Washington Post: Escalation advocates are ‘courageous.’
By on Jan 7th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Washington Post: Escalation advocates are ‘courageous.’
A Post editorial today states, “Without a surge, Mr. McCain and Mr. Lieberman warn, the war will be lost. This is a serious argument, and the two senators have been principled and even courageous in making it.” Glenn Greenwald has much more.
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You’re only a serious person inside the beltway if you’re for more killing.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:27 pmJoe and John ..Joined at the hip … owned by the neocon war machine …
January 7th, 2007 at 1:29 pmMcCain, Liberman, and all of the other delusionists need to be warned and made aware of the fact that this botched war is already lost. It’s escalated into a civil war which we could have predicted given what we’ve done there. It’s such a “no brainer” and such a charade to suggest that anything more we do will make one iota of difference that it’s become a national “farce”. Get with the real world McCain & Lieberman – and get your huge egomaniacal heads out of your butts!
January 7th, 2007 at 1:37 pmis it bring a cretin to work day at the post?
January 7th, 2007 at 1:39 pmMcCain, Lieberman and all the other Escalationistas would do well to read Frank Rich today in the NY Times.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:42 pmLet’s face it. The war was won a couple years ago. However, the occupation is lost.
Our military has been put in an untenable situation ever since the Iraq army was de-Baathified, the initial bout of looting went unchecked and sectarian tensions were not effectively addressed at the outset of this “post-war” period.
GDumbya does not understand this; Condoleeeeeeeeeeeeeezza doesn’t understand this.
McCain and Lieberman are so far off the bubble on this that it’s pitiful but the real problem we have is an incompetent, reckless, pathetic C-in-C.
Thank goodness for Pelosi and the new Congressional majority. It is high time that GDumbya be held accountable to past failures and prevented from committing more of them. The game plan from this point on has to be to save GDumbya from himself whether he likes it or not.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:47 pmThe sooner WWIII starts the more papers the Post can sell.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:47 pmSo they are courageous for sending more kids to die? Folks, that is not courage. Courage is standing up to the lawless entreprise known as the bush administration. Knowing both McCain and Lieberman, neither man will show any courage. What a shame on them.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:47 pmCowardice masked as courage……….
January 7th, 2007 at 1:50 pmAs has been stated, this illegal invasion has already failed.
By making these statements of support for escalation, they are arming themselves with an excuse for not being part of the solution, and setting up others to be blamed.
Fools …the war is already lost. The Bush administration through its many blunders changed the balance of power in the Middle East for generations. The facts speak for themselves.
Iraq through its Shia dominated government is now under the control of the Iranian mullahs. Prime Minister Nouri Kamel al-Maliki and his puppet master anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr now hold the reigns of power in Iraq. Their marching orders will now come from Iran. The so called Shia Crescent was completed by GW Bush’s ineptitude.
Prime Minister Nouri Kamel al-Maliki appears to have thrown down the gauntlet in the coming regional Shia vs Sunni wars. His speech directed at the Sunni led nations in the region about the execution exposed his intent. I believe that Maliki will now merge Iraq into the folds of the Iranian controlled Shia Crescent.
The Shia controlled Iraqi government next step would be to control the Sunni’s within her borders. Then and only then can the militarization of the entire Shia Crescent begin.
Committing additional US Forces to prop up Maliki is a fatal mistake. Maliki will never be America’s allie. To support Maliki is akin to Supporting the Iranian mullahs aginst the Sunni led nations in the region.
Niccolo Machiavelli & Sun Tzu working together wouldnt be able to salvage this blunder made by Bubble Boy in the Middle East. The Iranian led Shia Crescent is the most dangerous threat to the US and our interests in the region. Foolish… thats the Bush policy for the region.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:51 pmFred Hiatt creates his own reality.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:51 pmThe Washington Post is a prime example of the sort of dumping ground Washington has become for intellectual train wrecks. The Washington media appears ready to challenge Bush in a contest to see who can be more clueless about the outside world. It is difficult to even begin to list the qualified competitors, there are so many. At the Post alone I can think of Fred Hiatt, Charles Krauthammer, George Will, Howard Kurtz, Deborah Howell and James Brady as people who have proven that they are unfit to work in journalism.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:51 pmWe are fools to be led by fools.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:57 pm#10..
