The surge: “Hello we must be going…”
Groucho Marx had a signature greeting song, always good for a laugh: “Hello I Must Be Going:” Hello, I must be going I cannot stay I came to say I must be going I’m glad I came But just the … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Iraq
Iraq: will words help?
Victor Davis Hanson sums it up admirably: Either stabilizing Iraq now is felt critical to the United States and the West or it isn’t. The responsible Left hears the question and answers that it is not critical. The irresponsible Left … Continue reading →
The occupation of Iraq: forty years in the wilderness?
I was at a talk recently given by one of my favorite Boston journalists and bloggers, Jules Crittenden. The conversation turned—as conversations often do these days—to the war and occupation in Iraq. One of the themes that came up is … Continue reading →
Defeat and defeatism
The word “defeat” has been thrown around lately in connection with the war in Iraq; here’s an example. The title of the editorial is “Vietnam syndrome: the consequences of U.S. defeat in Iraq would be much greater than they were … Continue reading →
Congress, the President, and the polls: a game of withdrawal chess
Headline in the Washington Post: “Bush would veto new Iraq bill.” Ya think? Surely this isn’t a surprise (it’s a sort of “dog bites man” story) although of course the Post and the rest of the MSM are required to … Continue reading →
What’s the news in Iraq?: the blind men and the elephant
As the Democrats declare the Iraq war moribund and failed, others are not so sure. General Petraeus (oh well, what does he know?) reports that Sunnis are turning away from support for al Qaeda, and that the number of killings … Continue reading →
Reid’s proposal: not quite treason, but cynical managed care for war
I haven’t been especially easy on Harry Reid lately. I think his behavior despicable, shortsighted, pernicious, self-serving, and bordering on the traitorious. But it doesn’t fit the definition of treason, even though Tom Delay recently has called it “very, very … Continue reading →
War death statistics: dueling casualty figures, and how they are used
During a war, it used to be that the body counts published in the newspapers focused on the number of enemies killed. And the populace reading those accounts were supposed to be happy, not sad; the statistics were supposed to … Continue reading →
Congress and the Iraq War timeline for withdrawal: proceeding right on schedule
The Democratic leadership in Congress seems to be proceeding right on schedule with the slow bleed technique against the prosecution of the Iraq War. After a somewhat tepid reception for their antiwar resolutions, they’ve got a new plan: a timeline … Continue reading →
Our Iraq allies and spin: past and present, British and otherwise
As Blair announces and Britain prepares a phased pull out from Iraq, I noticed this list of our allies who are still there. It’s a somewhat varied and lengthy group, considering that basically this has been a US effort. And … Continue reading →
“I supported the troops before I cut the legs out from under them”
On “Face the Nation” yesterday, Tony Snow made what seems to me to be an eminently reasonable request: What I would say to members of Congress is: Calm down and take a look at what’s going on, and ask yourself … Continue reading →
Democracy, its spread, and the neocons (Part II: Iraq)
Neocons are accused of having started the war in Iraq in order to further the naive and unattainable dream of bringing liberal democracy to the Middle East. But the Iraq War was actually a multi-determined one—although the Left often seems … Continue reading →