Posted in: Iraq
Thursday Sep 9, 2010
I Have This Uneasy Feeling About Iraq
As many of you know, I love and admire President Barack Obama. What he has accomplished is truly remarkable. Not only did he get elected president but is also taken over the helm and truly rocky times. We have wars...
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emailSunday Jul 19, 2009
Prior to the Invasion of Iraq, America Was Like a Runaway Train
I will still submit that State of War: The Secret History of the CIA And the Bush Administration by James Risen is a great book, one that I've highly recommended. It is simply one of the best books I've read...
Tuesday Jul 22, 2008
Today show: McCain states that Obama doesn't understand Iraq
I do not need to go to Iraq to understand that Kurds, Sunnis and Shia don't like sharing the region. Just as you don't have to go to Watts (Los Angeles) to know that it is an extremely dangerous neighborhood....
Monday Jul 7, 2008
Sen. Barack Obama's position on Iraq is that: 1) Unlike Sen. John McCain's position, we cannot have permanent military bases be the policy objective in Iraq. 2) Instead, we should gradually withdraw our combat forces over a 16-month period, with...
Friday Jun 6, 2008
Next time you're arguing with a conservative whether the Bush administration lied about the intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war, or whether it innocently had the same faulty intelligence from the prior administration and every other allied country,...
Saturday May 3, 2008
McCain Joins Larry Craig In Saying: Iraq War Is For Oil
Yesterday, McCain basically admitted we're in Iraq for oil: My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will - that will then...
Saturday Apr 12, 2008
(I wrote about a 11 months ago. With General Petraeus on the Hill and President Bush in front of the cameras I that it would be important to remember the central point of all of this.) Condoleezza Rice basically tells...
Thursday Apr 10, 2008
Typically, I save my Iraq blogging for LiberalOasis, but this week I have a number of Iraq posts over at the Campaign for America's Future blog. Just in case you missed them, here they are: Would You Close Your School...
Monday Apr 7, 2008
Pushing Back on the "100 Years" Pushback
Conservatives are stepping up the pressure on the traditional media to call Sen. Barack Obama a liar, because he is mentioning Sen. John McCain's explicit support for a 100-year military presence in Iraq. I previously laid out what I consider...
Thursday Apr 3, 2008
Permanent Bases: Front and Center
I think I've been waiting five years to see permanent bases put front and center in the national debate. From MSNBC's Hardball interview of Sen. Obama: ...John McCain got upset, I think, today, apparently, because I had repeated exactly what...
Tuesday Apr 1, 2008
McCain: 100 Years Of Destabilizing Occupation. Period.
Sen. John McCain is desperately trying to remove the "100 Years" albatross he put around his neck, trying to encourage the media to treat Dem attacks as distortions. The reservoir of support McCain has in the media certainly helps. For...
Wednesday Jan 23, 2008
New study shows we were lied to
This one was/is a no brainer. Anyone who has kinda been following the Bush Administration has to know this one. There have been 15 - 20 very good books written on the numerous lies that the Bush Administration used to...
Sunday Dec 16, 2007
How awesome is the surge? So awesome, the occupying US military doesn't want the millions of Iraqis forced out of their country to come back. Because then the surge wouldn't be awesome anymore. From the W. Post: (emphasis added) When...
Tuesday Nov 27, 2007
Four years ago, Saddam Hussein was captured. Dem presidential front runner Howard Dean said "the capture of Saddam has not made America safer." Soon after, he was roundly attacked by his Dem rivals, and other Beltway Dems sought to undermine...
Thursday Nov 1, 2007
Something unusual was aired on NPR this morning. A reporter--the exceptionally brave and good reporter Anne Garrels--was made to respond to some pointed and angry questions from listeners. She had reported a story recently about Sunni efforts to curtail...
Wednesday Oct 31, 2007
Let's keep our eyes on the ball - Iraq
We are going to have to multi-task. We have to beat back the craziness over Iran and we have continue to work to get our troops out of Iraq. Every day more of our good soldiers are dying and for...
Saturday Oct 27, 2007
What are we, Americans, about?
