Escalation architect Fred Kagan
By on Jun 18th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Escalation architect Fred Kagan
two months ago, on how Iraq was “turning the corner.”
The new effort to establish security in Iraq has begun. At this early stage, the most positive development is a rise in hostility to al-Qaida in the Sunni community. … [O]n balance, there is reason for wary optimism. … The most that can be said now is that we seem to be turning a corner.
Fred Kagan now: “More Time Needed.”
Kagan recommended waiting until the end of the year before judging the operation’s success. Even then, he added, it might be some months before Iraqis make the political compromises necessary to bring lasting stability to the country.
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Are the war’s supporters going to keep saying the same ole’ same ole’ for the next 50 years. Since Petraeus just compared Iraq to Ireland, maybe they’ll continue saying “let’s wait and see” for the next 1,000 years.
June 18th, 2007 at 3:39 pmBackpedal = The Kagan Two-Step
June 18th, 2007 at 3:40 pmKagan must have missed that wheezing sound last week. That was the final gasps of the Bush Doctrine as it expired on the streets of Gaza, Beirut and Baghdad.
Sadly, the President’s amen corner will never admit to:
“The Death of the Bush Doctrine.”
“We are at the dawn of a glorious, delicate, revolutionary moment in the Middle East.”
Charles Krauthammer, March 2005
“Three cheers for the Bush Doctrine.”
Charles Krauthammer, March 2005
“By toppling Saddam Hussein and insisting on elections in Iraq, while emphasizing the power of freedom, Bush has put the United States in the right position to encourage and take advantage of democratic irruptions in the region.”
Rich Lowry, March 2005
“In the new era in which we now live, 1/30/05 could be a key moment–perhaps the key moment so far–in vindicating the Bush Doctrine as the right response to 9/11.”
Bill Kristol, March 2005
For the details, see:
June 18th, 2007 at 3:40 pm“The Death of the Bush Doctrine.”
More FU’s.
June 18th, 2007 at 3:41 pmYeah, and Friedman’s too.
Did this guy use to be a weatherman? I mean, who else gets paid to be wrong 1/2 the time?
June 18th, 2007 at 3:41 pmThe Bush Doctrine:
Screw up, blame others, screw up some more.
June 18th, 2007 at 3:47 pmKagan turned the corner and saw the runaway train headed right for him…that’s why he needs a little more time to let the splurge work.
But take heart, TP’ers — the bushniks must be in their last throes by now…
June 18th, 2007 at 3:48 pmI will offer a never ending stream of Anerican troops to march off to their deaths to support my thesis hatched in the air-conditioned halls of the right-wing thinktank, The American Enterprise Institute.
-Fast Freddie K.
June 18th, 2007 at 3:53 pmYeah, Fred, I’m sure the enemy is shaking in their boots.
This guy’s a real terror … if you happen to be a blintz.
June 18th, 2007 at 3:56 pm.
Bush’s legacy is 3,500 dead. He doesn’t need another legacy against the people. And he is alway against the people.
June 18th, 2007 at 3:59 pmI wonder how many corners we can turn in 50 years. Makes me dizzy thinking about it.
June 18th, 2007 at 4:14 pmEnough! These men are just evil, not mistaken, not careless, not seeing things differently – they are just plain evil. I believe in hell just because they have to end up there. Forever. And that still won’t be long enough to pay for their sins.
June 18th, 2007 at 4:14 pmHe and the rest of the neocon thugs at the AEI should not be listened to anymore! Thanks to them the entire world is more dangerous, the reputation of this country is in shambles and Iraq is a complete mess.
Please spread the word that a vote for Fred Thompson is a vote for more of the same!
June 18th, 2007 at 4:30 pmThe rolling 3 months. Victory is always 3 months away. Except it’s not even victory any more, now it’s, “This surge in violence will go away in three months. Trust me.”
June 18th, 2007 at 4:42 pmWhen are these a$$holes like Kagan going to understand there will be “no political compromise?” Factions that have been waiting for Saddam’s demise to get at each others throats as they were before Saddam and 1300 years before then are not going to compromise because we want them too. If only somebody would wake up and figure out this is a “blood feud” and not a civil war. Civil wars are fought for control of a country. These people are not fighting for land or oil but for their side of Islam. Iraq was not a country as old as ours and made up of three different groups and neither of them have a view of their country that offers nationalism and pride. I don’t think any of them are worried about Iraq but about their way of practicing Islam and to hell with everything else. Most had little before we invaded and probably have less during the occupation. The Kurds have been autonomous during Saddam’s regime and are still that way and probably don’t give a sh*t what is happening with the Sunni and the Shia’. If we stay there 50 years, the day we leave they will be at it just as bad as if we leave tomorrow.. We just don’t under stand them.
June 18th, 2007 at 5:21 pmTwo months ago:
Kagan – “2 + 2 = 4″
Now:
Kagan – “2 + 2 still = 4″
The man isn’t backpedaling at all. His first claim was:
there is reason for wary optimism. … The most that can be said now is that we seem to be turning a corner.
Now all he is saying is that it is too soon to judge the success of the operation overall.
He would be a fool to jump to hasty conclusions.
June 18th, 2007 at 5:29 pmAnybody who listens to this neocon slime is a fool, period.
June 18th, 2007 at 5:34 pmSure, we’re just buying the Iraqi gummint time to do nothing, which is all they are capable of doing.
June 18th, 2007 at 5:40 pmBuying them precious time to do nothing with the blood of our troops, and the treasury of our future.
These clowns turn corners like Spinal Tap trying to find the stage door in Cleveland.
June 18th, 2007 at 5:47 pmKagan??? Isn’t he a member of PNAC and the husband of Daryn Kagan of CNN?? Once his affiliation with the PNAC was made public, she mysteriously vanished from the radar.
It sounds like just another Bushitco lying sycophant to me.
June 18th, 2007 at 6:09 pmFred Kagan = CUA!!
When will we start rounding up these enemies of the state and chargin’em with the crimes they’ve repeatedly committed??
Stupidity is not an excuse!!!
June 18th, 2007 at 8:21 pmOpinion versus news was a topic covered tonight on The New Hour. Very apropos. But I don’t want to read or hear Kagan’s comments in either venue. I don’t care about his opinion, period! In other words shut up Kagan. The only news he could provide would be as a convicted traitor.
June 18th, 2007 at 10:12 pmThere is no plan to bring the troops home. ‘Success’ and ‘victory’ are not the goal. The goal has been and continues to be US domination in the region via permanent US military bases in Iraq.
Bush is not capable of bringing stability to anywhere.
I wonder what Kagan’s real motives are.
We have turned so many corners in Iraq we are literally going in circles.
June 18th, 2007 at 10:34 pmStupidity is not an excuse!!!
Comment by dixie blood
Wait a cotton-pickin’ minute here. Are you trying to put me out of business?
June 18th, 2007 at 11:09 pmBetrayUs, Kagan, and Crocker.
The Bush Administration’s new line-up of “experts” on Iraq. Same old song, same old verse:
We are making steady progress. We just need more time, more troops, and more money.
June 19th, 2007 at 12:25 am