They’re just not that into you, Barack!
Stephen Colbert is a genius.
Category: Barack Obama
What a Whiny Bitch!!
Blah, blah, blah!
Barack Obama once again, railing against the Democratic Party, and throwing in a couple of Republican memes in the process.
He slams FDR once again, and lies about he gets the facts wrong about the origins of Social Security and Medicare.
Seriously, he sounds like a Republican, and given his penchant of consistently attempting to find the most retrograde policies consistent with being a Democrat, I’ve come to conclusion, that he’s as much of a member of the Democratic Party as Vladimir Putin.
It is Worse Than a Crime, It Is A Mistake
Well, the White House completely caved on tax breaks.
What the Republicans got:
- A 2-year extension to all the tax cuts, including the tax cuts for those making more than a $¼ million a year.
- Setting a new exemption on the inheritance tax at $5 million.
- Dropping the tax rate on the inheritance tax at 35%.
What Obama got:
- A 13 month extension to emergency unemployment benefits.
- Which means that Republicans will kill extended unemployment benefits in January 2012, putting the economy in a tail spin as the presidential election rolls around.
- A 1-year 2% holiday in Social Security, which will provide a family earning $50K about $1K.
- The difference is supplied from the treasury, so it does not hit the trust fund, and this is probably the best tax cut for boosting the economy.
- Continuation of the college tuition tax credit.
- Which, of course gets taken back out by the financial aid department, which makes awards on the basis to pay.
It’s a remarkably one sided agreement, and Barack Obama followed this up with a lie:
Mr. Obama said he was insisting on a temporary deal on the tax rates for high earners and wealthy estates on the belief that he would ultimately prevail.
“I’m confident,” Mr. Obama said, “that as we make tough choices about bringing our deficit down, as I engage in a conversation with the American people about the hard choices we’re going to have to make to secure our future and our children’s future and our grandchildren’s future, it will become apparent that we cannot afford to extend those tax cuts any longer.”
Let’s be clear, Barack Obama has no intention whatsoever to raise taxes on the rich or on the inheritance of drooling rich heirs.
He’s a pimps harder for the well off than Bill Clinton ever did, and it should be noted that Clinton did it before the rich ratf%$#s on Wall Street blew up our economy.
When one looks at what Obama has done, one can only conclude that we got sold a bill of goods by a Blue Dog.
If he had even the smallest bit of a progressive bent, he would have bent.
He sells out to Republicans because he supports most of their policies.
And While We Are Talking About People Upset with Obama
At Crooks and Liar, they have thrown in the towel:
That does it. Obama needs to face a strong primary challenger. And no, I don’t care if it costs the Democrats the White House in 2012. Obama had a golden opportunity to have an actual victory — the first he’s had since he killed that fly back in 2009 — and he’s flushing it down the crapper. We cannot have this guy representing us anymore. He is too weak to lead.
While Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine and the chair of the interfaith Network of Spiritual Progressives, is saying that we need a strong primary challenge from the left to save Obama from himself:
But there is a real way to save the Obama presidency: by challenging him in the 2012 presidential primaries with a candidate who would unequivocally commit to a well-defined progressive agenda and contrast it with the Obama administration’s policies. Such a candidacy would be pooh-poohed by the media, but if it gathered enough popular support – as is likely given the level of alienation among many who were the backbone of Obama’s 2008 success – this campaign would pressure Obama toward much more progressive positions and make him a more viable 2012 candidate. Far from weakening his chances for reelection, this kind of progressive primary challenge could save Obama if he moves in the desired direction. And if he holds firm to his current track, he’s a goner anyway.
Note that both of these comments were before Obama’s sellout this evening.
I’m With Jane Hamsher on This
Barack “I suck up to Wall Street Like 1000 Hoover vacuum cleaners” Obama is not folding on tax cuts for the hyper-rich, he wanted them to keep their tax cuts all along:
It’s been clear for some time that President Obama made the political calculation that he does not want any of the Bush tax cuts to expire. He doesn’t want to be the guy in 2012 running for President on having “raised taxes during a time of recession.”But the President also doesn’t want the political blowback of angering people who cheered him on the campaign trail when he promised to let the tax cuts expire. And so rather than just come out and just say that, he’s been actively trying to kill a Chuck Schumer deal to keep them from expiring on income of more than $1 million a year. It was a plan that put the GOP in an awkward position, and had thrown them off message in recent days — hard to be the people fighting for the 315,000 families who fall into that category over the 2 million set to lose their unemployment benefits by the end of the year.The President argued against the Schumer deal, we are told, because he was concerned about “the cost [to the deficit] and the risk of redefining the middle class as those making over [should read under] one million.”
