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Open Thread for Night Owls (The Right Makes Its Case)
I almost always avoid linking to rightwingers, but I’m making an exception so tonight you can chew on the views of two NeoCons and an aristocrat talking about what’s next in Iraq. First, from the Houston Chronicle, the ethically challenged pinstriper who’s been nibbling at Mister Bush’s heels for a couple of years: By Bush’s Standard, Surge Has Failed By George Will To declare this a substantial victory won by them requires Democrats to do two things. They must make a mountain out of a molehill (Petraeus suggests withdrawal of only a few thousand troops). And they must spuriously claim credit for the mountain. ... But Democrats cannot advertise a small withdrawal as a victory without further infuriating their party's base, the source of energy and money. The base is incandescent because there are more troops in Iraq today than there were on Election Day 2006, when Democratic activists and donors thought, not without reason,...

The Justice Department Swallows Its Tale
The story of how former Alabama governor Don Siegelman ended up with a seven year prison sentence for corruption is a lot more tangled than the "crime" itself.  Siegelman was a popular politician, the only person to ever be elected to all four statewide offices -- Secretary of State, Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor and Governor -- in the history of Alabama.  Furthermore, Siegelman was a popular Democrat, a progressive Democrat, in a state that is seen as the heart of the Republican south.  His election was seen by some a sea change. But the tide didn't stay out for long.  In running for Governor, Siegelman had campaigned on starting a state lottery, with the proceeds to provide college tuition for students graduating high school in the state.  The issue was popular enough to help Siegelman take office in a general election year, but when the lottery itself was put forward in a single issue election during an off-year, religious...

Open Thread and Diary Rescue
(Tonight's selections are brought to you courtesy of the Rescue Rangers. SusanG) This evening's Rescue Rangers are vcmvo2, Painty Kat, hhex65, BentLiberal, smokeymonkey, grog, and joyful, with twilight falling gleefully pushing the buttons on the Magical Editor's Chair. Sept. 10, 1963 was a great day in American history, as enforcement of federal desegregation laws permitted 20 African American children to attend public high schools in Birmingham, Mobile, and Tuskegee, Alabama for the first time. Let's remember the long, hard work that went into this achievement--and all the setbacks that were overcome--as we fight new threats to civil liberties and equal rights for all. Our Rights, and Violations Thereof In The Last Abortion Clinic in Mississippi, dkos diarist Avenging Angel analyzes how relentless efforts by anti-choice forces in that state have restricted women's reproductive rights. (vcmvo2) Land of Enchantment was personally Under Surveillance in the 1970s. Don't...

Dodd throws Obama the gauntlet
Dodd statement, via email: While we are glad that Senator Obama has called for a change of course in Iraq, he isn't clear as to what he will do to make that happen, or when. Rhetoric and highly nuanced statements are not going to end this war -- strong leadership and clarity will. That's why Chris Dodd has said that he cannot support the reported Levin-Reed measure if it does not have a firm and enforceable deadline. We urge Senator Obama, and all the other candidates in the Senate, to state clearly and directly whether or not they will support Iraq legislation if it does not include a firm, enforceable deadline to begin and complete the redeployment of troops from Iraq. We know that all the candidates want legislation with a deadline, but the question is whether Hillary or Barack would vote for a supplemental that does not include such deadlines. It's a damn good question.

"I stand by it"
Spencer at TPMmuckraker finds a gem in today's report. In September 2004, Gen. David Petraeus wrote in a WaPo op-ed of the security forces he was in charge of training: Helping organize, train and equip nearly a quarter-million of Iraq's security forces is a daunting task.... Now, however, 18 months after entering Iraq, I see tangible progress.... The institutions that oversee them are being reestablished from the top down. And Iraqi leaders are stepping forward, leading their country and their security forces courageously in the face of an enemy that has shown a willingness to do anything to disrupt the establishment of the new Iraq. Here's Rep. Eliot Engel getting Gen. Petraeus to address that op-ed. "I stand by it," says Petraeus, which is consistent on his part, if nothing else. Even Michael O'Hanlon has to distance himself from this one: Some of Petraeus’s critics will argue, as they already have, that he wrote an oped in the fall of 2004 that was too...