January 7th, 2007 at 1:59 pmThank you for a succinct and clear view of the bigger picture.
Calling for more fodder – er, troops – to Iraq is not courageous. It is a self-serving political maneuver intended to draw support from the extreme hawks in the nation, the ones who are not yet sick of this illegal war and who think everything can be accomplished with weapons.
January 7th, 2007 at 2:00 pmMcCain has lost his compass if not his mind, and Lieberman has always been a self centered politician, interested in his personal agenda only.
“Without a surge, Mr. McCain and Mr. Lieberman warn, the war will be lost.
Uhh, those words must be too painful for guys with small dicks.
January 7th, 2007 at 2:17 pmdo either of these two fools have military age children or grandchildren?
January 7th, 2007 at 2:18 pmThere no longer is a leg to uphold the insanity from DC.
If you subscribe to the lie that a failed Iraqi state is an unnacceptable outcome, that our society and safety itself is at stake then where is the obvious only solution of a draft? Pour 1,000,000 men and women in to win. Lordy lord the rape-public-cans will not do it. Cannot have it both way retards.
20K troops is putting a bandaid on a cancer, utter stupidity and a dangerous delusion.
Well Neocons and fake American warhawks, ready for a huge tax increase? Send your child? No, then shut the F*ck up, it is no longer viable.
END OF ARGUEMENT
January 7th, 2007 at 2:35 pmAs I recall, it is only possible to provide 9,000 “new troops” into Baghdad right now…in fact, only 1,500 immediately and 7,500 to be held in reserve in Kuwait. These new troops will be taken out of other areas where they are deployed, and probably include MORE of our National Guard and Reserve. (I don’t know who the hell is supposed to stay here to protect us within our own borders). Some of the additional numbers, I am assuming, will be a result of more stop-gap measures…increasing the rotation schedules for those already there, speeding up rotation for those coming back for their 2nd, 3rd or 4th deployment. They also probably included those 75 recall orders issued by the Army to deceased or permanently injuried troops recently.
There’s nothing “courageous” about throwing our young people into the volcano to appease the volcano god, but that’s what this administration and their enablers are willing to do. As for both McCain and Lieberman, they are betting their political careers on this move, and the only positive thing is that their stance will end their careers, and certainly blow McCain’s bid for President out of the water. Too bad we have to lose a few more thousand of our young in rituals of “human sacrifice” before that happens. As for Bush, he’s just trying to delay the inevitable until he’s out of office.
We don’t have the luxury of allowing Bush, et.al to maintain power for another two years (especially as we know damn well they are contemplating moves against Iran in the near future). IMPEACH NOW!!
January 7th, 2007 at 2:53 pmFrom Hal
I SEE HILLARYS STAFF IS TESTING THE WAR WATERS HERE AT HER THINKTANK
THINKPROGRESS
KEEP COMMENTING SUPPORT HILLARY CLINTON
No one posts here, even redundantly like a bipolar teenager cutting and pasting, more than you. Why do you personally support hillary so much?
January 7th, 2007 at 2:53 pmhalbert holmert google the term…. Shia Crescent …. Then give your opinion on how an influx of American Troopers supporting Maliki in Iraq helps the US and our intrests in the region…
January 7th, 2007 at 2:56 pmHal Holmert – You are a very old man who doesn’t have much time left on this planet, and when you meet your Maker, he’s going to say He never knew you and you will be cast into the outer darkness. I would encourage you to find your salvation, but I think it’s too late and you are truly a lost soul. “None are so blind as those WHO WILL NOT SEE.”
P.S. I’m not a Hillary supporter.
January 7th, 2007 at 2:58 pmIn Orwellian speak I guess “courageous” now means “delusional”??
January 7th, 2007 at 2:58 pmand WaPo needs to be on the trash heap of propaganda newspapers!
January 7th, 2007 at 2:59 pmYeah….It’s now “courageous” to throw more of young people to the wolves for absolutely no reason or rationale – other than some delusional’s demented concept of being a war president, that is.
