Archive for 'Iraq'

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

So, What About Iraq?

For a war supporter, I suppose my silence on the renewed violence in Iraq has been deafening, but not for the reasons you might think.  I’m not afraid to admit that my heart sank at the news that al-Sadr’s truce might be off, and God knows we’ve all had enough killing.  I’ve kept my silence […]

8 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT, Iraq by Mark

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Saturday, March 15th, 2008

War With Iran Is Immiment - Or Maybe Not

I’m late on highlighting this, but with the resignation of Admiral Fallon, top military man in the Middle East, last week, tongues started wagging again about our plans re:Iran. Widely quoted was this Terry Atlas U.S. News piece giving six reasons we may be going to war with Iran.
In the Washington Post, William Arkin […]

6 Comments » - Posted in Israel, Iran, Iraq, Foreign Affairs by Mark

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Sunday, March 9th, 2008

Brookings Institution: Iraq Is Making Political Progress, Too

The latest liberal talking point on Iraq goes something like this: sure, the surge worked, militarily (as if they had said that at the beginning, instead of arguing that more troops would lead to even greater violence), but Iraq has made zero progress politically, so it’s been a waste, and yes, we should bring the […]

16 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Iraq, John McCain, Democratic Candidates, Election 2008 by Mark

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Monday, February 25th, 2008

An Important Article

We’re going to have to deal with the prospect of a possible Barack Obama presidency sooner or later.  We’ll have plenty of opportunity to dwell on the historic nature of his candidacy, as well as the ‘rock star’ aspects of the Obama juggernaut.  I want to focus on policy for the moment, though, particularly on […]

11 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT, Barack Obama, Iraq, Foreign Affairs, Republican Candidates, John McCain, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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Saturday, January 12th, 2008

Another Baghdad Miracle

A day after it snowed in Baghdad for the first time in 100 years, much to the delight of the locals, another equally improbable thing has been reported: real progress towards reconciliation by the Iraqi parliament.
Iraq’s parliament voted Saturday to give jobs back to thousands of former supporters of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party who were […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Iraq by Mark

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Thursday, January 10th, 2008

How To Spot A Hack

Those who waved (and continue to wave - see McGovern, George) the Lancet’s 600,000+ excess-Iraqi-deaths number around as a blunt instrument to strike down defenders of the Iraq War had one advantage over us: they could point to the ’statistically sound’ methodology and fall back on arcane statistical niceties while we could only say “It’s […]

16 Comments » - Posted in Iraq, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

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Tuesday, January 8th, 2008

When It Comes To Iraq, Dems Can ‘See No Good’

So says the Washington Post editorial board:
AT SATURDAY’S New Hampshire debate, Democratic candidates were confronted with a question that they have been ducking for some time: Can they concede that the “surge” of U.S. troops in Iraq has worked? All of them vehemently opposed the troop increase when President Bush proposed it a year ago; […]

25 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Iraq, Democratic Candidates, Hillary Clinton, Election 2008 by Mark

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Friday, January 4th, 2008

Lancet Study Re-Re-Re-Revisited

I was somewhat excited to see that National Journal, hardly a voice of the right wing, was taking on the Lancet study of 2006 that claimed that Iraq had suffered 179.63 million excess deaths because of the U.S. invasion (okay, well, about 700,000).  I never believed it then, and I don’t believe it now.
Ultimately, though, […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Iraq, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots® by Mark

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Saturday, December 15th, 2007

As Iraq Fades, Huckabee and Obama Rise

Curious as to why the opening vote in Iowa on January 3rd may go to Obama and Huckabee rather than Hillary and Romney, as presumed for so long?  Peter Beinart says it’s because Iraq has settled down:
The reason Iraq is fading is simple: Not as many people are dying there. Fewer deaths mean fewer front-page […]

8 Comments » - Posted in Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, Iraq, Hillary Clinton, Republican Candidates, 2008 Polls, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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Saturday, December 8th, 2007

Want My Support For The War? You’ll Have To Pay For It

No wonder Democrats who are against the war are so upset with the current Democratic leadership…after repeatedly vowing to end the war, then repeatedly vowing not to fund the war without a date certain for withdrawal, the Democrats in the House and Senate are poised to pass a war funding bill with no timetables for […]

5 Comments » - Posted in POTUS, Elephants, Donkeys, Iraq by Mark

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Saturday, December 1st, 2007