As I look around and I try to interpret domestic and foreign policy, one question keeps nagging at me, what are we, as Americans, about? Let's look at recent events. The failure of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-Chip)...
Thursday Sep 27, 2007
Tim Russert began last night's presidential debate in exactly the right way: asking all the presidential candidates if they would pledge to have all US troops out of Iraq by the end of the next presidential term: January 2013. Unstated...
Sunday Sep 23, 2007
Last month after a Dem presidential debate, I wrote that, "The Dem Primary Won't Be Decided Over Iraq": Given the opportunity in Sunday's ABC debate to distinguish themselves from Sen. Hillary Clinton on Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen....
Tuesday Sep 18, 2007
Blackwater Isn't Going Anywhere
The day after the Iraqi government said the mercenary firm Blackwater USA couldn't work in Iraq anymore, after the company killed as many as 20 civilians, it's having second thoughts. From the AP: ...the Iraqi government appeared to back down...
Sunday Sep 16, 2007
Associated Press, today: [Defense Secretary Robert] Gates ... said he disagreed with assertions by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan in his new book that the Iraq war "is largely about oil." "I've known him a long time and I...
Thursday Sep 13, 2007
The plan is to occupy Iraq forever. From tonight's presidential address: [Iraqi leaders] understand that their success will require U.S. political, economic, and security engagement that extends beyond my presidency. These Iraqi leaders have asked for an enduring relationship with...
Wednesday Sep 12, 2007
Pro-escalation Dem Rep. Brian Baird in today's Washington Post: "I opposed this war with everything I had. . . . I wonder how folks who voted for it sleep at night," said Baird, who announced his change of heart after...
Monday Sep 3, 2007
It is unbelievable that for four years, the White House has been able to spin secret visits to Iraq as happy happy fun fun "surprise" visits, when in fact, they have secret trips because Iraq is too dangerous for normal...
Wednesday Aug 22, 2007
Dubya has learned how to maintain his bully pulpit and generate headlines as a lame duck: by making the craziest, most factually baseless, arguments possible. Democrats appear to be descending into one of their patented shame spirals as they fret...
Monday Aug 20, 2007
The Dem Primary Won't Be Decided Over Iraq
Given the opportunity in Sunday's ABC debate to distinguish themselves from Sen. Hillary Clinton on Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards passed. Which raises the question: how do they think they are going to dislodge her from...
Wednesday Jul 18, 2007
On TomDispatch, Kurdish advisor Peter Galbraith gives an stark assessment of the state of the surge, en route to making a case for shifting US troops to the Kurdish region, in part to "preserv[e] Kurdistan democracy." While over on American...
Monday Jul 16, 2007
A positive sign on the Sunday shows yesterday: two major Democrats clearly articulating the underlying problem with the current neocon Iraq policy, and using that to make the case for an alternative foreign policy approach. On Fox News Sunday, Sen....
Tuesday Jul 10, 2007
McCain's Problem is Every Republican's Problem
John McCain campaign is faltering for one simple reason: Iraq. More specifically, McCain has been mistrusted by the conservative base of the GOP ever since he picked fights with them in 2000, despite his long-standing neoconservative foreign policy views. In...
Friday Jul 6, 2007
Sen. Pete Domenici is the latest GOP senator to pretend to become a war opponent, after others such as Richard Lugar, Mitch McConnell and Jeff Sessions. All have garnered attention for criticizing the "surge" and proposing a reduction in troop...
Sunday Jul 1, 2007
Lugar Making Less And Less Sense
Sen. Richard Lugar visited CBS' Face The Nation today to talk about his recent speech criticizing Dubya's "surge" strategy in Iraq. His main argument against the continuing the surge was: The point of the surge was to give time to...
Wednesday Jun 27, 2007
Lugar Refuses To Vote Against The Occupation
Surprise, surprise. After generating headlines putting superficial distance between himself and Dubya, Sen. Lugar still won't back legislation that would end the occupation. Asked on NBC's Today (via Think Progress), "Why not back up your words with a vote?", Lugar...
