Matthew Yglesias once again puts it better than I could.
Must be his pricey Harvard education.
I would be remiss in not mentioning Brian Beutler, who snagged the initial pic, and added the following:
And as the Wall Street Journal might present it:
Beg to differ. That is how the Wall Street Journal EDITORIAL PAGE might present it.
The Newsies know their stuff there.
It appears that the Senate Dems are going to force the Senate into an all night debate over the Reed-Levin troop redeployment bill.
Good. The Republicans are filibustering everything. Make them stand up.
Seriously. It appears that Cheney is determined to bomb Iran.
These people are dangerous morons. Khomeni consolidated power because Saddam Hussein attacked them.
External threats always, and I mean Always shores up unpopular governments.
So now we are going to create our own little Reichstag fire for the Iranian theocracy.
Impeach Dick Cheney today. Impeach George W. Bush Tomorrow.
Bush just quietly announced that he willVeto any measure that limits his ability to bomb Iran.
From the White House Statement of Administration Policy(pdf):
Amendments on Iran: The Administration strongly opposes amendments to the bill to restrict the ability of the United States to deal effectively with the threats to regional security posed by the conduct of Iran, including Iran’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons. The Administration also notes that provisions of law that purport to direct or prohibit international negotiations, covert action, or use of the armed forces are inconsistent with the Constitution’s commitment exclusively to the presidency of the executive power, the function of Commander-in-Chief, and the authority to conduct the Nation’s foreign policy. If the bill were presented to the President with provisions that would prevent the President from protecting America and allied and cooperating nations from threats posed by Iran, the President’ senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.
I’m feeling much better now.
Check out the NY Times article, Sensing a Shift, Reid Will Press for an Iraq Exit, Harry Reid is saying that they haven’t done enough, and I think that he means it.
I think that the so-called moderate Vichy wing of the Democratic party got one chance, and they lost. After seeing the poll numbers plummet, the Democrats now realize the equation:
The country favors impeaching Cheney, and is close to favoring this with Bush.
Additionally, every time the Republicans senators vote for the war, they lose votes, and 2008 is already figuring to be a bad year for the Repuiblican senators who will be standing for re-election then.
Yes, our presence is helping the Iraqi people, in the same way that John Wilkes Booth helped people enjoy their time in the theater.
New Level of Horror in Iraq: 20 Beheaded, Bound Corpses Discovered in Baghdad
20 Beheaded Bodies Found on Banks of the Tigris River Southeast of Baghdad, Iraqi Police Say
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
The Associated PressBAGHDAD
Twenty beheaded bodies were discovered Thursday on the banks of the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad, while a parked car bomb killed another 20 people in one of the capital’s busy outdoor bus stations, police said.
The beheaded remains were found in the Sunni Muslim village of Um al-Abeed, near the city of Salman Pak, which lies 14 miles southeast of Baghdad.
The bodies all men aged 20 to 40 years old had their hands and legs bound, and some of the heads were found next to the bodies, two officers said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Meanwhile, a parked car bomb ripped through a crowded transport hub in southwest Baghdad’s Baiyaa neighborhood at morning rush hour, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 50, another officer said on the same condition.
Many of the victims had been lining up for buses, awaiting a ride to work. Some 40 minibuses were incinerated in the explosion, police said.
Associated Press Television News video showed an open square strewn with smoldering car parts and charred bodies with clothes in tatters. Bystanders, some weeping, gingerly loaded human remains into ambulances.
A pickup truck rumbled slowly away from the scene, with two pairs of legs the dead bodies of victims dangling out of the back.
One of the police officers who gave information about the ghastly discovery of bodies southeast of Baghdad is based at Interior Ministry headquarters in the capital, and the other is based in Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad.
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Courtesy of Abu Aardvark.
Abu Aardvark: Anbar Salvation Council head skips town?
This story from al-Malaf is currently the talk of the forums: Sitar Abu Risha, head of the Anbar Salvation Council, has allegedly fled Iraq with $75 million that the Americans had given him to fight al-Qaeda.
The article is in Arabic, which I cannot read, but it matches my cynicism.
We can’t even f&^%ing bribe people competently.
What a mess.
The Republithugs are starting to peel off.
Richard G. Lugar, United States Senator for Indiana – Press Releases
Connecting our Iraq Strategy to our Vital Interests
Monday, June 25, 2007
Mr. President, I rise today to offer observations on the continuing involvement of the United States in Iraq. In my judgment, our course in Iraq has lost contact with our vital national security interests in the Middle East and beyond. Our continuing absorption with military activities in Iraq is limiting our diplomatic assertiveness there and elsewhere in the world. The prospects that the current “surge” strategy will succeed in the way originally envisioned by the President are very limited within the short period framed by our own domestic political debate. And the strident, polarized nature of that debate increases the risk that our involvement in Iraq will end in a poorly planned withdrawal that undercuts our vital interests in the Middle East. Unless we recalibrate our strategy in Iraq to fit our domestic political conditions and the broader needs of U.S. national security, we risk foreign policy failures that could greatly diminish our influence in the region and the world.