The President’s argument is, of course, pure crap.
I think that when we look at Barack Obama’s performance on issues of real reform, it’s clear that he falls short of his rhetoric because he does not want real reform.
Financial reform was mostly smoke and mirrors, with small steps, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, being driven by a need to avoid totally alienating his base in 2012.
The same goes for taxes, or for the give-away to health insurers that is laughably called healthcare reform.
Go read the rest.
I Am So Glad I Dropped out of OFA
What Bender Says, Barry!I had a post a while ago titled, “I Am Glad that I Pulled My Email(s) from the OFA Mailing List, and the latest bit of lame ass political activism has me even more certain in my decision:
A decade of irresponsible spending led to a projected $1.3 trillion deficit that President Obama inherited upon taking office — putting America on an unsustainable fiscal course.
From Day One, this administration’s top focus has been growing the economy and putting Americans back to work — and that will never change.
The economy is growing again, yet all across America families and businesses have been tightening their belts. The President knows their government must do the same.
Yesterday, he announced a proposal to freeze pay for non-military federal employees for two years — a plan that will lead to $60 billion in savings over 10 years. It’s one of many tough choices the President has made to cut costs in the upcoming budget to begin to put our nation’s fiscal house in order. And it follows directly from this administration’s dedication to stretching federal dollars and reining in the long-term deficit.
Now, if you listen to some talk radio hosts or a few of the talking heads on cable news, you’ll hear a very different assessment of our fiscal policies. These voices ignore the irresponsibility of the past while pinning the blame for “reckless spending” solely on this administration. It would make a good fairy tale if it weren’t so dangerously untrue.
But these voices — as loud as they are — are spreading bunk. Cutting costs and spending responsibly has been a cornerstone of this administration’s record. And we need your help to get the truth out there.
Will you take a few minutes and write a letter to the editor today to set the record straight?
Yep, you got that right, OFA, the DNC run successor to the Obama campaign is asking its members to write letters to the editor supporting cutting the wages of janitors, teachers, law enforcement, and regulators, so that the Republicans can ask for tax cuts for people like the Koch brothers, they Who Must Not Be Named, and the rest of the undeserving rich.
I am so glad that I live in Maryland, because in 2012, if my state is in play, then the Republican has already won the race, so I am under no compunction to vote for him ever again.
Tweet of the Day
George Soros Implies Support for a Primary Challenge
Or maybe not, since his people are walking it back a little bit:
According to multiple sources with knowledge of his remarks, Soros told those in attendance that he is “used to fighting losing battles but doesn’t like to lose without fighting.”
“We have just lost this election, we need to draw a line,” he said, according to several Democratic sources. “And if this president can’t do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else.”
……
While Soros’s comment gave some attendees the impression that he’d cheer a primary challenge to the president, the point, sources say, was different. Rather, it is time to shuffle funds into a progressive infrastructure that will take on the tasks that the president can’t or won’t take on.
“People are determined to help build a progressive infrastructure and make sure it is there not just in the months ahead but one that will last in the long term,” said Anna Burger, the retired treasury secretary of SEIU. “Instead of being pushed over by this election it has empowered people to stand up in a bigger way.”
“There was frustration,” said one Democratic operative who attended the meetings. The main concern was about messaging. I think they are frustrated that the president isn’t being more direct. But I did not get the sense that anyone’s commitment to the progressive movement was wavering… The general consensus is that support has to move beyond being about one person and more about a movement. I don’t know if we’ve moved beyond there.”
So, it could be that Soros is saying that he thinks that liberals should disassociate themselves from the Obama political operation, and go back to funding people 3rd party political operatives, because you can’t trust the Obama team to fight for you, or to fight period. (true)
It’s been well known that the Obama administration, and the associated political operation, has been tremendously hostile to 3rd party political operations, both out of a need to micromanage the message, and because of their ceaseless focus on process at the expense of results.