Tuesday Jun 26, 2007
Lugar Calls For "Sustainable Military Posture" In Iraq
That's not the headline Senate Foreign Policy Cmte Ranking Member Richard Lugar is getting today. He's getting ink for saying the current "surge" strategy isn't working and calling for a troop reduction. But before you put Lugar on a pedestal,...
Monday Jun 11, 2007
GOP '08ers Start To Address Permanent Bases
We know that the entire Democratic presidential field opposes the neocon goal of a permanent military presence in Iraq. Now, after the White House began comparing its Iraq strategy to Korea, Republicans are starting to get asked the same question....
Sunday Jun 3, 2007
From today's NY Times: Administration officials and top military leaders declined to talk on the record about their long-term plans in Iraq. But when speaking on a not-for-attribution basis, they describe a fairly detailed concept. It calls for maintaining three...
Thursday May 31, 2007
Time For Congressional Oversight On Permanent Bases
Overlooked in the congressional cave-in to Dubya on a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq is that the final bill (H.R. 2206) kept in a flat ban on funding permanent bases: SEC. 3301. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made...
Friday May 25, 2007
Sen. Joe Biden, 4/27/07: We're going to shove it down his throat. Sen. Joe Biden, 5/24/07: But the practical reality is that, for now, those of us who want to change course in Iraq don't have the votes to override...
Thursday May 24, 2007
There's Votes, and There's Leadership
Color LiberalOasis unimpressed with Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama waiting until the very last minute to announce they were voting against the Iraq bill. When you're a Senator, the bottom line is how you vote. When you're auditioning for...
Sunday May 13, 2007
Graham Tells Iraqis To "Live With" Suicide Bombings
Another fine example of conservative respect for the Iraqi people today, this time from Sen. Lindsey Graham on CNN's Late Edition: I'm not going to let the car bombers of the moment dictate foreign policy for decades to come. Israel's...
Sunday May 13, 2007
McCain: I Don't Support Democracy
From today's Meet The Press: TIM RUSSERT: But if the duly elected people's bodies, the U.S Congress and the Iraqi Parliament, say they want a troop withdrawal, that's more than a poll. Isn't that the voice of the people? SEN....
Thursday May 10, 2007
Soon-to-be former Prime Minister Tony Blair: ...removing Saddam and his sons from power, as with removing the Taliban, was over with relative ease. But the blowback since, with global terrorism and those elements that support it, has been fierce and...
Monday May 7, 2007
We are caught up in a worldwide war against an irreconcilable enemy who seeks to destroy us and will use nuclear or biological weapons if they can get them. And they mean literally destroy us ... whether it's Afghanistan, it's...
Thursday May 3, 2007
From CNN yesterday: It's called the Office of the Commander in Chief, set to be a shadowy entity created by Iraq's prime minister. Multiple U.S. military and intelligence sources say the office has the power to overrule other Iraqi government...
Sunday Apr 29, 2007
Dubya's veto of the Iraq bill is expected on Tuesday, While the veto will be no surprise, it will still be a historic act, a monumental snubbing of the public will as expressed by Congress. And there will be a...
Tuesday Apr 24, 2007
Permanent Bases Project: Dodd Edition
We've been able to get very Democratic presidential candidate to express opposition to permanent bases in Iraq, except for Sen. Chris Dodd. But Mike of Blue Hampshire recently got Dodd on the record: Mike: There's some concern about the bases...
Sunday Apr 15, 2007
On ABC's This Week, Gov. Bill Richardson had his first national interview since he declared he would leave behind "no residual forces" in Iraq at last week's MoveOn.org Virtual Town Hall. How does Richardson respond to aggressive questions about his...
Wednesday Apr 11, 2007
Focus Sharpens on Permanent Bases
After yesterday's post updating where the Democratic candidates stand on permanent bases in Iraq, saying we still needed to learn more about Sens. Chris Dodd and Barack Obama, a reader pointed LiberalOasis to http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:s.433:">Obama's bill, "Iraq War De-Escalation Act of...
