Media Steps on Obama

What happened to our country?.... the media happened to our country. Today Sen. Barack Obama was giving his seminal policy speech on the Iraq war on the 5th anniversary of the conflict when....

All three major news networks cut away to bring Sen. Hillary Clinton's circus-circus rally in Michigan in her continuing effort to steal the nomination by pooh-poohing the DNC rules with shallow, divisive Rovian-preachments.

It underlines the fact that the Billary campaign will do, and say, anything to win.... and major media will aid and abet.

Before Obama and his listening audience were so rudely interrupted, he said in part that as commander in chief he would make a clear break with the Iraq policies of the Bush administration.

Our present commander in chief proclaimed in his speech today that going to war in Iraq was the right thing to do, and Sen. John McCain makes it clear he marches in lockstep with The Decider's policies. Even though there is widespread agreement that going to war in Iraq has emboldened terrorists and made our country less safe.

McSame's "policy" for Iraq still echoes.... keeping our troops for 100 years in Iraq is fine with him.

Obama did give the new commander in the field, Gen. Petraeus, credit for improved tactics, but pointed out there still is no overarching strategy for winning. Even Petraeus points out, the necessary political reconciliation needed to end the war isn't happening.

Obama describes the unending-loop of justification for keeping troops in Iraq.... first we couldn't leave because violence was up, and now we can't leave because violence is down.

Today Obama said he would set a new Iraq goal on day one of his presidency.... end the war.

Unfortunately MSNBC, CNN and FOX would not let us hear how Obama proposes to do that.

Sectarian Deaths Shell Game

You've heard it from The Decider. You've heard it from Gen. Petraeus in his recent Congressional testimony. The administration boasts of the downward trend in sectarian deaths in Iraq.... therefore, their Iraq strategy is working. Send more money!

But that depends upon "What Defines a Killing as Sectarian?" (WaPo)

On September 1, the bullet-riddled bodies of four Iraqi men were found on a Baghdad street. Counted in the sectarian body count.... right? Not by standards used by the U.S. military number crunchers. These violent deaths didn't meet the criteria of the military manual defining sectarian violence.... signs of torture, a single shot to the head, or car bombs for example.

The Iraq assessment released this month by the bipartisan Government Accounting Office wasn't buying this "manual" count. It said they "could not determine if sectarian violence had declined" since the U.S. troop buildup began in the spring. The GAO recommended that the administration expand its statistical sources.

That probably won't happen because the actual body count wouldn't support the White House's rosy rhetoric.

Meanwhile, two Iraqis killed by a car bomb on September 3 were not included in the sectarian database. The attack occurred on a road near Ramadi, not far from where The Decider was meeting with government officials that day. The victims were Iraqi policemen. They were counted elsewhere.

Another Turn of the Iraq Hour Glass

Now we know, the long awaited word from General Petraeus.... we need more time in Iraq. Gee... who would have thought?

Eugene Robinson in his editorial today, " 'Six Months' Without End" sums up the Bush administration's morass of a "stay the course" policy that is the occupation of Iraq...."The next six months in Iraq are crucial - and always will be. That noise you heard yesterday on Capitol Hill was the can being kicked further down the road leading to January 2009, when George W. Bush gets to hand off his Iraq fiasco to somebody else."

Oh yes, and the big drawdown the General is promising. Well, the White House raised the numbers (surge) before they reduce the numbers..... back to where they were. The grand hokey-pokey as Iraq's prime minister al-Maliki's so-called central government deteriorates and he creeps steadily toward Iran's waiting arms.... his "other friends."

And, that is the White House Iraq strategy in a nutshell. Stall, skew the numbers, and then shuffle off to Buffalo... or in this case,Texas.

Ignoring the "I" Word

Let's take a break from Iraq.... the White House blitz of propaganda about our "progress" in Iraq featuring fables from Gen. Petraeus, and bogus anniversary hype tying 9/11 to Iraq.... promise, that's the last time the "I" word will appear in this post.

How about some White House gossip? In "Rove Replacement Seen as Highly Partisan Go-Getter," by Michael Abramowitz (WaPo) he dishes some savory stuff.

Rove's replacement is.... his longtime deputy Barry Jackson described by a GOP acquaintance from Capital Hill as.... "none of this 'let's get along' kind of stuff...the man behind The Man." The man behind Turd Blossom's throne now has his own crappy attitude.