Iraqis Say Surge Has Failed
In an extraordinary poll (.pdf) jointly run by ABC News, the BBC and the Japanese broadcaster NHK, Iraqis look at the surge results as a failure, a conclusion reached by both English-speaking news organizations. From ABC News' Gary Langer More Iraqis say security in their local area has gotten worse in the last six months than say it's gotten better, 31 percent to 24 percent, with the rest reporting no change. Far more, six in 10, say security in the country overall has worsened since the surge began, while just one in 10 sees improvement. More directly assessing the surge itself -- a measure that necessarily includes views of the United States, which are highly negative -- 65 to 70 percent of Iraqis say it's worsened rather than improved security, political stability and the pace of redevelopment alike. There are some improvements, but they're sparse and inconsistent. Thirty-eight percent in Anbar province, a focal point of the surge, now rate local security positively;...

Day 1594
While Petraeus and Crocker spin, we get the news: BAGHDAD - Nine American soldiers died in Iraq on Monday — all but one killed in vehicle accidents in and around Baghdad, the military said. The deadliest of the vehicle accidents, in western Baghdad, killed seven Multi-National Division — Baghdad soldiers and wounded 11, and left two detainees dead and a third injured. The cause of the accident was under investigation, the military said. In a separate accident, east of Baghdad, an American soldier was killed and two injured when their vehicle flipped and caught fire. A ninth soldier died of injuries sustained Sunday while on patrol in the Kirkuk area of northern Iraq.... In the north, a suicide car bomber killed eight people and injured 20 others in an attack near an Iraqi army headquarters near Tal Afar, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad, the local mayor Najim Abdullah said. Also Monday, U.S. and Iraqi troops killed three civilians during a raid in Baghdad's...

Testimony About The War
On a day when the world turns its collective attention toward a Congressional hearing room to listen to a General's testimony about the war, one can't help but remember another officer's testimony about another war: We watched the United States' falsification of body counts, in fact the glorification of body counts.  We listened while month after month we were told the back of the enemy was about to break . . . Each day to facilitate the process by which the United States washes her hands of Vietnam someone has to give up his life so that the United States doesn't have to admit something that the entire world already knows, so that we can't say that we have made a mistake. Someone has to die so that President Nixon won't be, and these are his words, "the first President to lose a war." We are asking Americans to think about that because how do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake? So said...

Midday open thread
Right wingers piddle on themselves. If you take a look at the latest CBS poll, one startling finding stands out: "Do you think Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon?" Yes 33 No 58 Not surprisingly, this correlates very closely to support for the war. In other words, only the moron dead-enders who still believe Iraq had anything to do with 9-11 continue to support the war. If they insist on clinging to the fiction of Saddam's involvement, they ain't gonna change their minds on the war itself. All rational human beings have concluded it's time to get the heck out. Looks like Obama will finally share with us his Iraq strategy. Hopefully it's "no funding without withdrawal". Here's a rare American car I would actually buy. VA-Sen: Insiders predict that Mark Warner will enter the race and give Democrats one of their biggest pickup opportunities this cycle. And we'll know soon. ...

And the fact-checking begins
Aravosis: Petraeus today before Congress: When I testified in January, for example, no one would have dared to forecast that Anbar Province would have been transformed the way it has in the past 6 months. What Petraeus said 6 months ago at his confirmation hearing (via CQ, subscription only link): "You've seen it, I know, in Anbar province, where it has sort of gone back and forth. And right now, there appears to be a trend in the positive direction where sheiks are stepping up, and they do want to be affiliated with and supported by the U.S. Marines and Army forces who are in Anbar province. That was not the case as little as perhaps six months ago, or certainly before that." No one would've dared forecast that Anbar would improve! Well, except for, um, Petraeus.

Petraeus blabbing
We won! Therefore, our troops need to stay there forever. Or something like that.

Obama and Iraq
From an email press release: “Changing the definition of success to stay the course with the wrong policy is the wrong course for our troops and our national security. The time to end the surge and to start bringing our troops home is now – not six months from now. The Iraqi government is not achieving the political progress that was the stated purpose of the surge, and in key  areas has gone backwards. Our military cannot sustain its current deployments without crippling our ability to respond to contingencies around the world. It’s time for a change of direction that brings our troops home, applies real pressure on the Iraqis to act, surges our diplomacy, and addresses Iraq’s urgent humanitarian crisis. I can only support a policy that begins an immediate removal of our troops from Iraq’s civil war, and initiates a sustained drawdown of our military presence.” What about timetables? Nothing on that...

No ponies, now or in six months
Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett talks about Magical September: “When the surge was announced, the White House said, ‘wait til the summer.’ And as the summer approached, the White House said, ‘wait til September.’ Well, now that this much overrated September is here, they cry, ‘wait til next year.’ The only real mystery about President Bush’s September decision has been what new excuse he would offer to justify staying the same old deadly course. And as the American people have seen through the duplicity of each and other excuse, the President has returned to his original ploy: 9/11. Coincidentally, just as we receive this report on the anniversary of 9/11. He claims that, quote, ‘the same folks that are bombing in Iraq are the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th.’ That is false and he knows it’s false.” It's clear the public doesn't even care...

