When The News Speaks For Itself

by DemFromCT

Page One, no less. Lying about Iraq and how we got here has consequences. And lying also gets to be a habit, including lying to yourself:

Bush's  Optimism On Iraq  Debated

Rosy View in Time Of Rising Violence Revives Criticism

By Jim VandeHei  and Peter BakerWashington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, June 5, 2005;  Page A01

 

President Bush's portrayal of a wilting insurgency in Iraq at a time of escalating violence and insecurity throughout the country is reviving the debate over the administration's Iraq strategy and the accuracy of its upbeat claims.

While Bush and Vice President Cheney offer optimistic assessments of the situation, a fresh wave of car bombings and other attacks killed 80 U.S. soldiers and more than 700 Iraqis last month alone and prompted Iraqi leaders to appeal to the administration for greater help. Privately, some administration officials have concluded the violence will not subside through this year.

The disconnect between Rose Garden optimism and Baghdad pessimism, according to government officials and independent analysts, stems not only from Bush's focus on tentative signs of long-term progress but also from the shrinking range of policy options available to him if he is wrong. Having set out on a course of trying to stand up a new constitutional, elected government with the security firepower to defend itself, Bush finds himself locked into a strategy that, even if it proves successful, foreshadows many more deadly months to come first, analysts said.

Sigh. Just read the whole thing.

Comments

[bob mcmanus]

Was a shock to read this in my Dallas Morning News. Not the article;that it was printed.

Ok, the article also.

[RonK, Seattle]

Waist deep in the Big Muddy ...

[al-Fubar]

The most dangerous lies are the ones you tell yourself ...

-- Rick Robinson

[Meteor Blades]

OK. I've lost track. Are we allowed yet to say quagmire? Has this sociopathic foreign policy got any critics in the Senate who are willing to stop being so polite, standing in the hallowed halls and taking personal privilege to say: "President Bush, I don't believe you. You're the worst liar we've had in the Presidency since Richard Nixon, and I don't believe you. And every time I think about the men and women being flown secretly into Dover in their "transfer tubes," I think of what Mr. Cheney once said on this floor. 'Fuck you,' Mr. President. Fuck you very much."

C'mon. Just one Senator?

[DemFromCT]

..and the damn fool said to move on.

[Kagro X]

By the way, what's this about? From the WaPo article you reference:

Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), who joined Biden for part of the trip, said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and others are misleading Americans about the number of functional Iraqi troops and warned the president to pay more attention to shutting off Syrian and Iranian assistance to the insurgency. "We don't want to raise the expectations of the American people prematurely," he said.

Meanwhile, Weldon has a new book coming out with Regnery, which according to Congressional Quarterly:

details intelligence secrets “Ali” has provided and warns that Iran, not al Qaeda, is the United States’ biggest enemy, according to the book’s description on Amazon.com....

In the book, Weldon exposes warnings from his source that Iran will attack America next; that Iran, not al Qaeda, is actually the nexus of Islamic terrorism; and that Iran has an advanced nuclear program.

So where's Weldon's head at, here? Is he an ally for truth in Iraq? Or a nutbar selling the next war with Iran?

(Answer: nutbar.)

[DemFromCT]

Yep. Nutbar. Can't help but think Bolton's part of the cabal. But where are the troops coming from?

[Kagro X]

Troops? We're going to do it all from the air. We're going to drop bales of school vouchers on them, convert their petrodollars to block grants, and eventually they'll wither on the vine. Or something like that.

[Neil the Ethical Werewolf]

Jim VandeHei is the man. I especially liked this article from January, with its collection of Harry Reid zingers.

[RonK, Seattle]

Nutbar, left on the dashboard with the windows rolled up on a hot summer day.