I think that the message, particularly as put forward by a billionaire, is a shot across Obama’s bow.
I think that there was the intention to tell the Obama White House that if they kept trying to veal pen and defund independent groups, then there is a billionaire out there who is willing to dump a significant chunk of change on making his life difficult in 2012.
For myself, I support a robust primary challenge.
Obama’s weakness, and his eagerness to please the malefactors in this situation (do nothing Republicans, dishonest bankers, etc.) while casting his behavior as liberalism could cripple the party, and the solutions that our country needs, for decades to come, much as Herbert Hoover crippled Republicans and conservatism for a generation.
The difference is that Barack Obama’s PPUT (Post Partisan Unity Schtick) is a refutation of liberalism, while Hoover’s activities were an endorsement of conservatism.
Oop Ack! This is an Insult to Cat Food!
Yeah, this gives me hairballs too
So, now that the election is over, the two co-chairmen of Barack Obama’s catfood* deficit reduction commission, Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, have released the plan that they came up with together.
On their own.
Without consulting with anyone else on the commission.
Which needs to get affirmative votes from 14 of the 18 members to actually issue a report.
It makes it pretty clear that these folks are idiots.
Remember now, that this commission was given one charge, to reduce the deficit in the long term, so let’s see what they came up with:
- Cutting social security benefits, even though they themselves have said that this will not count against the deficit, because it has its own trust fund, and because they would be laughed out of town if they did.
- They cut this by means testing social security, changing the way that the benefits base is figured from average wage to CPI, which will cut benefits by over 50% over the next to years, and by raising the retirement age, which, as Paul Krugman notes, “Oh, and they’re talking about raising the retirement age, because people live longer — except that the people who really depend on Social Security, those in the bottom half of the distribution, aren’t living much longer. So you’re going to tell janitors to work until they’re 70 because lawyers are living longer than ever.“
- Limiting government revenues to 21% of GDP.
- Cutting taxes, with the top tax rate dropping to 23%.(!).
- Torte reform.
Note that these are clearly not part of the committee’s charge, which was to reduce the deficit, but they decided to go wingnut to start off.
Additionally, in areas where they are acting within the scope of their committee they want to:
- Cut military spending.
- Cut many tax deductions, including the home mortgage interest deduction (not gonna happen).
- Charge co-pays for veterans to get services from the VA.
- Magically making healthcard costs increase by no more than 1% more than GDP.
No wonder that (still) Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls it, “simply unacceptable.”
Felix Salmon is scathing about the plan, and shows just how silly it is:
Meanwhile, some of the small savings have to be seen to be believed. The deficit commission, charged with coming up with a bold plan to bring the nation’s finances into order, really does propose:
- Increasing the amount of time spent on instant messenger, to reduce travel costs;
- “Reduce copying use by putting the default option on copiers to double-sided”;
- Merging the Commerce Department with the Small Business Administration;
- Charging a fee to Smithsonian visitors.
- Etc.
Really, they are suggesting that we have the Smithsonian charge admission, and changing copiers to copy both sides of a sheet of paper by default.
This was foreseeable. Both Bowles and Simpson have been advocating privatizing Social Security for years, and Bowles almost had a deal cut with Gingrich in the 1990s to do so.
Not surprising, BTW, since Bowles is an investment bankers, and those folks have been salivating for decades about the possibility of getting fees for (mis)managing all that money.
This is not a deficit reduction plan. This is a slash fanfic wet-dream from the denizens of some warped right wing think tank.
I would note that the way is playing in the press will be disastrous for the Democrats, because it’s all, “Obama Commission proposes cutting Social Security” (or the mortgage deduction, or veterans’ benefits, etc.), and that was clear even before wankers Bowles and Simpson were appointed.
It was intended to be yet another excuse for Obama to preen about how he was post-partisan and reasonable he is, and once again, what emerged from this bit of narcissism is cataclysmic blow back, both in terms of the policy and the politics.