Wednesday Apr 11, 2007
Permanent Bases Project Update
Before I could get my Permanent Bases Project off the ground, and start visiting candidate town halls, MoveOn.org did its own virtual town hall Tuesday night, and got some questions answered. Most notably, Sen. Hillary Clinton flatly stated she does...
Monday Apr 9, 2007
On Tuesday, after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid properly framed Bush's expected veto of the eventual Iraq bill as keeping "in place his strategy for failure," LiberalOasis said that would only succeed in framing the overall debate if "all congressional...
Tuesday Apr 3, 2007
Yesterday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid offered a succinct statement that properly framed the debate over the Iraq bill, and countered Dubya's hysterical attacks: The President today asked the American people to trust him as he continues to follow the...
Wednesday Mar 28, 2007
2 Out Of 2 Houses Of Congress Agree: No Permanent Occupation
http://www.liberaloasis.com/2007/03/almost_there.php">Earlier this month, when endorsing the overall congressional Dem strategy on Iraq, LiberalOasis noted that the Senate Dem plan was "less firm" than the House Dem plan. The House bill has a binding deadline of August 2008 to redeploy...
Thursday Mar 22, 2007
According to the W. Post and MSNBC.com, it appears Speaker Nancy Pelosi has assembled a majority to pass the war supplemental appropriations bill that includes an firm Aug. 31, 2008 deadline for the redeployment of combat troops out of Iraq....
Thursday Mar 15, 2007
Some Details Matter, Some Don't
Considering all of the angst that's been suffered over the particulars of the House war supplemental appropriations bill, the Senate vote is quite instructive. The Senate bill -- not a funding measure like the House bill, but a reauthorization of...
Thursday Mar 15, 2007
What does it mean that Sen. Hillary Clinton said that she wants to leave behind an undetermined number of troops "between Baghdad and Kirkuk ... for our antiterrorism mission; for our northern support mission; for our ability to respond to...
Monday Mar 12, 2007
Saturday was the international conference on Iraq featuring all of Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria. The US was in the room as well. Major shift in our diplomatic strategy? Not quite. Here's the Associated Press dispatch: In their first...
Friday Mar 9, 2007
Regarding Iraq, There are four things Dems need to convey to the public: 1. They have a plan to stabilize Iraq by disengaging militarily, and re-engaging diplomatically and economically. 2. They are doing all they can to implement that plan....
Tuesday Feb 27, 2007
Overnight reports on the House Dems' plans for war funding from the AP, W. Post and NY Times are a little conflicting. But it seems like the plan is to change Rep. John Murtha's proposal -- preventing funds from being...
Monday Feb 19, 2007
The first step is completed. Both the House and Senate held votes showing a bipartisan majority opposes an escalation of the war in Iraq. (The House passed a resolution. Senate Republicans technically filibustered a resolution, but with 56 Senators supporting...
Monday Feb 5, 2007
Democratic Senate leaders bent over backwards to get a nonbinding Iraq resoltuion that could attract bipartisan support, so they could easily say there was wide disapproval for the "surge" strategy. Understandable approach, considering that so many Republicans appear to want...
Monday Feb 5, 2007
It probably won't be recognized by the media today or by historians tomorrow, but yesterday was a tipping point. The point where the worldview of the war's apologists declined in relevance. As the neocon frame became hysterical, and an alternative...
Monday Jan 29, 2007
Why haven't the Republicans united around a plan for Iraq? Why can't they come up with a coordinated message? How can we even have a debate if Republicans refuse to put a strategy on the table? Republicans are in a...
Sunday Jan 28, 2007
Iraqis Say, Dems Better For Iraq
From today's LA Times: Many [Iraqi officials] pointed out advantages to the Democrats' increased sway over Iraq policy. Government officials said they had generally found the Democratic position on handing over security to Iraqi forces sooner rather than later closer...
Sunday Jan 21, 2007
Yesterday's Washington Post broke an important Iraq story. [On Nov. 30,]Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had a surprise for President Bush when they sat down with their aides in the Four Seasons Hotel in Amman, Jordan. [He] proposed that U.S....