The current debate on Iraq in Washington has not been conducive to a thoughtful revision of our Iraq policy. Our debate is being driven by partisan political calculations and understandable fatigue with bad news — including deaths and injuries to Americans. We have been debating and voting on whether to fund American troops in Iraq and whether to place conditions on such funding. We have contemplated in great detail whether Iraqi success in achieving certain benchmarks should determine whether funding is approved or whether a withdrawal should commence. I would observe that none of this debate addresses our vital interests any more than they are addressed by an unquestioned devotion to an ill-defined strategy of “staying the course” in Iraq.
Emphasis mine
OOps…Me Bad. Opposing the president apparrently does not mean voting against him.
Wanker.
Lugar won’t switch vote
However, Fisher said the speech does not mean Lugar would switch his vote on the war or embrace Democratic measures setting a deadline for troop withdrawals.In January, Lugar voted against a resolution opposing the troop buildup, contending that the nonbinding measure would have no practical effect. In spring, he voted against a Democratic bill that would have triggered troop withdrawals by Oct. 1 with the goal of completing the pull out in six months.
Next month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to force votes on several anti-war proposals as amendments to a 2008 defense policy bill. Members will decide whether to cut off money for combat, demand troop withdrawals start in four months, restrict the length of combat tours and rescind Congress’ 2002 authorization of Iraqi invasion.
Expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate to pass controversial legislation, the proposals are intended to increase pressure on Bush and play up to voters frustrated with the war.
This problem was not created by the DPRK. It was created by the Bush administration, which DAYS after having a preliminary agreement, froze North Korean assets.
My guess is that some of Dick Cheney’s protégés made the call to freeze these assets.
They have been sabotaging negotiations for years.
Hopes rise for end to North Korea impasse
TOKYO – The transfer of blacklisted North Korean assets from a Macau bank was set to begin Thursday, a report said, raising hopes of resolving the drawn-out dispute which has held up a nuclear disarmament deal.
Japan’s Kyodo News agency, quoting unnamed authorities in the Chinese territory, said procedures to transfer the funds out of the Banco Delta Asia were scheduled to begin Thursday.
The communist North, which sparked international outrage when it tested an atom bomb for the first time last year, agreed in February to shut down its nuclear reactor in return for badly needed fuel aid and diplomatic benefits.
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My first thought is to paraphrase Henry Kissinger’s comment on the Iran-Iraq war, “Too bad they can’t both lose.”
I would add to that the thought that it would be nice if they broth could do it someplace where innocent women and children don’t get caught in the crossfire.
My second thought is about the consistent inability of the PLO and its successors and constituent parts to maintain military effectiveness against any sort of armed opponent.
Hamas has basically taken control of the Gaza strip in just a couple of days.
When one considers that Fatah has been in a position to arm and train its forces for 10 years more than Hamas, this boggles the mind.
Or rather, it boggles the mind until one considers the history of the PLO, Fatah, the PFLP, and the PLA (Palestinian Liberation Army).
The PLO has been consistently over marched by anything this side of a mean little kid with a pea shooter.
The performance of the PLO/Fatah in combat against any even vaguely organized military force makes the “speed bumps” of Europe, Belgium (WWI, WWII, Waterloo, and any other fight were people didn’t not want to break their own stuff) and Poland (A bunch of starving Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto held out longer against the Wehrmacht than the Polish army did) look like Georgy Zhukov’s armies marching on Berlin.
Hamas Seizing Control of Gaza Strip
By SARAH EL DEEBHamas fighters launched a fierce offensive on Gaza City Wednesday, firing mortars and rockets at Fatah’s main security bases and the president’s compound as the Islamic group appeared close to taking control of the entire Gaza Strip.
With fighting raging on rooftops and streets in nearly all corners of Gaza, residents huddled in fear in their homes.
…
Hamas gunmen neutralized the main strongholds of the Fatah-linked security forces, ruling the streets and taking control of large parts of Gaza in the process.
Abbas’ forces – desperately trying to cling to their besieged bases in Gaza – lashed out at the president, saying he left them with no directions and no support in the fight.
…
The mark of poor soldiers. They can’t do anything without orders.
Hamas, already in control of much of northern Gaza, seized the southern town of Khan Younis and began a coordinated assault on the town of Rafah, also in the south, security officials said.
The rout of the security forces was so bad that 40 Palestinian security officers broke through the border fence in Rafah and fled into Egypt seeking safety, Egyptian police said.
“What can I say? This is a fall, a collapse,” said Col. Nasser Khaldi, a senior police official in Rafah.
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