January 7th, 2007 at 3:00 pmMcCain and Lieberman are wrong. Anyone can use words like courageous but there is no substance to that. The courageous ones are those who speak out and challange the legitimacy of this war. The courageous ones are those who point out that without a clear plan for the military this administration will be sucking them dry (don’t get exited helmut hand job).
McCain and Lieberman have been trying to guage the political waters and see their opportunity. Both are going against their previous stances and neither are courageous.
January 7th, 2007 at 3:00 pmdo either of these two fools have military age children or grandchildren?
Comment by JOHN
McCain’s son just graduated Marine Corps bootcamp on Dec 8. He is going into the infantry. So, while McCain calls for escalation, he knows that his son is likely to go.
January 7th, 2007 at 3:00 pmLittle Boy Lost! That’s Dubya…and he’s tanking Lieberman and McCain right along with his “lost presidency”.
January 7th, 2007 at 3:00 pmI like to see how courageous Lieberman is by sending him to one of the streets of Baghdad with a rifle and a helmet….
January 7th, 2007 at 3:01 pmWant to kill Bush’s troop escalation plans, especially with the right wing Washington punitry?
January 7th, 2007 at 3:19 pmTell them Senator Kerry or Senator Kennedy wholeheartedly support it. Then the plan would have to be torn to shreds as some kind of Commie-Pinko-French plan.
#22
You raise an interesting point about needing a functional military at home. A even bigger concern is how would we react to another significant threat? At one point, prior to Shrub gaining control over the military, our military commanders were confident that we could fight wars on two major fronts if needed. That was a readiness statement, Shrub, Dickwad, et.al, saw only an incomparable fighting machine that must exist only to further their ends.
Fast forward to the present. Our military. by the accounts of our own generals, is broken, or nearly so. Russia and China must be aware of this. Especially for Russia, this could be an incomparable chance to kick the US off the superpower heap, by starting a conflagration elsewhere that would demand our attention. Or by susidizing a terroist attack on US soil that would illicit a neo-con response, but aimed at the wrong target, say Indonesia. The certain military response (assuming Shrub is still in power) would deplete our military capability faster than we could build it up without a draft and enormous government investment, which given the state of the Treasury, is no longer possible.
I would say this applies to China, but all they have to do is call in some of the paper they hold on the Federal Reserve.
January 7th, 2007 at 3:29 pmSo, while McCain calls for escalation, he knows that his son is likely to go.
Right to the “front lines” of Kuwait guarding the supplies.
January 7th, 2007 at 5:52 pmMcCain and Lieberman are NOT courageous! They are corrupt Bush supporters and disgusting war whores who must be forced to resign from the Senate! McCain must be told to return to Arizona forever!
January 7th, 2007 at 5:54 pmRight to the “front lines†of Kuwait guarding the supplies.
Comment by dlet
With the exception of Webb, that is farther than anyone else.
January 7th, 2007 at 6:19 pmDid anyone else see on meet the press where Joe Biden said it would be unconstitutional to withold funding for a troop increase. So much for that idea.
January 7th, 2007 at 6:23 pmThe voters of Connecticut, a reliable Blue state, should be ashamed of themselves. Not only did they return a warmonger to the Senate, they also provided the GOP with their only post-election spin/talking points.
“The voters weren’t for putting anti-war candidates into office, look at what happened to Ned Lamont in CT.”
Lieberman, McCain, and Bush think they are Churchills or FDR’s. They are not courageous leaders. They are cowardly criminals. I would happily taunt all three of them if they ever had to face real justice which would be the death penalty.
What’s next? Bring back the draft and put 500,000 troops into Iraq? This administration and it’s blind followers are experts at creating and maintaining a police state right here in America. Bush wants to do the same for Iraq. Nobody is going to have control of that oil except for America. That’s what is driving the war.
January 7th, 2007 at 6:37 pmOh, yes, it is so courageous to support sending other people’s children to war. Are any of McCain’s, Leibermann’s, or, for that matter, Fred Hiatt’s children or even nieces and nephews in Iraq?
