Monday, August 20, 2007

Three For Today ... The Selling of Iraq


As Bette Davis vamped in ''All About Eve', "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"


Despite Andy Card's warning, The Bush Grindhouse has launched, yet again, it's Selling of Iraq and there's going to a whole bevy of bumpy nights before this thing is settled.

Holy Quagmire Batman, how will we ever win the “defining struggle of the 21st century?!”

It ain't looking good.

Two days before the Bush Puppet, Ayad Allawi, offered the latest Administration plan, under the guise of his own great vision for Iraq, Abu Aardvark offered an update on the failed Emergency Political Summit in Iraq, which gave a very bleak view of any hope of a political breakthrough that would send Iraq down that glorious road of Democracy.
"The failure of this emergency summit should be receiving serious attention because it pretty much guarantees that Iraq's political system will be mired in sectarian deadlock when September's showdown in Washington over Iraq policy commences."

Then, almost as a counterattack to the Allawi scheme, the New York Times, looking to build up it's anti-war Karma points, presented the OP-ED "The War As We Saw It", from seven U.S. Soldiers who have, or are, serving in Iraq.

More bleakness.
"To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched ..."

"What matters is the experience of the local citizenry and the future of our counterinsurgency. When we take this view, we see that a vast majority of Iraqis feel increasingly insecure and view us as an occupation force that has failed to produce normalcy after four years and is increasingly unlikely to do so as we continue to arm each warring side ..."

"At the same time, the most important front in the counterinsurgency, improving basic social and economic conditions, is the one on which we have failed most miserably ..."

And then, rather remarkably, there was a sane suggestion, that, perhaps, will shine a spotlight on the Bush Grindhouse's marketing efforts.

Jeralyn Merritt, over on her great blog, 'TalkLeft", had the post "How to Present the Petraeus Report", detailing a proposal from conservative pundit Hugh Hewitt that asks the Bush Grindhouse to allow Golden Boy, General David Petraeus, and his sidekick, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, to be interviewed about the report by the "New Media".

This would include television, print and blogs, both liberal and conservative, pro-war and anti-war.

Quite likely, this suggestion came close to causing a short circuit in Dick Cheney's - he, the great prognosticator - new ticker.

They could count on some of the suggested participants to carry their flag, but not being able to control the questions ... Taking the chance of Petraeus or Crocker strolling off-message ...

Great idea but I think you could bet your deck of "Personality Identification Playing Cards" that the Bush Grindhouse will not endorse or go through with it.

Bonus Links

McClatchy Newspapers: Despite violence drop, officers see bleak future for Iraq

Glenn Greenwald: How much credence should Gen. Petraeus' reports be given?


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