<Facepalm>
*In the interest of health, I would suggest that people eat dog food, and not cat food. Cats because they are one of the few true carnivores, do not need the complex carbohydrates and fats that people, and dogs do. As such, dog food is better for you than cat food because it provides carbs and essential fatty acids. A dog can go blind if it is fed on cat food, but a cat lives just fine on dog food. The phenomenon is known as rabbit starvation.
So If Timidity and Capitulation Created a Disaster, then We Need More of That!
So Barack Obama held his post election news conference, and he decided to double down on capitulation and weakness, and call it civility:
More conciliatory than contrite, Mr. Obama used that phrase, “take responsibility,” six times but rejected the suggestion that his policies were moving the country in the wrong direction. He conceded that legislation to limit greenhouse gases was dead and said he was “absolutely” willing to negotiate over the extension of tax cuts, including for the wealthy. But he drew the line at any major retreat from signature priorities, saying he would agree to “tweak” his health care program, not “relitigate arguments” over its central elements.
……
“I do believe there is hope for civility,” he said. “I do believe there’s hope for progress.”
Honestly, I understand that Barack Obama has spent his entire life trying to avoid being the stereotypical “angry black man,” because the perception is politically toxic in our not yet post-racial America.
But he’s leading with the chin again.
Barack Obama will ask what they want to preserve the sup $250K tax cuts, and they will say make the whole package permanent, and because Obama is afraid not being liked, and because he made a promise, which he wants to keep (Unlike his promises on prosecuting war crimes, closing Guantanamo, ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, etc.) he’ll cave, either on the $250K+ rates, or on eliminating the inheritance tax, or everything, because that’s how he rolls.
The standard line in Washington, and I’m sure that it’s one that Obama has swallowed, hook, line, and sinker, is that between the economy and “liberal overreach,” the Dems lost.
The Dems lost because they looked weak, and the Dems looked weak, because they were weak, and they were led by a weak leader, who sees his weakness as an independent good.
What Will Obama Do if the Dems Lose Congress?
John Quiggin Crooked Timber says that Obama will start engaging in zero-dimensional-chess:
Translation: Mr Obama and his aides plan a series of pre-emptive capitulations, after which the Republicans will demand the repeal of the healthcare act (or maybe abolition of Social Security). When/if that is refused, the Repugs will shut down the government, and this time they will hold their nerve until Obama folds.
That Republicans won’t work with him, even if he capitulates, is a certainty, if Republicans were to cooperate with him on sending the Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow to Gitmo, they would still be primaried by the teabaggers.
The supposition that he will lead with capitulation is almost certain, since this has been his modus operandi over the past 20 months.
Regardless of the outcome, Obama sill see it as an opportunity to do some serious hippie punching.
The zero-dimensional chess bon mot deserves a Pulitzer.
Barack Obama Can “Shove It”
So says Democratic candidate for Rhode Island governor, Frank Caprio will not get an endorsement from Barack Obama when he visits Rhode Island, because Obama appreciated the endorsement that Lincoln Chaffee, the Republican Senator turned independent candidate for governor, running against him.
What’s worse, the White House did not have the decency to tell him, and his campaign found out from a reporter who had been briefed on this:
President Obama will not endorse the Democratic candidate for governor, Frank T. Caprio, when he comes to Rhode Island to support other Democratic candidates, the White House said Sunday.
The president’s decision “is a victory for Linc Chafee,” the Republican-turned-independent who is Caprio’s opponent in the race for governor, said Chafee spokesman Mike Trainor, who said he was quoting Chafee’s own stated view. Former Republican Senator Chafee endorsed Mr. Obama for president in 2008.
Caprio was unaware that the president would not endorse him until his campaign was told by a news reporter, according to his campaign manager, Xay Khamsyvoravong. Khamsyvoravong said Caprio is not embarrassed that he did not get a courtesy call from the White House before the president’s decision was made public.
Caprio’s response, “He can take his endorsement and really shove it as far as I’m concerned.”
This is unbelievably stupid. It hurts the party and, in the long run, it hurts him, but because Lincoln is a “Friend of Barack”, party unity, and party morale, takes a back seat.
I have to invoke this when discussing the travails of anyone named “Kirk”.I see a parallel in the Illinois Senate race, where Alexi Giannoulias is in a down-to-the-wire with Mark Kirk. …… In a state which is reliably Democratic …… Against a Congressman who has repeatedly lied about his biography …… And is the subject of ceredible allegations that he is a closeted gay …… who reliably opposed gay rights.
