Archive for August 25th, 2007
He called himself “Me”
Posted by: | CommentsJust another street drummer dude but he was fun. Outside the Verizon Center, across from the Smithsonian’s combined National Portrait Gallery/American Museum of Art. We had a nice dinner in DC’s two-block Chinatown.
SURGE!!! by the numbers
Posted by: | CommentsWhen General Petraeus comes before Congress to defend the White House’s report on “progress” in Iraq, here are some numbers to keep in mind, percentage change from summer ’06 to summer ’07:
Iraqi Military and Police Killed – Up 23%
Multiple Fatality Bombings – Down 25%
# Killed in Mult. Fatality Bombings – Up 19%
U.S. Troop Fatalities – Up 80%
U.S. Troops Wounded – Up 45%
Size of Insurgency – Up approx. 250%
Attacks on Oil and Gas Pipelines – Up 75%
Diesel Fuel Available – Down 22%
Kerosene Available – Down 11%
Gasoline Available – Down 24%
Electricity Generated – Down 4%
Hours Electricity Per Day – Down approx. 14%
To see the whole chart over at The Washington Monthly click here.
Bush told us that his SURGE!!! would be effective and,
“When this happens, daily life will improve, Iraqis will gain confidence in their leaders, and the government will have the breathing space it needs to make progress in other critical areas. Most of Iraq’s Sunni and Shia want to live together in peace — and reducing the violence in Baghdad will help make reconciliation possible.”
Republicans Seek Overthrow of Iraqi Government
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Glenn Greenwald, who’s coming to Asheville on September 13th, puts all the pieces of this story together. You’ve been hearing the smokescreen about al-Maliki’s crumbling support, but you may not know that the media coverage is being directed by Bush consultants who are also GOP consultants/lobbyists who are actively aligned with Ayad Allawi. It looks like we’re witnessing a GOP orchestrated coup in the sovereign state of Iraq.
Greenwald: “Over the past several weeks, there has arisen a palpable and coordinated shift among the Washington establishment to blame Iraq’s problems on Prime Minister Maliki and to suggest that salvation lies in his replacement. The only real alternative ever identified is former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
[...]
“In a solid piece of reporting, CNN yesterday disclosed that the most powerful GOP lobbying firm, run founded by former GOP Party Chair and current Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and staffed by key former Bush national security officials, is being paid by Allawi to coordinate these anti-Maliki, pro-Allawi efforts.”
[...]
“Zelikow in particular runs around Washington holding himself out — and being held out — as an Expert on the Future of Iraq while concealing that his firm is being paid by Allawi to undermine Maliki. As but one example, Zelikow was a featured Iraq Expert on ABC News with Charles Gibson three nights ago”
[...]
“So Zelikow, an Extremely Respected Washington Leader, strongly insinuates that the Bush administration is working to depose Maliki and warns the country of “how much concern Iraqis have about their leadership” without disclosing that his lobbying firm is being paid to achieve that result and that the prime beneficiary is his client. This is fraud and deceit of the highest order.”
[...]
“Zelikow was originally scheduled to testify about the Future of Iraq at a July 18 hearing of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, but on the day of the hearing, the Subcommittee’s Chairman, Vic Snyder, announced”…“the administration had approached him about being a consultant with the administration and work on Iraq war policy. And he didn’t think it was appropriate for him to be testifying publicly.”
The whole media/Beltway edifice is built on this rotating, interconnected filth. But this case is so egregious. One of Washington’s Most Respected National Security Experts, key Rice advisor (and 9/11 Commission Executive Director) Philip Zelikow, is running around Washington trying to engineer the fall of the Iraqi government — testifying at Congressional hearings and appearing on network news programs, perhaps even working officially again for the Bush administration — all while being fraudulently held out as an objective expert and concealing that he is being paid by the prime beneficiary of these policies.”
Greenwald is notoriously difficult to excerpt, so go read the whole thing. The government/lobbyist/media merry-go-round is in full effect here with all players going through their Kabuki dance to misdirect and misinform America.