NE-Sen: Hagel is out
It's official. Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, a thorn in his own party's side when it comes to Iraq, announced Monday he would retire from the Senate and not seek any elected office in 2008. "I said after I was elected in 1996 that 12 years in the Senate would probably be enough, and it is," Hagel said. It's now Democrat Bob Kerrey's seat to lose. And while we run the threat of having another Lieberdem in the Senate, Kerrey is actually a pretty solid Democrat aside from the war and social security. Below I have Kerrey's 1998 interest group ratings. In parenthesis, I'm including Ben Nelson's 2004 numbers for comparison purposes. (Nelson replaced Kerrey in the Senate.) Americans for Democratic Action (liberal group) 95 (65) ACLU 86 (33) AFSCME (labor union) 100 (86) League of Conservation Voters (environment) 100 (67) Concord Coalition (fiscal conservatives, pro-balanced budget) 86 (81) National Taxpayers Union (conservative anti-tax group) 22 (34) Chamber of Commerce...

The Petraeus song and dance
NY Times editorial: Mr. Bush, we fear, isn’t looking for the truth, only for ways to confound the public, scare Democrats into dropping their demands for a sound exit strategy, and prolong the war until he leaves office. At times, General Petraeus gives the disturbing impression that he, too, is more focused on the political game in Washington than the unfolding disaster in Iraq. That serves neither American nor Iraqi interests. Mr. Bush, deeply unpopular with the American people, is counting on the general to restore credibility to his discredited Iraq policy. He frequently refers to the escalation of American forces last January as General Petraeus’s strategy — as if it were not his own creation. The situation echoes the way Mr. Bush made Colin Powell — another military man with an overly honed sense of a soldier’s duty — play frontman at the United Nations in 2003 to make the case that Iraq had weapons of mass...

By the way...
Just in case you were wondering whether there might actually be something else going on this week besides the Petraeus Show, there is. Nothing serious, though. Just the latest in a series of deadlines set by Government Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, demanding the delivery by the "administration" of reports generated by the still-unknown private contractor who claims to have "lost" those 5 million White House e-mails. Deadline: Today. In a letter to Fielding, Rep. Henry Waxman set a Sept. 10 deadline for the White House to turn over information about the missing e-mail, a problem that apparently was discovered by administration officials in 2005. The letter from Waxman, D-Calif., revealed new details about the issue that came from two White House lawyers who briefed Waxman's staff about problems archiving electronic messages. White House e-mail problems first came to light during a special prosecutor's investigation into whether someone on President Bush's staff...

Despite surge PR, a record number want out
If Dems won't stand for what they believe in, on an issue in which they have 60 percent of the American people, what will they stand for? A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday and Saturday finds that a White House push to spotlight progress in Iraq, including President Bush's surprise stop in Anbar province last week, hasn't fundamentally changed attitudes toward the war. While a third of those surveyed say the "surge" of U.S. troops this year has made them more confident the United States will accomplish its goals, a majority calls the invasion a mistake and predicts the war will be lost. A record 60% say the United States should set a timetable to withdraw forces "and stick to that timetable regardless of what is going on in Iraq." Hear that Congress? That's not "ask Bush to perhaps make plans if he feels like it". That's not "maybe we'll set a start deadline, but not worry about an end one." That's not "give Bush his $200 billion and lots more war because if we don't,...

It's Magic Time!
Petraeus pre-game. Can you feel the war ending? One third of the way through Magical September!

Open Thread for Night Owls (Op-Eds on Parade)
Here are excerpts from four Op-Eds to chew on until the sandman comes. From The New York Times: Where’s My Trickle? By Paul Krugman Four years ago the Bush administration, exploiting the political bounce it got from the illusion of success in Iraq, pushed a cut in capital-gains and dividend taxes through Congress. It was an extremely elitist tax cut even by Bush-era standards: the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center says that more than half of the tax breaks went to Americans with incomes of more than $1 million a year. Needless to say, administration economists produced various misleading statistics designed to convey the opposite impression, that the tax cut mainly went to ordinary, middle-class Americans. But they also insisted that the benefits of the tax cut would trickle down — that lower tax rates on the rich would do great things for the economy, helping everyone. Well, Friday’s dismal jobs report showed that the Bush boom, such as it was,...