Murtha Briefly Sees Light, Pelosi Shoves Back Into Darkness

If the stakes weren’t so high, the recent headlines surrounding John Murtha would be downright hilarious in their illustration of Pelosi’s Principles of Partisanship.  John Murtha just got back from Iraq and said a quite remarkable thing, given his history on the war:
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) acknowledged that the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq […]

21 Comments » - Posted in Donkeys, Iraq by Mark

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Sunday, November 25th, 2007

An Improving Iraq Forcing Dems To Reevaluate

Not even the Democratic presidential nominees can ignore the progress in Iraq any longer:
As violence declines in Baghdad, the leading Democratic presidential candidates are undertaking a new and challenging balancing act on Iraq: acknowledging that success, trying to shift the focus to the lack of political progress there, and highlighting more domestic concerns like health […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Iran, Israel, Elephants, Donkeys, Iraq, Election 2008 by Mark

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Monday, November 19th, 2007

Hitchens Greets The Rising Tide In Iraq With Welcoming Skepticism

Perhaps still stinging from his fervent declarations in the war’s beginning that it was only a matter of time until the WMDs were found, Christopher Hitchens now plays the skeptic to news of a turning point in Iraq - although certainly a hopeful skeptic, at that:
A few weeks ago, in Britain’s Prospect magazine, the paper’s […]

30 Comments » - Posted in Iran, Hitchens the Great, Radical Islam / GWOT, Iraq by Mark

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Sunday, November 18th, 2007

Is It Too Late For Bush?

That’s the subtext of this Peter Baker article in the Washington Post:
The war in Iraq seems to have taken a turn for the better and the opposition at home has failed in all efforts to impose its own strategy. North Korea is dismantling its nuclear program. The budget deficit is falling. A new attorney general […]

13 Comments » - Posted in POTUS, Iraq by Mark

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Thursday, November 8th, 2007

Don’t Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a thing of the past, in Baghdad, at least, according to the U.S. military:
American forces have routed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the Iraqi militant network, from every neighborhood of Baghdad, a top American general said today, allowing American troops involved in the “surge” to depart as planned.
Maj. Gen. Joseph F. […]

8 Comments » - Posted in Iraq by Mark

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Sunday, October 21st, 2007

Victory Within Reach?

Hmmm…even I haven’t been THIS optimistic about the war:

Should we declare victory over al Qaeda in the battle of Iraq?
The very question would have seemed proof of dementia only a few months ago, yet now some highly respected military officers, including the commander of Special Forces in Iraq, Gen. Stanley McCrystal, reportedly feel it is […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Iran, Radical Islam / GWOT, Iraq by Mark

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Friday, October 19th, 2007

My Friends On The Left Will Surely Disagree…

…but the last couple of months have been pretty good for George W. Bush: a seeming turnaround both on the ground and in public opinion on Iraq, a line in the sand on expanded entitlements (albeit with some PR scars from ‘not caring about children’ rhetoric), and relative ease in swiping away ill-considered Democratic initiatives […]

21 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, POTUS, Elephants, Donkeys, Iraq by Mark

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Sunday, October 14th, 2007

Washington Post Editorial Board: Critics of Petraeus Were Wrong

I’ve had an undisguised admiration for the Washington Post editorial board for quite some time now.  There is no doubt that the Post leans left, as does the NY Times, but unlike the Times, the Post is not so blinded by partisanship that it cannot see any good news that doesn’t fit its political agenda.  […]

2 Comments » - Posted in POTUS, Radical Islam / GWOT, Iraq, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

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Monday, October 8th, 2007

Let’s Get Real: Somes “Options” In Iraq Are Long Off The Table

A word to Joe Biden and others who have ‘plans’ for Iraq that involve major tinkering with their form of government: that time has passed.  Joe Biden seems to think (along with, ahem, certain readers of this blog) that the Iraqi government is a puppet regime that is at the bidding of America.  Just look […]

11 Comments » - Posted in Joe Biden, Iraq by Mark

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Thursday, September 20th, 2007

BRILLIANT Idea, Sherlock!

Boy, that MoveOn.org ad worked out well for the far left, didn’t it?
The Senate voted Thursday to condemn an advertisement by the liberal anti-war group MoveOn.org that accused the top military commander in Iraq of betrayal.
The 72-25 vote condemned the full-page ad that appeared in The New York Times last week as Gen. David Petraeus, […]

38 Comments » - Posted in Iraq, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, Hillary Clinton, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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