Sunday Jan 14, 2007
The Bushies and their enablers are trying to parlay their last scraps of political credibility by insisting it's either escalation in Iraq or handing over the region to Iran and Al Qaeda, and daring Democrats to prove otherwise. Here's Sen....
Wednesday Jan 10, 2007
Two parts of Dubya's speech jump out to LiberalOasis. I've made it clear to the Prime Minister and Iraq's other leaders that America's commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will...
Wednesday Jan 10, 2007
The rubber is hitting the road for Democrats and Iraq. With Dubya about to announce an increase in troops for Iraq, much of the public will be looking to the Democratic Congress to do something, anything, to stop us from...
Monday Jan 8, 2007
Facing commanders on the ground who opposed plans for escalating troop levels in Iraq, Dubya just switched commanders. How to respond to criticism that he is recklessly ignoring the advice of military leaders? Blame the troops! The troops with the...
Wednesday Jan 3, 2007
LiberalOasis doesn't like to speculate with minimal evidence, so consider the following merely something to ponder: Could it be that Saddam's execution is part of the "Shiite Tilt" strategy? The White House deliberations about a "Shiite Tilt" were reported several...
Monday Dec 18, 2006
There's a bit of a kerfuffle over what Democrats said yesterday about a likely troop surge in Iraq. On ABC's This Week, incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unexpectedly said he would "go along" with a troop surge, if it...
Wednesday Dec 13, 2006
You Don't Introduce Super Shiny New Ways Forward Before Xmas
Well, the week isn't going quite like LiberalOasis thought yesterday, because Dubya scrapped the plan Instead of continuing a series of authorized leaks meant to build a case for continued occupation, the White House announced today its putting off announcing...
Tuesday Dec 12, 2006
You can see how this week is going to go from today's W. Post headline: " target="_blank">"Experts Advise Bush Not to Reduce Troops". What experts? The ones Dubya hand-picked to meet with, of course. Dubya has more meetings with military...
Monday Dec 11, 2006
The Bush Administration let Jim Baker and Lee Hamilton have a free day on the Sunday shows -- one last day for them to flog the Iraq Study Group mush before hanging it up. (The ISG chairs noted that the...
Friday Dec 8, 2006
The Iraq Study Group report was bipartisan mush, as expected. Slate's Fred Kaplan summed it up perfectly: Its outline of a new "diplomatic offensive" is so disjointed that even a willing president would be left puzzled by what precisely to...
Wednesday Dec 6, 2006
Iraq Study Group on Permanent Bases
Here's what the just released Iraq Study Group report has to say about permanent bases. Starts off good, then in classic bipartisan centrist fashion, falls apart. The United States should also signal that it is seeking broad international support for...
Wednesday Dec 6, 2006
Watch Out, War Backers Want Your "Will"
Our new Defense Secretary Robert Gates was big on "candor" yesterday in his confirmation hearings. So much so, that Dems heaped praise on him. Incoming Armed Services chairman Sen. Carl Levin, who had been the most willing to criticize Gates'...
Tuesday Dec 5, 2006
The end of John Bolton's UN career is a positive development, in that it's at least another reminder that we can stand firm and win. But by itself, it's not going to do anything to change White House foreign policy....
Thursday Nov 30, 2006
The Iraq Study Group Is Finished: *Yawn*
Prediction: The Iraq Study Group report, which will be formally released Wednesday Dec. 6, will be largely forgotten by Monday Dec. 11. Because if today's New York Times report previewing the main recommendations is truly indicative, this report will be...
Monday Nov 27, 2006
Fight a Civil War, or Contain It?
NBC has decided to acknowledge the obvious and unequivocally describe Iraq as suffering a civil war. Most media organizations are not following suit, but because NBC generated considerable notice by publicly announcing the shift, it will likely solidify American perceptions...
Monday Nov 27, 2006
On the Sunday shows, Republicans were seemingly all over the map on what to do about Iraq. Reacting to reports that the Pentagon sees our choices as Go Big, Go Long or Go Home, Sen. John Cornyn (TX) embraced the...
