Thursday, January 25, 2007

Hope springs eternal....

In case anyone needs any more evidence that the war-r-us crowd is painting themselves into a tight little corner of irrelevance I present you: The NRSC Pledge

Friday, January 12, 2007

I wrote USA Today....

Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Likewise, the gambler's fallacy is the belief that a run of bad luck will portend a turn for the better in the near future. I fear that both these thought processes infuse our current Middle East policy.

The American people have made it abundantly clear that they are ready for a change in course but it seems that all we're being offered is more of the same, the only difference being a raise in the stakes that higher troop levels represent. I urge all our Congressional Representatives to make clear to the administration that the AUMF was not a blank check and that its time to re-evaluate what can realistically be acheived in the Middle East and to move toward a policy based on reality rather than wishful thinking.
Bucky posted this comment at Glenn Greenwald:

What if there is a well defined mission in Iraq, but the leadership can not share it directly with the American people? What if the mission is simply to destroy the Arab states of the middle east? If it is, then we are doing "the job" and the speeches are just to cover up the real mission.

I added:
You're probably on to something important. pretending for the sake of argument that the #1 US goal is to prevent a nuclear device from being used on us and the second most imnportant goal is to maintain control over the oil supplies. Since our soldiers have sufficient weaponry to operate in a war zone, even if they are unable to control events on the ground or prevent the civil war from proceeding at its current deadly pace, by simply remaining they are accomplishing their mission, and any talk of democracy or stability or and end game of any kind is just sugar coating for the folks back home (and the parents, wives and friends of the soldiers in question).Same deal if we go into Iran. Stability is not required. A freindly regime is not required. Chaos is fine as long as it keeps our "enemies" unable to operate freely.

Joshua Micah Marshall has more:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011888.php