January 7th, 2007 at 6:41 pm#
Did anyone else see on meet the press where Joe Biden said it would be unconstitutional to withold funding for a troop increase. So much for that idea.
Comment by mandolin — January 7, 2007 @ 6:23 pm
I watched Meet the Press, and Joe Biden said no such thing. It IS within the Constitutional powers of the Congress to withhold funding. The power of the purse is granted to the Legislative Branch, not the Executive. Period!!
January 7th, 2007 at 8:23 pmEscalation advocates are courageous?! I guess that means they are planning to put their own lives on the line and fight in Iraq themselves. Otherwise, they’d be cowards sitting at their desks while other people fight and die.
If these people are simply sending other people to their deaths, how can they be called courageous?
January 7th, 2007 at 9:28 pmI read courage into every frumpy frown upon Lieberman’s jowls. Yes, courage. He courageously broke the rules and rean as an independent when he lost his primary (undercutting both the Democrat and the Republican candidate for his seat.) During his election campaign he courageously promised to do the same things he has promised and has NOT delivered for the last 18 years. He is the most courageous frumpy, whiny, awe-shucks warmonger in liberal clothing that ever lived.
McCain continues to courageously grovel before the religious right every chance he gets. Also grovels before Bush’s boot for his other supporters. The later is more pitiful.
Yes, what a brave two these are….yet neither one can define an Iraq victory in practical, achievable terms.
I haven’t looked. This week, are our troops fighting for the central Iraq government against Iran and the Shiite insurgents (i.e. against Malaki, Al Sadr)) or are they fighting against Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the Sunni insurgents (against Malaki) or both (wait maybe they’re helpingTurkey fight off Kurdish terrorists who want a central Kurdistan)?
VICTORY!!!!!!!
I guess the unstated strategy is to apply the old British Empire tactic of divide and concquer. It sure has worked for politics in the good ol’ USA.
January 7th, 2007 at 10:37 pmOK I corrected some grammar.
I read courage into every frumpy frown upon Lieberman’s jowls. Yes, courage. He courageously broke the rules and rean as an independent when he lost his primary (undercutting both the Democrat and the Republican candidates for his seat.) During his election campaign he courageously promised to do the same things he has promised and has NOT delivered for the last 18 years. He is the most courageous frumpy, whiny, awe-shucks warmonger in liberal clothing that ever lived.
McCain continues to courageously grovel before the religious right every chance he gets. Also grovels before Bush’s boot for his other supporters. The latter is even more pitiful.
Yes, what brave pair these are….yet neither one can define an Iraq victory in practical, achievable terms.
I haven’t looked. This week, are our troops fighting for the central Iraq government against Iran and the Shiite insurgents (i.e. against Malaki, Al Sadr)) or are they fighting against Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the Sunni insurgents (for Malaki) or both (wait maybe they’re helping Turkey fight off Kurdish terrorists who want a central Kurdistan)?
VICTORY!!!!!!!
I guess the unstated strategy is to apply the old British Empire tactic of divide and concquer. It sure has worked for politics in the good ol’ USA.
January 7th, 2007 at 10:42 pmI guess the unstated strategy is to apply the old British Empire tactic of divide and concquer
Sorry, divide and conquer is from the latin term divide et impera (”divide and rule”) and goes back to the time of Philip of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great.
January 7th, 2007 at 10:52 pmIt’s OK. Don’t claim to know all origins.
The British used the tactic anyway.
January 7th, 2007 at 11:00 pmIf Dubya had taken Military History 101 instead of spending his time as a drunken cheerleader and Skull & Bones party boy at Yale, he might have ‘figgered’ out by now that by definition, you can’t “win” an occupation, especially when there is a civil war thrown in.
But maybe with Bushie’s AWOL background and Darth’s and Joey Boy’s draft dodging and Condi’s advanced shoe shopping degrees, it isn’t so hard to see why this is a failed administration and a failed illegal war.
January 8th, 2007 at 9:07 am…The NEW and IMPROVED Wapo…
…just what America needs…
…a new brand of toilet paper…
January 8th, 2007 at 3:16 pm