So, why is Alexi Giannoulias not running away with this? Well, it could be that he helped run his family bank which collapsed a few years later under the weight of its bad loans.
Of course, it has been know that the bank was in trouble since at least January of this year, when it entered into a consent decree with regulators, but Giannoulias got the nomination because he is Obama’s basketball buddy.
It is to be understood that a President will head his the party, and part of this is obviously rewarding allies, this is just politics, but there are limits, and this is little more than self-absorbed narcissism.
Needless to say, Mr. Caprio is now on my Act Blue page.
What the Shrill One Says
Paul Krugman, in discussing the response of the Obama administration to the foreclosure fraud crisis, a go slow and protect the bankster response, notes that it’s the same response that they have to every crisis:
As NAME ISSUE HERE has come to light, the Obama administration has resisted calls for a more forceful response, worried that added pressure might spook the banks and hobble the broader economy.
Whether it has been an excuse for inaction, such as financial reform, or the fraud perpetrated on desperate home owners with the HAMP, or the avoidance of the good for the mediocre, as with healthcare the administration seems to have a deep and abiding fear of effective action and good policy, even when it is good politics.
DADT Injunction Stands (for now)
In response to the government’s request that she stay her injunction against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Federal Judge Virginia Phillips has refused a stay:
A federal judge formally refused on Tuesday to let the Pentagon reinstate its ban on openly gay men and women in the U.S. military while it appeals her decision declaring its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy unconstitutional.
A day after tentatively siding against the Obama administration, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips issued a written decision denying a government request to lift her own injunction barring further Pentagon enforcement of the ban.
Needless to say the Obama Administration will attempt to have the injunction stayed on appeal, taking it first to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and then to the Supreme Court, and they will do so on an expedited basis.
Because the Obama administration is desparate for the witch hunts in the military to proceed without pause.
Even if they feel that they have a constitutional duty to fight the case, this injunction will not, according to Barack Obama’s own words, he does not believe will do any damage to the military.
The only reasons to pursue this are cowardice and bigotry, and at this point, I am inclined to favor the latter as an explanation, because at this point, with two weeks to go in the election, the all the gay baiting that is going to be done has been done.
Realistically, when you look at administrations inaction on these matters, combined with Obamas public statements opposing gay marriage, I think that we have to believe that this is motivated by bigotry.
I’ve Never Called Him Stupid, But Now I Will…
Because Barack Obama just met with Condoleeza Rice to discuss foreign policy:
US President Barack Obama met Friday at the White House with former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice for a chat on foreign policy and her new memoir, officials said.
What’s next, meeting with Mary Mallon* to discuss food hygiene?
Discussing haute cuisine, or for that matter how to win a World Cup, with the British?
Seriously, the idea that you are going to have a friendly chat about foreign policy with the worst Secretary of State of all time, who served the worst President of all time, because ……… Hell, I cannot fathom a possible reason for doing this.
What is going on here is a demonstration of either mind-boggling idiocy, or a truly nasty bit of psychological pathology that requires one to get approval from everyone.
Veto
The White House has announced that Barack Obama is vetoing HR 3808, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act, which created a South Dakota/Delaware credit card processing style race to the bottom, only this time with forged foreclosure paperwork.
They are actually claiming that it is a pocket veto, but they are also sending it back to Congress with a notice of disapproval, since the Senate is entering into pro forma sessions, making that whole “pocket veto” thing dicey, as you can only pocket veto a bill when Congress is in recess.
This is his second veto, his first was when he vetoed a stop-gap spending bill when the regular bill came in on time, so this is his first real veto, the last one was about cleaning up the bookkeeping.
I would note that there is an important lesson here: If you hold the White House’s feet to the fire, the Obama administration will do the right thing ……… at least occasionally.
It’s why the Fanboi who maintain that it’s all eleventy dimensional chess are so wrong.
Were it not for the firestorm that erupted in the past 72 hours or so, largely due to the efforts of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, not only would have Obama not vetoed it, but he probably would likely have seen it as an innocuous bill streamlining interstate commerce.
