It seems absurd, but after four-and-a-half years of combat, yesterday was the most substantive policy discussion about Iraq policy in the Senate to date. Indeed, Slate’s Fred Kaplan said yesterday’s grillings of Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker were “remarkably, the first real hearings about this war,” which put “substantive issues, and useful words, […]
Tuesday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * AP: “President Bush will tell the nation this week he plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by about 30,000 by next summer, but will condition those and further cuts on continued progress, The Associated Press has learned.” You mean, Bush and Petraeus have decided to stay […]
Will ‘victory’ in Iraq make us safer?
Today’s Senate hearings with Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker have been surprisingly informative, but I have a hunch this may prove to be the one-minute exchange that you’ll be hearing the most about. The clip shows Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) asking Petraeus specifically whether “victory” in Iraq will make the United States safer. […]
Six years later
I’ve struggled a bit the last few Septembers to write about the anniversary of 9/11. On the one hand, it feels impossible to ignore the significance of the date and the events that transpired in 2001. On the other hand, there’s very little left to be said. Matt Yglesias said, “The anniversary post is always […]
Pentagon, Petraeus to ‘differ substantially’ on Iraq recommendations
We’ve been hearing more and more lately about internal divisions among top U.S. military officials over Iraq policy. The Joint Chiefs of Staff want troop numbers cut in half over the next year, whereas Petraeus sees a massive force staying in Iraq indefinitely. Adm. William J. Fallon, chief of the U.S. Central Command and Petraeus’ […]
On Iraq questions, Senate learns from House mistakes
Despite all of the anticipation, yesterday’s joint House hearing with Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker was a bit of a dud. Everyone seemed to be going through the motions, and all we heard were predictable answers to predictable questions. When colorful charts are the highlight of the afternoon, you know it was a […]
MoveOn.org is not the problem
I can appreciate that MoveOn.org’s NYT ad yesterday included, to borrow John Kerry’s phrase, some “over the top” language. The ad was meant to be provocative; it was intended to generate inflammatory responses. Whether the group’s strategy was wise is certainly open to debate, but Republicans are making a mistake by overplaying their outrage. House […]
Tuesday’s political round-up
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * NYT: “At least two top members of Mitt Romney’s South Carolina operation appear to be connected to an anti-Fred Thompson Web site that was taken down today after reporters began to make […]
One of 11 GOP ‘moderates’ breaks ranks
Four months ago, when it came time for Congress to vote on a spending bill for the war in Iraq with a timeline for withdrawal, a grand total of four Republicans stood with the Dems — two in the House, two in the Senate — to force the president’s hand. Putting aside whether the strategy […]
‘Bush has found his exit strategy’
In a variety of instances and contexts, the president has described his responsibilities with heartening phrase: “We have an obligation and a duty to confront problems and not pass them on to future generations.” Of course, we’ve known for a quite a while that Bush doesn’t mean a word of it. On the environment, the […]