In his new book, "Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush" by Robert Draper, he recounts that when the White House chief of staff Bolten approached Don Rumsfeld's old press secretary, Torie Clarke, about becoming White House press secretary, she told Clarke she would rather commit suicide. Guess that's a "no."

Draper also reported that when asked to help woo Henry Paulson to become Treasury secretary, our humble Boy George snapped, "He should be begging me."

And, the final word from our bike boy.... Bush, at the opening of his speech to business leaders attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit last week, told Australian Prime Minister John Howard.... "Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit..."

Just sit down George.... we're begging you.

Fairy Tales Won't Come True.....

The Bush administration's desperately-trumpeted Iraq "benchmark" report by Gen. Petraeus will hit with the force of a deflating "Happy Face" balloon.... The Decider already rendered his judgment, and most of the U.S. public won't believe the report anyway.

The Decider told Australia's deputy prime minister last week that "we're kicking ass" in Iraq. Shades of Bush's "Bring it on." And we know how that's worked out.

And, yesterday at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii Bush asserted that he "came back from Iraq encouraged by what I saw. No question there's still hard work to do, but my resolve is as strong as it's ever been... I believe we're doing the right thing there for the security of the country and for the peace of the world." (WaPo)

Gee.... wouldn't it be nice if he worried as much about the security of our country. But, we digress.

The public has also rendered it's judgment. An ABC News/Washington Post poll this week: "More than half of Americans think the Petraeus report will try to sugar-coat the real situation there, and two-thirds don't believe it will influence" Bush's war policy anyway.

Oh, there may be fancy words, a token draw down.... and, of course, as Frank Rich says in his column in the New York Times today.... it "will be 9/11 all the time this week, as the White House yet again synchronizes its drumbeating for the Iraq war with the anniversary of an attack that had nothing to do with Iraq."

But, make no mistake, as long as The Decider writes the script, Iraq fairy tales won't come true....

Maliki a Dangerous Scapegoat

Today's Washington Post editorial asks, is Iraqi's Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki an "Easy Scapegoat"?

Seems so. But Maliki's cozying up to Shiite Iran and Syria asks a more disturbing question. Is Maliki an honest but ineffectual partner in Iraq, or a dangerous tool of neighboring countries waiting to gobble up Iraq while the Bush administration neocons flail around looking for a saleable political excuse to be there in the first place.

The bratty Maliki threatens the Bush administration that Iraq can "find friends elsewhere,"..... and, after his visit with madman Ahmadinejad in Iran crowed that "he appreciated Iran's positive and constructive stance on Iraq."

Maliki even threw a fit and insisted on the removal of U.S. commander Gen. Petraeus, and threatened to launch Shiite forces against our troops because of the General's "neighborhood watch" approach of utilizing local Sunni forces against al Qaeda.

The Decider's response to Maliki's outrageous behavior was to tell him to "calm down," and publicly refer to him as a "good guy." A good guy!

In a CNN report yesterday, front-line U.S. Generals in Iraq openly questioned whether democracy can be the goal in Iraq, one of the Bush administration's ever-changing justifications for the invasion of Iraq, and the need for Maliki's power-grabbing "democratic" government.

And, in a devastating blow to the Bush justification campaign, the Iraq national intelligence assessment to be released today questions whether or not Maliki is up to the job.

Seems as though the recently-hyped progress estimate on an Iraq led by "good guy" Maliki has evidently been a calculated attempt by the White House to blunt the negative assessments of both our mission in Iraq, and Maliki's leadership.

But, in the fairytale being woven to salvage the Bush legacy, the White House will need a scapegoat.... why else keep the two-faced Maliki around?

Withdraw Showdown?

Looks like Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki can't stand success.

A key aide says Maliki's relations with U.S. commander General Petraeus are so poor that Maliki may ask Washington to withdraw.... the troops?..... they're ready to take over?...... no, to withdraw Petraeus from his Baghdad post. "Heat Rises Between Iraq PM and Petraeus." (WaPo)

Seems like Maliki doesn't like the successful tactic employed by Petraeus of enlisting Sunni militants in the fight against al-Qaeda.

Iraq Foreign Minister Zebari told Newsweek magazine that Maliki told him he threatened Bush that he would counter this tactic by arming Shiite militias, and "Bush told Maliki to calm down."

