Iraq Surge Architect Kagan Cites McCain’s Sadr Gaffes As Facts
Iraq Surge Architect Kagan Cites McCain’s Sadr Gaffes As Facts
In recent weeks, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has repeatedly bumbled the details of the outcome of intra-Shiite violence in Basra, falsely claiming Muqtada al-Sadr was defeated by Prime Minister Maliki’s forces. “Very rarely do I see the winning side declare a ceasefire,” he said on March 31. “I don’t think Sadr would have declared the ceasefire if he thought he was winning,” he again said this Sunday.
The phrase has become a frequent claim from the right wing. Now, surge architect Fred Kagan is jumping to McCain’s defense. Yesterday, on the PBS News Hour, Kagan claimed Sadr simply “stood his forces down, adding that “McCain rightly said” that Maliki did not declare the cease-fire:
KAGAN: And it’s not the way — as Senator McCain rightly said, the side that’s winning a conflict like this doesn’t generally call a timeout and say, “Hey, you know, we’ve had enough. Thank you very much.” And it’s not the way it’s playing on the Iraqi street.
Watch it:
Armchair general Kagan’s “street” analysis is grossly oversimplified. Maliki’s government in fact traveled to Iran to “win the support of the commander of Iran’s Qods brigades” for a cease-fire (revealing his dependence on Iran), to which Sadr agreed. Maliki’s government then issued a statement praising Sadr, after the PM insisted days earlier there would be “no negotiation.”
Earlier in the segment, Lt. Gen. William Odom (ret.) of Yale University explained the possible outcome of the fighting — that the future government in Iraq will not be “one of our allies”:
ODOM: It showed how impossible it is to expect anything productive out of the Maliki government. Let me make a key point about this government: When this is all over, the people in the Green Zone now and the Maliki government will not be in charge. The future successful government in Iraq is not one of our allies. It will be somebody who wins the civil war. And we’re trying to ally with all sides to prevent it.
Today, the press is reporting that Sadr has threatened to end the cease-fire he imposed on his militia last year, “raising the prospect of worsening violence.” Of course, Kagan probably sees this as characteristics of a defeated Sadr.
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Kagan, Kagan, Kagan,
April 9th, 2008 at 9:11 pmBring the dory home.
Wind and sea do follow thee,
And all the ledges calling thee.
The extra chin is impressive.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:12 pmThese jerks need to be indicted for lying. LYING!! If giovernment people can get away with constant lying, what do young people & children have to look up to? To them, lies are acceptable, because Repubs live for lies. Time to restart the U.S. as an honorable nation, honesty, no lies. Toss out and humiliate anyone who lies– including Bush, Cheney, Rove, o’Reilly, Hannity, etc. All a bunch of blatant liars.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:13 pmNeocon pig! (My apologies to the pigs.)
April 9th, 2008 at 9:13 pmFrom the same ilk who believe we could have won in Vietnam, we just “lost the will”.
You can’t fix stupid.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:14 pmOops- forgot another #1 liar- McCain.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:14 pmThis guy Kagan belongs in a mental institution…
April 9th, 2008 at 9:15 pmforget “the Iraqi street”,I doubt he has much contact with the American street.
I doubt this fat slob’s had much contact with any reality except the schoolboy military fantasies of one who’s never actually served.
The Field Marshal of Flaccidity, Freddi Kagan!
He’s willing to fight this war to the last US soldier.
-GSD
April 9th, 2008 at 9:15 pmthey’ve stopped pretending to care about the details, as well as the troops
April 9th, 2008 at 9:18 pmWhy do theses pant-load, chickenhawks, crazies get listen to? The only fighting this guy would do is at the buffet. He argues for fantasies that only his fellow groupthink AEI/neocons agree with. He appears to be another one of those unpopular guys back in High School (pick a Fox News caster of your choice) that now can “be a man” by being pro-war as long as they’re safe from going.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:20 pmdasm Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
These jerks need to be indicted for lying.
The question we need to be asking is: Is the next Administration going to pursue investigations and indictments for these neocon scum suckers. Our leaders need to be aware our how important and serious this is.
So how do we go about raising their awareness besides ranting about it amongst ourselves?
April 9th, 2008 at 9:21 pmKaggan’s place on the scrap-pile of resigned-in-disgrace-neocon-war-architects-and-cheerleaders is right next to Wolfowitz, Feith, Perle, Rumsfeld, and Bremer. That these guys even get a place at any mic anywhere forever disproves the myth of a “liberal media.”
April 9th, 2008 at 9:47 pmcorpulent stink-tank brown nose.
how much does a job like that pay?
the qualifications must be minimal - many of them appear pretty young to pass as “seasoned experts”. apparently once you’re in, you’re in for life, since none are ever “let go” for being half-informed and wrong. that said, the older among them must just golf and bang hookers or something - fly around to “conferences” on somebody elses dime where they can circle-stroke their big, malformed egos together, away from the prying eyes and ears of “the rabble”.
sounds like ok work, if you can get it. maybe if i lurked around at a winger blog, eloquently parroting their jabber long enough, i could get an interview…..
April 9th, 2008 at 10:01 pmMy bullshit meter has been going off the charts the last couple of days.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:13 pmThe word “porcine” was invented to describe guys like Kagan.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:20 pmEhmmm… “Cagan” in Spanish means “they sh!t”. Wonder if it’s a coincidence…
April 10th, 2008 at 6:57 amWhy do so many of these delusional neocon types look the same? Double chins, pasty faces, glasses and look like they should all be wearing clip-on bow ties a la Tucker Carlson?
Seriously, the Kagans, Roves, Feiths, Addingtons look like they belong in some kind of “duck shoot” carnival game where the more of them you “shoot” the better your chances of winning some cheesy stuffed animal.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:45 amWhat a repulsive dough heap.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:49 am“The surge to nowhere”. Great success….
April 10th, 2008 at 9:16 amIn Gulf War 1, the US-led coalition unilaterally ceased hostilities. Does that mean Saddam won? According to Kagan and McCain, I guess it does.
Kagan and McCain are either stupid or dishonest when they spout this logic. Or both.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:50 amFred Kagan wouldn’t last ten minutes on an Iraqi street without an infantry company and some attack helicopters.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:19 amActually, “porcine” was invented to describe pigs. Describing Kagan as such is an insult to garbage eating mud dwelling four-legged critters everywhere.
Look, Kagan doesn’t know his ass from his elbow. You know the old saying “those who can’t do teach”? Kagan’s so stupid the only thing he should be teaching is remedial math.
-AF
April 10th, 2008 at 1:46 pmAndrew Sullivan Is A Fraud