If there is not vigorous criticism from liberals directed toward the White House, then they will continue to follow the path of least resistance and do the wrong thing when they can.
Full statement from the White Houseafter the break:
Why President Obama is Not Signing H.R. 3808
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer on October 07, 2010 at 01:15 PM EDTToday, the White House announced that President Obama will not sign H.R. 3808, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010, and will return the bill to the House of Representatives. The Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010 was designed to remove impediments to interstate commerce. While we share this goal, we believe it is necessary to have further deliberations about the intended and unintended impact of this bill on consumer protections, including those for mortgages, before this bill can be finalized.
Notarizations are important for a large range of documents, including financial documents. As the President has made clear, consumer financial protections are incredibly important, and he has made this one of his top priorities, including signing into law the strongest consumer protections in history in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. That is why we need to think through the intended and unintended consequences of this bill on consumer protections, especially in light of the recent developments with mortgage processors.
The authors of this bill no doubt had the best intentions in mind when trying to remove impediments to interstate commerce. We will work with them and other leaders in Congress to explore the best ways to achieve this goal going forward.
Dan Pfeiffer is White House Communications Director
A Sincere and Honest Takedown of Obama
Blah, blah, blah!
The questioner, Velma Hart is asking for a reason to keep believing:
“I’m one of your middle-class Americans, and quite frankly I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now. I had been told that I voted for a man who said he was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class. I’m one of those people and I’m waiting, sir. I’m waiting. I don’t feel it yet, and I thought that — while it wouldn’t be in great measure — I would feel it in some small measure.”
Obama’s response is a laundry list of accomplishments, but this misses the bigger point, which is that people are no longer willing to believe that he is willing to fight for them, because he appears to be unwilling to fight at all.
When looking at situations where there are real malefactors involved, his solution is to find common ground, whether it is health care, Wall Street, or BP, and some times, actually a lot of the time, that is simply not enough.
Barack Obama, Go Cheney Yourself
So while talking at a $30,000 a plate fundraiser in Connecticut, he joked that the Democratic Party base is a bunch of whiny bitches:
Democrats, just congenitally, tend to get — to see the glass as half empty. (Laughter.) If we get an historic health care bill passed — oh, well, the public option wasn’t there. If you get the financial reform bill passed — then, well, I don’t know about this particular derivatives rule, I’m not sure that I’m satisfied with that. And gosh, we haven’t yet brought about world peace and — (laughter.) I thought that was going to happen quicker. (Laughter.) You know who you are. (Laughter.) We have had the most productive, progressive legislative session in at least a generation.
Well, Glenn Greenwald (at link) nails it when he makes it clear that Obama has failed big time in many ways he has not just fallen short, but embraced failure he condemned as a candidates, whether on state secrets, the rule of law on terrorism suspects, the surveillance state, using HAMP as bunco scheme to cheat desperate home owners, state sanctioned assassinations, gay marriage, DADT, or any move at all in support of organized labor.
All this is going on, and there is not even a moment of regret about what might have been. It’s like trying to appeal to the conscience of a house cat.
I am so ready to work my butt off for anyone who is willing to run against him in 2012.
Obama is Losing Bob Reich
He cuts Obama a new one over his proposed corporate giveaways:
President Obama reportedly will propose two big corporate tax cuts this week.
……
The economy needs two whopping corporate tax cuts right now as much as someone with a serious heart condition needs Botox.
Mr. Reich took a lot of crap when he endorsed Barack Obama early in the primary cycle, because he was Bill Clinton’s former Labor Secretary, and has pretty consistently been an Obama fanboi.
When you are pissing off people like him, you are driving your somewhat less involved and motivated voters who might vote for you deeply into their couches.
This will be an ugly election.
Non-Combat Role My Ass!
Our troops are still conducting combat operations in Iraq:
US troops have been called in to help Iraqi forces battle insurgents who attacked an army base in Baghdad, killing 12 people, officials say.
It marks the first such use of US troops since the end of US combat operations five days ago.
US forces remaining in Iraq can now only participate in operations at the request of Iraqi authorities.
A US military spokesman said US forces had provided fired as Iraqis located two of the assailants inside the base.
When I said that the phony withdrawal from Iraq was a lie, I was right.