The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed today from Peter Berkowtiz, a senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution, who argued that the left “prides itself on, and frequently boasts of, its superior appreciation of the complexity and depth of moral and political life,” when in fact it’s the right that takes the competition of […]
It’s the stupidity, stupid
Late last week, at a White House press conference, a reporter asked the president to respond to an inconvenient reality: the war in Iraq has made al Qaeda stronger and make counter-terrorism efforts more difficult. Bush offered a long, meandering answer that was largely incoherent, made very little sense, and avoided the subject altogether. I […]
DeLay’s hearing voices from above
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay told The New Yorker about his future plans, and what’s motivating him to keep up his conservative crusade. (via Ron Chusid) Earlier this year, [DeLay] published a memoir called “No Retreat, No Surrender” … in which he claimed that as a young congressman he would on occasion drink ten […]
It depends on what the meaning of ‘success’ is
It was more of an implicit strategy than an explicit one, but holding September out as the key moment for Iraq analysis was a way for Republicans to push off their short-term problems. Dems wanted a withdrawal timeline now. By insisting that policy makers wait until Gen. David Petraeus reports on Iraq’s progress in September, […]
Pace’s disconcerting Memorial Day mistakes
Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared on the CBS Early Show this morning in honor of Memorial Day. In an interview with Harry Smith, Pace paid tribute to the sacrifices of the troops and their families, but there was one exchange that was disappointing. (via Raw Story) Smith: Almost 1,000 […]
When terror ‘seeps out’ of Iraq
The good news is there appears to be something of an “exodus” of terrorists leaving Iraq. The bad news is they’re leaving because they’ve finished their training and are now prepared to wreak havoc elsewhere. The Iraq war, which for years has drawn militants from around the world, is beginning to export fighters and the […]
‘Single-issue extremists’
The Alabama Department of Homeland Security maintains a website of groups suspected of including terrorists. I haven’t seen the page, but on the surface, the site seems a little odd — if officials had reason to believe certain groups had terrorist ties, the state a) should arrest them; and/or b) conduct some kind of intelligence […]
‘They are not letting us cover the reality of war’
Left with very little in their rhetorical quivers, war supporters seem to rely on a trump card: everything we think and believe about conditions in Iraq is wrong. The media isn’t reporting the wonderful news out of Iraq — like all of the cars that didn’t explode in Baghdad. It’s always been a fairly dumb, […]
Cheney’s respect (or lack thereof) for American principles
Over the weekend, I noted that Dick Cheney seemed to express a certain disdain for American principles during his commencement address at West Point. “As Army officers on duty in the war on terror, you will now face enemies who oppose and despise everything you know to be right, every notion of upright conduct and […]
‘What are we doing here? Why are we still here?’
The NYT’s Michael Kamber spent a week with Delta Company, an infantry company in Baghdad, and talking to more than a dozen soldiers in the unit. They’re disillusioned, frustrated, skeptical that their mission is worthwhile, and slowly beginning to realize that the Iraqis they’re training are the same Iraqis attacking them. Staff Sgt. David Safstrom […]