According to this article, Bush’s troop surge, which was aimed at reducing violence in Baghdad, already shows signs of failure. While violence has fallen inside Baghdad, as you might expect following an influx of U.S. troops, insurgents have simply moved elsewhere, killing American troops and other people in areas not affected by the surge.
Bush, not surprisingly, focuses on Baghdad, claiming there are “some encouraging signs.” But by far my favorite quote comes from White House spokesperson Dana Perino, who gives us this insipid tautology: “You’re going to have days where it looks like the violence has ebbed, and there are going to be other days when you have violence in which our service members or innocent Iraqis or Iraqi soldiers are killed.” Seriously, our tax dollars are actually paying for her to tell us this self-evident tripe.
What will Bush’s troop surge ultimately achive? Only time will tell. But it looks like Bush is merely playing yet another game of whack-a-mole, an activity he seems to find endlessly amusing, despite the fact that it wastes staggering amounts of lives and money, both in America and in Iraq.
Whack-a-mole? Absolutely. Check out this footage of a Congressional hearing involving John McCain and several high-placed military leaders. Whack-a-mole, indeed. I can't believe how the expressions on the faces of these military leaders betray their every word. http://youtube.com/watch?v=2TFVP5ZEejM
Grumpy: maybe we are in those last desperate months of this war. Check out the ranting of this Bush apologist. After watching this, it's hard to know (as the C&L commentator notes) where to begin in making one's response. View the video here.
Mr. Beck is indeed unhinged. I could only watch half of that guy's bloviating before my BS meter blew a gasket. What's scary is not just that there are people as obtuse as Mr. Beck, but that there rich folk who pay fat salaries so that people like Mr. Beck can have a public forum.