Civilian Control of the Military

31Jul08

So one thing I noticed from last Sunday’s morning talk shows was that the new favorite talking point about Iraq is to ask what happens when Barack Obama begins pulling troops out of Iraq, but the “Generals” disagree.
Did I miss the point in our country where we became a third world country where elected officials [...]

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Tags: Barack Obama, Iraq, Iraq War

Obama’s Recent “Moderation”

17Jul08

I’m not sure I can provide many data points on this, but I figured I’d make a run arguing that Barack Obama recent “moderation” is really more of reversion to his early self then a departure his from primary mode.
If you’ll recall the initial gripe about Barack Obama was that he was too vague [...]

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Tags: Barack Obama, Iraq, Iraq War

Conservatives Lack A Vision for the Future

09Jul08

I had been meaning to write a post about how conservatives policy proposals have really gotten unclear. Thinking about I’ve decided that it’s more then policy proposals, it’s their entire vision for the future which is impossible to ascertain.
In 90s it was simple; the Congressional Republicans wanted lower taxes, to gut every federal program, [...]

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Tags: Foreign Policy, Iraq, Iraq War, John McCain

Practical Foreign Policy

08Jul08

Here’s today’s Washington Post editorial on Barack Obama and the Iraq war explaining why the “16 month” withdrawal plan has to go.
In fact, Mr. Obama can’t afford not to update his Iraq policy. Once he has the conversations he’s promising with U.S. commanders, he will have plenty of information that “contradicts the notion” of [...]

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Tags: Barack Obama, Iraq, Iraq War, John McCain

No Flip Flop on Iraq (yet)

07Jul08

I wanted to post on this TPM post that came out the other day regarding the Barack Obama’s alleged change of heart on Iraq
It’s a little hard to quote, but long story short the Associated Press was so interested in writing that Obama had changed positions that they forgot to actually figure out what [...]

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Tags: Barack Obama, Iraq War, Iraq Withdrawal

The Generals are Never in Charge

03Jul08

I wanted to clear something up for Roger Simon of the Politico (on Hardball right now) about the situation in Iraq.
Any major policies decisions about Iraq will not be made by the “generals on ground” under any circumstances. No matter who is elected in November and no matter how many or how [...]

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Tags: Barack Obama, Hardball, Iraq, Iraq War, Roger Simon

Tom Friedman is an Awful Person

04Jun08

Atrios is right to highlight the below clip in which Tom Friedmen endorses killing people in whichever Muslim country is politically convenient. It’s not like it’s a momentary comment of frustration or spoken in rage. It’s carefully considered approval random killing.

It’s a disservice to our country that he’s still considered [...]

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Tags: Iraq, Iraq War, New York Times, Politics, Suck on this day, Thomas Friedman

The Moral Superiority of Non-Golfers

27May08

To follow up on the last post’s ideas a little bit I saw Blogger Susie Q post this video about George Bush’s claim that he gave up golfing to support the troops fighting in Iraq

Michael Moore used this clip in Fahrenheit 9/11, which was roundly denounced as being unfair in [...]

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Tags: Bush Golfing, George W Bush, Golf, Iraq War, Michael Moore

Boycott This and Every Subsequent Olympics

15Apr08

To follow up on something that’s been bugging me, what’s up with people acting like it would be the end of world if there was no Olympics this year? What exactly would be so tragic about not being able to watch a bunch of sports events we don’t watch any time other then during the [...]

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Tags: Add new tag, Beijing Summer Olympics, Boycott of the Olympics, Boycott the Olympics, China, China Olympics, Iraq, Iraq War, Olympics 2008, Tibet

The One Death Benchmark

15Apr08

This is the trailer for Body of War, which is a documentary about Iraq war veterans.

It seems like a really compelling story, and I encourage you to check it out. In this interview with the folks at Center For American Progress, subject of the film Tomas Young says, “We just passed [...]

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Tags: 000 deaths in Iraq, 4, Body of War, Center for American Progress, Iraq, Iraq War, Iraq War Veterans, Surge, Tomas Young

Don’t Misunderestimate the Anti-War Movement

20Mar08

Here is Matthew Yglesias discussing a Washington Post editorial earlier today.
Today’s Washington Post editorial on Iraq dedicated to slamming Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is really baffling. Their big point is that Democratic plans to withdraw troops from Iraq are somehow unrealistic or based on “fantasy” which seems to simply miss the contours of the [...]

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Tags: Foreign Policy, George Bush, Iraq, Iraq War, Iraq Withdrawal, Matthew Yglesias

Adversity Defined Down

19Mar08

Last night the local television station warned people that the upcoming Code Pink anti-war rally in downtown Washington D.C. would mess up traffic and cause people to face “adversity“.
I’m basically a supporter of Code Pink, but I’d have to admit they can be pretty annoying. But seriously if you had come up with list of [...]

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Tags: Code Pink, Downtown DC, Iraq War, K Street, War Protesters

Other Then That Mrs. Lincoln How Was the Play?

03Mar08

This from the website for the Brooking Institution. “A Reality Check on African Aid” by Homi Kraras. It’s does a good job putting Bush’s Africa policy in context.
President Bush’s trip to Africa has rightfully been welcomed in the region. Under his administration, U.S. economic assistance has more than doubled and has been targeted, [...]

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Tags: African Aid, AIDS in Africa, Brookings Institution, George Bush, Homi Kraras, Iraq War

Incentives For Crazy Talk

04Jan08

Matthew Yglesias had this say about McCain recent “100 Years of War” quote earlier today (See below for Video)
George W. Bush, I think most people can agree, has a tendency toward the cavalier and irresponsible. Liberal critics such as myself also tend to view his strategy in Iraq as aimed at a perpetual occupation of [...]

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Tags: George Bush, Iraq, Iraq War, John McCain