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Public not buying Bush spin.

By Faiz Shakir on Sep 18, 2007 at 11:00 pm

This evening, CNN ran a report on new poll numbers from CBS that show the American public was unmoved on Iraq by the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and President Bush’s speech. The National Journal writes that Bush’s spin is “falling on deaf ears.” A key takeaway: Before the administration’s PR offensive, 35 percent of Americans felt the troop increase was making the Iraq situation better. After the speeches and testimony, the number dropped — only 31 percent felt the escalation was working. Watch CNN’s report:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/09/cnniraqpoll.320.240.flv]

UPDATE: Greg Sargent notes the percentage favoring withdrawal actually went up.

Security

U.S. Suspends ‘Land Travel’ Outside The Green Zone For Civilian And Diplomatic Officials

By Amanda Terkel on Sep 18, 2007 at 10:05 pm

iraqcr.jpg Today, the United States “suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials throughout Iraq, except in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.”

The move comes days after Blackwater USA was “allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of civilians during an attack on a U.S. State Department motorcade.” From the State Department’s notice:

In light of a serious security incident involving a U.S. embassy protective detail in the Mansour District of Baghdad, the embassy has suspended official U.S. government civilian ground movements outside the International Zone (IZ) and throughout Iraq. [...]

This suspension is in effect in order to assess mission security and procedures, as well as a possible increased threat to personnel traveling with security details outside the International Zone.

In March, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) claimed, “There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today.” Since that time, according to the Bush administration, the situation in Iraq has dramatically improved. Last week, Gen. David Petraeus and President Bush touted “security gains” in Baghdad.

Yet violence has actually risen since the President’s escalation in January. The situation in Iraq is more dangerous for diplomats as well. The 1,000 State Department employees in Iraq are now required to wear “protective gear,” as attacks have increased within the Green Zone.

U.S. diplomats are also returning from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder and other “debilitating, stress-related symptoms that have afflicted many U.S. troops.”

So much for leisurely strolls through Baghdad markets.

Politics

Bush Administration Flooding Iraqi Black Market With Billions Of Dollars In Weapons

By ThinkProgress on Sep 18, 2007 at 9:15 pm

In his testimony before Congress last week, Gen. David Petraeus confirmed that the United States plans to sell billions of dollars of weapons to Iraq:

Iraq is becoming one of the United States’ larger foreign military sales customers, committing some 1.6 billion (dollars) to FMS already, with the possibility of up to 1.8 billion (dollars) more being committed before the end of this year.

This move may mean big profits for arms manufacturers in the United States and abroad. But as Salon’s Mark Benjamin notes, “[G]ood business doesn’t necessarily equal good foreign policy.”

A recent Government Accountability Report found that the United States has been unable to keep track of the arms it sold in the region. Under Petraeus’s watch, more than “110,000 AK-47 assault rifles, 80,000 Glock pistols, 135,000 pieces of body armor and 115,000 Kevlar helmets issued to Iraqi security forces” have gone missing. U.S. weapons sold to the Iraqi government were also found in Turkey, where they were linked to violent crimes.

U.S. officials also acknowledged in June that they were arming Sunni groups who promised to fight Al-Qaeda. But as Center for American Progress Senior Fellows Lawrence Korb and Brian Katulis note, the Bush administration’s short-sighted strategy is actually contributing to the deterioration of the security situation:

First, the United States is arming up different sides in multiple civil wars that could turn even more vicious in the coming years. Second (and more important to America’s strategic interests) billions of dollars of U.S. military assistance is going to some of the closest allies of America’s greatest rival in the Middle East — Iran. The Shi’a-dominated Iraqi national army and security forces could quite quickly turn their weapons against American troops and allies in the region.

Recent statistics also show that the more the United States trains and equips the Iraqi security forces, the more violence in the country increases.

Security

McConnell Admits It Was A ‘Judgment Call’ To Selectively Declassify Intelligence To Media

By Satyam Khanna on Sep 18, 2007 at 8:31 pm

In an August interview with the El Paso Times, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell “raised eyebrows” by “pulling the curtain back” and revealing several previously classified details of government surveillance. As Spencer Ackerman observed, McConnell declassified more that day than he did during “the entire Congressional debate.”

Under questioning from Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a House Judiciary Committee hearing today, McConnell claimed that declassification is “a responsibility of the President,” but admitted that this case was based on a “judgment call” by him. McConnell also admitted that there was no “specific” record on when the information was declassified:

SCOTT: Does it come declassified just because you said or is there some process to declassify?

McCONNELL: There is a process but it is ultimately a judgment call. [...]

SCOTT: So we know when something was declassified. The moment of time it was declassified. Is there some record of that?

McCONNELL: Not specifically. I’m sure it can be recovered some way if there is some if there’s a specific concern or question.

Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/09/mcconnell2345.320.240.flv]

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) explained recently that McConnell divulged secrets to the media while previously claiming “in litigation that confirmation of such involvement cannot be permitted under the state secrets doctrine.”

While declassifying intelligence may certainly be McConnell’s “judgment,” the timing of the declassification is notable. The interview with the El Paso Times occurred on August 22, just weeks before Congress would return from summer recess to consider whether to reauthorize the Protect America Act.

McConnell has claimed that “Americans are going to die” with continued public discussion of wiretapping. Unfortunately, he is willing to sacrifice his own principles for a “judgment call” to expand President Bush’s spy authority.

Speaker Blog has more on the hearing.

Transcript: Read more

Yglesias

Strange Defeat

By ThinkProgress on Sep 18, 2007 at 7:33 pm

James Vega has a provocative post up about how Democrats can do better next time they face a high-profile political confrontation with a military man. I have to say, though, that I think it’s important to reject the premise that the Petraeus/Crocker hearings were some kind of political setback for Democrats. Here’s the sequence of events as I recall them:

  • [in the murky past]: War in Iraq becomes unpopular.
  • [November 2006] Republicans lose tons of congressional seats.
  • [December 2006] Baker-Hamilton commission attempts to frame a proposal for gradual withdrawal in a way that would be politically possible for Bush to embrace.
  • [January 2007] Bush rejects Baker-Hamilton out of hand, says unpopular war will continue indefinitely and be escalated via unpopular surge.
  • [Spring 2007] Nervous Republicans back Bush in legislative showdown, but are afraid to endorse his proposal for endless war, say instead that nothing should be decided until Petraeus reports in September.
  • [June 2007] War is unpopular.
  • [July 2007] War is unpopular.
  • [August 2007] war is unpopular.
  • [Early September 2007] Petraeus and Crocker testify that despite the surge’s failure to accomplish its stated goals, progress is being made, and the surge should continue for six more months.
  • [Mid-September 2007] War is still unpopular.

Basically, a whole lot of nothing has been happening . . . the war keeps being unpopular and the Republicans keep being intransigent.

Media

Comment is Free

By ThinkProgress on Sep 18, 2007 at 7:03 pm

I’m glad to see the TimesSelect paywall coming down, but I think I’ve got to disagree with Tim Lee’s view that the failure of this gambit heralds the imminent demise of the subscription-only model for The Wall Street Journal. Rather, like Megan I think the basic problem was that The New York Times opinion pages just weren’t worth paying for. I don’t even think this is especially because of any failings on the part of the Times‘ columnists. Rather, it’s just that unless your political commentators are adhering to completely marginal viewpoints there are always going to be plenty of close substitutes available for free.

To charge money for something on the web, you need to be providing content that’s not only good, but also reasonably unique.

Culture

“Stronger”

By ThinkProgress on Sep 18, 2007 at 6:21 pm

You know what this blog needs? More hip-hop videos. “Stonger” by Kanye West:

I don’t think that’s what Japan’s really like.

Yglesias

International Aspects of Carbon Taxation

By ThinkProgress on Sep 18, 2007 at 5:25 pm

Brought to you by Dave Roberts and Greg Mankiw. Indeed, a carbon tax used to fund offsetting reductions in other forms of revenue acquisition, actually ought to be conducive to the understandable emphasis on growth uber alles that you see in places like India and China (less deadweight loss) and would just help ensure that as Asia’s developing giants become richer they do so in ways that are less carbon-intensive than what you see in the existing rich countries.

Politics

ThinkProgress Introduces New Comments System

By ThinkProgress on Sep 18, 2007 at 5:02 pm

ThinkProgress is elated to announce important, new changes to our comments section, including comments registration.

As frequent visitors of this blog are well aware, the feedback in the comments section often fails to adhere to our Terms of Use. Our new comments system will more strictly enforce these guidelines. Here are the new features you need to be aware of:

1) Comments registration: Beginning today, you must register in order to comment on ThinkProgress.

2) Recommend comments: Once you are logged on in the comments section, you will see a green thumbs-up icon next to each comment. Registered users will now be allowed to vote up comments that they like by clicking on the icon.

3) View top rated comments: You will now be able to view comments by their ratings. At the top of the comments section for each blog post, you will see a link to sort comments by “top rated” or by “date.”

4) Report abuse: Next to each comment, registered users will see a red flag icon. If you notice a comment that does not adhere to our Terms of Use, simply click on this icon. If a sufficient number of registered commenters flag a comment, it will be removed from the comments section and placed in a moderation queue. We will then determine whether to permanently delete the comment or republish it.

You can register either through the comments section or by clicking on “register” at the top right hand side of the sidebar.

If you encounter any problems registering, please let us know. And tell us what you think about the new comments system in our new comments section!

UPDATE: We’ve encountered some early problems and have taken down registration for the time being.

UPDATE II: Problems should be fixed, and you should be able to register. Please contact us if you encounter issues.

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