each other, instead of thrashing around in angst!
By the way, I am really enjoying this dialogue. Thanks to everyone for their input!
Sorry not to check this myself but I’m a little pressed for time: Does anyone know whether the reporting requirement from the spending bill cited in Nico’s post supercedes a sixty-day update from the DOD that was part of the Senate Joint Resolution 46 (the one that supposedly authorized this war)?
July 13th, 2005 at 5:13 amGeez people chill out. DOD’s failure to produce a very detailed and (most likely) classified report to Congress is not a deliberate or even casual disregard to the Congress. DOD has to do hundreds, if not over a thousand, special reports to Congress as a result of legislation. If it’s late, DOD knows they aren’t off the hook. Don’t get your panties in a hitch. This is just bureaucracy in action.
July 13th, 2005 at 8:41 amJ-
Can you cite any cases in history that backup your assertion that “this is just bureaucracy in action”? I mean, you sound so confident that this sort of thing is just routine, that in a time of war the DoD casually ignores conditions laid out by Congress in a resolution to go to war.
Can you back up this conecept with facts? Or should we just accept your rhetoric, and “not get our panties in a hitch”?
July 13th, 2005 at 8:57 amI can’t get trackback to work, so I’ll note this here. Rumsfeld believes in metrics. He has metrics — lots of them. He is choosing not to provide those metrics to Congress. Back in November, 2003 he talked about the importance of developing metrics. On May 23, 2005, he told NPR that the had a whole series of metrics on Iraq. On May 27, he did a joint briefing with General Casey where Casey twice talked about the Iraq metrics. Links are here. Rumsfeld has the data and is refusing to release it.
July 13th, 2005 at 10:02 amJohn S - see my post here on this subject.
July 13th, 2005 at 10:22 amHrmm… Since it seems he’s failed to pay his bills, they should cut off the electricity to Rumsfields office.
July 13th, 2005 at 10:24 amIt’s not like that’d leave him any more in the dark than he already is…
[…] is Rumsfeld/The Pentagon in contempt of Congress? Rule of law! Rule of law! […]
July 13th, 2005 at 12:23 pmIf, in fact, the DoD is “working on it”, and if, in fact, there has been a delay in putting it together because field officers are compiling requested figures, a sudden death in the typesetter’s family, etc., would it not be the considerate/professional thing to do for the Secretary of Defense, who receives his paycheck and those for his dept., and who was legally charged with providing these figures to Congress as a condition of receiving the defense appropriations in May, to at least write to the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and notify them of the delay (and, perhaps, apologize for it)? Does anyone know if he has done so?
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