Tuesday Oct 31, 2006
Interview With Paul Rieckhoff, Author of "Chasing Ghosts"
Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (formerly Operation Truth), recently published, Chasing Ghosts, a memior of his tour of duty in Iraq, and his fight for accountability upon his return home. Former Senator...
Friday Oct 27, 2006
Jonah & Me on Bloggingheads.tv
The National Review's Jonah Goldberg and I met over at Bloggingheads.tv, where we talked about the strategic objectives in Iraq, the merits of permanent bases, the nature of neocons, midterms and mandates. You can watch it here....
Thursday Oct 26, 2006
Dubya's "I'm Not Satisfied With Iraq" press conference yesterday was simply odd. Though very much in sync with the strategy LiberalOasis dissected earlier in the week: "sloppy, last-minute attempts to give an impression that if you want to see a...
Monday Oct 23, 2006
While the GOP wants to return the focus to national security, they clearly are worried that Iraq is making national security unfavorable turf for them. In turn, we're seeing sloppy, last-minute attempts to give an impression that if you want...
Friday Sep 29, 2006
In case you missed it, here's video -- broken up into four parts -- of yesterday segment on MSNBC's "Tucker" featuring Andrew Wilkow and myself. Transcript is available here....
Thursday Sep 28, 2006
Why the Intelligence Community Might Like My Book
The National Intelligence Estimate on trends in global terrorism is so damning to the Right's entire foreign policy vision, they have no choice but to pushback on it now that is has surfaced. But they are so caught off-guard, they...
Wednesday Sep 27, 2006
Jody Brown, Executive VP of CACI International, Inc., has sent me a letter in response to my In These Times article on the privatized Iraq War. To refresh, these are the portions of the article that relate to CACI: [In...
Tuesday Sep 26, 2006
LiberalOasis has been critical of Washington Dems for not nationalizing the election around a " target="_blank">set of core principles. Yet Washington Dems have been working to prevent Republicans from nationalizing the election around dishonest right-wing terrorism frames. They got in...
Thursday Sep 7, 2006
Privatized Warfare: The Summer of Discontent
Today, members of The Media Consortium, a network of leading progressive independent journalism organizations, are publishing articles about privatization in Iraq in coordination with the new documentary "Iraq For Sale" available on DVD. Included in the package is my own...
Thursday Aug 24, 2006
For Iraq: Summit or Civil War?
Today's W. Post piece on the rise of Shia militias ends on a note that buttresses the arguments of those that want US troops to stay in Iraq: Ultimately, [International Crisis Group analyst Joost] Hiltermann said, the Mahdi Army, as...
Friday Aug 11, 2006
It would appear that a bona fide terror plot was foiled yesterday by the British government. LiberalOasis takes Homeland Security chief " target="_blank">Michael Chertoff at his word: This was a very sophisticated plan and operation. This is not a circumstance...
Thursday Aug 10, 2006
War Opposition Hits 60%; GOP To Run On War
The chronically unpopular Bush Administration, drowning in crises around the world, thought they had a political opportunity in Ned Lamont's victory over Joe Lieberman. An opportunity to recycle old McCarthyite distortions of Democrats. In yesterday's press briefing, WH Spokesman Tony...
Wednesday Jun 21, 2006
Democratic Unity on Iraq? Really?
This week has found the Democrats finally putting the GOP on the defensive about our future actions in Iraq -- perhaps because the Dems took the tiniest of baby steps towards having an actual debate about what the hell we...
Wednesday Jun 14, 2006
Campbell Brown interviewed Howard Dean on the Today Show yesterday morning. Brown asked Dean, "What is the Democrats' position on Iraq? What solution do Democrats have?" After Dean responded, she stated, "I got to tell you. If I'm a voter,...
Monday Jun 12, 2006
OK, after this, I'm really am gone for my honeymoon. But I wanted to quickly call your attention to this Think Progress post: "Congressional Conservatives Quietly Strip Provision That Prohibited Permanent Bases In Iraq". The provision banning money for permanent...