One thing our Texas "Bring it on" nacho-man does recognize.... shooting from the lip.

"Petraeus, meanwhile, must deal with an Iraqi military and police force, nominally under Maliki's control, that often acts out of sectarian, namely Shiite, interests, and not national Iraqi interests. He faces a significant challenge in persuading Maliki to shed his ties to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who runs the Mahdi Army militia."

Hopefully, the Petraeus, "neighborhood watch with teeth" will level the Iraq playing field for the tribal Sunnis being overwhelmed on two fronts... al Qaeda and the Shiite militia.

As Shiite Iran-favoring Maliki lodges his objections to the Petraeus' Sunni initiative, he at the same time is dragging his feet on an oil-industry law and other legislation critical to meet U.S. benchmarks.

It's increasingly clear.... the U.S. needs to withdraw.... their support of Maliki.

Iraq... All Progress is Local

If it really bothered you that the Iraqi government took the month of August off while our troops sweltered in the 103 degree heat trying to keep a lid on the violence, this latest bit of information should send you running for the Maalox.

The New York Times headline spells out the latest outrage by President Maliki's government.... "As U.S. Rebuilds, Iraq Won't Act on Finished Work."

Yes, that's right. "Iraq's national government is refusing to take possession of thousands of American-financed [U.S. taxpayer] reconstruction projects.

"Of the 2,797 completed projects costing $5.8 billion [of the total $21 billion rebuilding program], Iraq's national government had, by the spring of this year, accepted only 435 projects valued at $501 million."

Why?

Like everything in Iraq the answer is complex. Few transfers have taken place since the current Shiite-led Iraqi government, which drags its feet on American intervention, took office in 2006 along with the new finance minister, Bayan Jabr, and under his watch the "transfer process ceased to function."

Jabr isn't a good guy. In his previous post as interior minister he was accused of running Shiite death squads out of the ministry. In his current position he is slow to release budget money to Iraqi government entities which would have to run the new projects at substantial expense.

Also, the imperialist Bush administration didn't get Iraqis involved in the planning stages of the projects, so "you end up with these kinds of problems at the tail end, where people don't know much about the program and they haven't bought into it."

So, finished projects are falling into disrepair as they stand idle, or unable to function because locals don't have the money, or training, to keep them running.

In the meantime, the Maliki regime ignores the concerns of Iraq's non-Shiites. "Maliki Aide Lashes Out Over Sunni Demands." (WaPo)

The Sunni Accordance Front announced Wednesday that its six ministers in Maliki's cabinet would quit the government permanently unless the prime minister made significant progress on its list of demands.

Demands such as.... a greater role in security matters.... removal of militia members from Iraqi security forces.... and release of thousands of its members believed to be unjustly imprisoned.

Maliki's aide dismissed the demands saying the group is using threats, pressure and blackmail and leaves little doubt Maliki will not comply with their demands before Wednesday's deadline.

The answer to many of these problems seems obvious, we need to regionalize Iraq so each faction has its own land and equal standing. Stop trying to prop up a government more intent on throwing up roadblocks and increasing the Shiite grip on power than on finding ways to cooperate with the different factions and U.S. efforts at rebuilding.

A case in point where this approach is working, "U.S. Widens Push to Use Armed Iraqi Residents.... Irregulars to Patrol Own Neighborhoods." (WaPo)

"The U.S. military in Iraq is expanding its efforts to recruit and fund armed Sunni residents as local protection forces.... The initiative, which extends to all Iraqis, represents at least a temporary departure from the established U.S. policy of building formally trained security forces under the control of the Iraqi government."

Perhaps the most fruitful result of this new.... though Gen. Petraeus insists temporary.... security plan is that the Sunnis are more than willing to clear their neighborhoods of al-Qaeda forces.

Of course this plan is working.... because people are invested in their own neighborhoods.

Just as they would be in the expensive rebuilding projects in their neighborhood if they were given the training and support needed, instead of waiting on a reluctant , and nearly nonfunctioning, Maliki government to do the job.

Sen. Joseph Biden's federalization plan for Iraq seems like a no-brainer. It's a Way Forward in Iraq that will build on regional strengths, investing in all of the Iraqi people, not just the Iran-favored Shiite central government.

But then, when it comes to The Decider's seat-of-the-pants ideological and rigid political agenda, brains play no part in the equation.