A week from today, Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will tell members of Congress how things are going in Iraq, making this week particularly important, at least as far as public relations goes. Of course, we need not wait for congressional testimony to know that the president’s “surge” policy has failed. It’s effectively beyond refutation. […]
One of the holiday weekend’s more notable revelations came by way of Robert Draper’s new book, “Dead Certain,” which is based on multiple conversations with the president and his team. Specifically, Draper spoke to Bush about the disastrous 2003 decision to disband the Iraqi Army, generally considered one of the administration’s more catastrophic errors. Bush […]
The NYT headline sounds like vaguely encouraging news: “Bush, in Iraq, Says Troop Reduction Is Possible.” Of course, given the circumstances, it’s not nearly as important a breakthrough as the headline suggests. President Bush made a surprise eight-hour visit to Iraq on Monday, emphasizing security gains, sectarian reconciliation and the possibility of a troop withdrawal, […]
For several years now, one of the more deadly parts of the civil war in Iraq has been the forced displacement of Iraqi civilians. It’s been a form of ethnic cleansing on a vast-but-slow scale — much of Iraq has been made incrementally segregated along Sunni-Shiite lines. What war supporters have argued would happen if […]
I’ve never been entirely clear on how Jeff Jacoby became a columnist for the Boston Globe, but in one important sense, I’m glad he’s there. Very few columnists for major dailies are as confused as Jacoby, and his odd, conservative perspectives make for good blog posts. Jacoby’s latest is devoted to outgoing Sen. Larry Craig […]
Given that I often complain about docile media coverage of bogus Republican claims about Iraq, I thought it would only be fair to praise Wolf Blitzer for getting it right. By way of ThinkProgress, take a look at this CNN interview from yesterday with Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.): First, I realize that it may seem […]
Yesterday, the NYT had an interesting look at a new book, “Dead Certain: The Presidency of George Bush,” by journalist Robert Draper, a former writer for Texas Monthly who spent hours with the president and other White House officials, getting them to open up on a variety of subjects. The most notable revelation in the […]
There should probably be a moratorium on the use of the phrase “surprise visit to Iraq.” Every time a top administration official arrives in the country, it’s a “surprise visit” — because security conditions require that no one know about the trips in advance. After a while, the phrase is just redundant. With that in […]
A week ago, the president was in Bellevue, Washington, for a fundraiser on behalf of Rep. Dave Reichert (R), one of the House’s most Bush-like members. Environmental policy is one of the leading issues in the area, so the president emphasized how he and guys like Reichert are helping implement an effective strategy. “I look […]
Several readers have emailed lately to suggest I’ve been giving a looming conflict with Iran the short shrift. There were several reports last week that the White House was gearing up to launch a major p.r. offensive about a confrontation with Iran immediately after Labor Day, and the public needs to appreciate the gravity of […]