So it has pretty much been adopted by many of those who still deny reality that the "decrease in violence" is the proof that the ill fated escalation worked. And it is also evident that John W. McCain has been a chief proponent and certainly the main beneficiary of this absolutely over simplistic and erroneous line of thinking.

But, buried in the hullabaloo of the latest Democrat to be in the cross hairs (due in large part to his own actions), as well as the obsession over the Clinton/Obama tit-for-tat is some news from Iraq that really does not bode well. I offer a bit of analysis, but more in the way of information as to the situation on the ground.

Let’s start with a a new estimate that pegs the cost of this ongoing debacle at $12 BILLION per month in 2008. A conservative estimate by the CBO pegs the cost for Iraq alone at $1 trillion - $1.2 trillion by 2017. I’ll also note that John W. McSame has no intention of getting the troops out of Iraq – rather he is very much in favor of "more wars" (with what troops, popular support and money, I have no idea).

Another trend in Iraq is the continued violence that, despite the ongoing violence and the fact that US troop deaths have been at the same daily rate since January 1, 2005 apparently doesn’t exist according to the "surge believers" like John "four more wars" McSame. Iraqi security force and civilian deaths are on pace for the largest number of deaths since last August.

Oh, but this is a mere blip, right? After all, it is a violent area, except for the fact that there is the general thought that there is no more real violence. Well, not so fast.

I take this with a grain of salt, but there is now a warning that al Qaeda is spreading in Iraq, and may be planning larger scale attacks in the country. And who would have thought that when we armed the Sunni insurgents to fight against al Qaeda that they wouldn’t do the job for us? Of course, when you only know how to outsource the hunt for al Qaeda (among pretty much everything else), you don’t always get the results you were hoping for.

But there is always hope, right?

Well, when you have an ultra-fortified Green Zone and a partitioned off city like Baghdad, there is more than just hope. Sectarian cleansing led to a reduction in violence as there were no more Sunnis or Shiites to kill in certain areas, and at least the increased troop level in Baghdad would lead to less violence there, even if the whack a mole approach led to increased violence elsewhere.

Except for the minor issue of major violence in Baghdad lately. In what was the deadliest day so far this year for US troops, 8 troops and 14 others were killed, with more injured in multiple attacks in Baghdad. This followed a wave of attacks a few days ago where close to 70 people were killed in attacks in the very safe city of Baghdad.

But it isn’t just Baghdad either. A bus hit a roadside bomb in southern Iraq, and this was just one of a number of bombings and blasts that killed another 30 people. As for the targets – not just US troops or Iraqi security forces – they also targeted militias and civilians, a police station, a hotel, a busy traffic intersection and near a mosque and a hospital. No biggie and just another day at the office for someone like John W. McCain, who would be ok with this for another 100 years.

There were over 700 deaths in February, which is close to a third more than January. Already, March is on pace for over 900 deaths. Obviously, the key here is that the invasion was wrong, the prosecution of the invasion and occupation was wrong, the theory behind the invasion and occupation was wrong, and even the excuses and metrics used to measure "success" are flat out wrong.

Things are NOT getting better. There was one measure that was latched onto that "proved" success, and even that is a total fallacy. This is an occupation that John W. McBush wants to continue indefinitely. He is dishonest about the facts on the ground. He is dishonest with his rhetoric. He is out of step with reality. And since the press loves him and his BBQ, someone has to report the truth and smack this country back to reality.

It’s a good thing that there was a major link between Saddam and al Qaeda. Oh wait, even the Pentagon has said there was no link.

"I think this is a cumulative kind of thing," Gates said. "It isn't the result of any one article or any one issue."

Paleeze...How stupid do these guys think the American public is?

How did the Admiral stand in the way of the President going to war? If any insubordination was splashed across the country in a magazine story, an allowance for resignation was an act of charity.

Admiral William Fallon is a true Patriot, putting the good of the nation above personal ambition, and making a true sacrifice in order to further the best interests of this country.

An honorable, respected and decorated Admiral resigns for offending a drunken, cowardly AWOL idiot. Gates should resign for accepting the Admiral's resignation, and his boss should be impeached.

Well, well, another set of stars falls at the feet of the biggest joker to come along as President of the US. In the words of Harry Truman...if you can't stand the heat; get the hell out of the kichen. This guy spent 41 years in the military, and you don't make waves unless you know what the hell you are talking about. This is the administration that came into office with $1.40 gas and will leave at $4 per gallon. Obviously, taking Iraqi oil off the world market had nothing to do with that...oh and by the way where would it go if he can remove the remainder of the Iranian oil.
This is a prime example of fundamentalism on both sides screwing the rest of America and the world. These are hatefilled people using religion to force everyone from thinking and acting independently, very UnAmerican.

All the rats are jumping ship as the GOPer titanic continues to sink.

The best part about this is that John McInsane is running on the need for America to have a third term of Bush/Cheney i.e. him.

BwaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

http://photobucket.com/mediadetail/?media=http%3A%2F%2Fi169.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu213%2FTamme57%2FGOVT%2520BUSHIT%2Fbushcollage.jpg&searchTerm=warmonger&pageOffset=18

Is the lamest of lame duck Bush Administration REALLY going to go out with such a bang as to open a THIRD MAJOR FRONT in the "War on Terror" ?!?!?

These chickenhawk cowards have all the guts to send other's children to die but none of the guts to at least ATTEMPT to pay for the war on today's budget by enacting a war surtax of some kind. Noooooo, let's just open a THIRD front in the oil war, instead of, I don't know, investing those hypothetical borrowed funds in, say, renewable energy. This would save money in the long run, significantly reduce fossil fuels which would unburden the economy far more than any supply-side tax cut AND cut off funding through oil revenues to the very terrorists we are ostensibly fighting. But what fun would that be?! Let's just bomb away and see what happens under President Obama or McCain.

Almost every Iranian but very few Americans know that in 1953 under the Eisenhower Administration, the CIA executed a coup of the democratically elected leader of Iran, Mossadeq, for his unspeakable gall of nationalizing his nation's energy reserves. In his place we installed The Shah, whose corruption and brutality helped to inspire the Islamic Revolution that eventually toppled him.

There is one thing that almost every single Iranian of all political stripes believes- that nuclear energy is necessary for Iran's future. There is no one we can install Chalabi-style to permanently disavow nuclear energy for Iran.

Are the leaders of this country REALLY so daft as to not see that the big, unnecessary, expensive Iraq War is literally bleeding the country dry? That the dollar would fall when other nations are financing our unrepentant orgy of deficit spending was INEVITABLE. That inflation would explode in the face of extravagant tax cuts, coupled with cheap credit, the predictably falling dollar which would lead to high oil prices on account of oil being traded in increasingly worthless dollars, and a big, expensive war was INEVITABLE.

What the Bush Administration has attempted with their "economic policy" borders on criminal. This is the ONLY time in American history the taxes have been CONTINUALLY cut in a time of war. It is simply appalling and the height of cowardice that this Administration has no qualms about waging war after war and just "putting it on the tab." You know, OUR CHILDREN'S TAB.

Does the Administration take the point of view that the Kyl/ Lieberman Amendment gives it the unfettered authority to attack Iran under whatever circumstances they choose? If so, thank you Mrs. Clinton for that one.

Interestingly, neither Senator McCain nor Obama voted on this critical measure.

NO WAR WITH IRAN!

If you read the article, you'll see that the headline is the usual media phony.

The Admiral resigned, all right. But he specifically refused to criticize administration policy. The admiral specifically said it was the Esquire magazine hit piece that created a false perception of disagreement.

We all know the Swamp is biased Left. Can they be this incompetent also?

Medill,

And I suppose he just wants to spend more time with the family?

For golly gee whiz sakes, everything happens out of sight, on the back channel, on the down low.

You believe the press release?

Look, the guy wants his pension, so OK, he deserves it.

But don't believe the tripe surrounding the official public play acting.

"GENERAL DUGAN SPEAKS"

NA NA NA NA, HEY HEY GOOD BYE! THAT'S THE WAY THEY ROLL BABY, THAT'S THE WAY DICK CHENEY ROLLS BABY.

NEXT!

001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 007, 008, 009, AND THE "ADMIRAL" ALL WRONG THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE SPENT 3.6 TRILLION DOLLARS ON A MERE "PHONY ACHIEVEMENT"

ALL DISMISSED BECAUSE "THEY DISAGREED" WITH THE FACT THAT SONS, DAUGHTERS, FATHERS, MOTHERS, GRANDFATHERS, GRANDMOTHERS, AND THY NEIGHBOR IS STUCK IN "DICK CHENEY" PERSONAL QUAGMIRE WITH HISSELF AND HIS INABILITY TO BE CONSTITUTIONAL AND UPHOLD THE OATH TO EVERY MAN, WOMAN, THAT SERVED!

OH NELLY, OH NELLY, WHERE OH WHERE HAS SANITY GONE, OH WHERE OH WHERE HAS IT GONE.

ARMPAC, ROY, MATT, JIM, RONNIE, AND FRIENDS?

I am under water watching the great ship America plain away as she is sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Fallon is portrayed as the one man standing in the way of Bush going to war with Iran.
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So they gave him a choice, either resign or face a court-martial.
How long will the Tribune and the rest of the right-wing media allow these monsters to send our young men to die for oil? When will they call for Bush's resignation or impeachment?
The right now controls the press. McCain is called a maverick while they set up Obama for a fall.
On behalf of my country, which I love dearly, I apologize to the people of Iran for the bombs that will be falling on them.

Admiral William Fallon is a true American patriot!!!

Thanks you for your service. I very much appreciate his candor. He's sounded the alarm that the military is strained to the breaking point and that the policy being made by the Bush administration is wreckless. You can count on more of this misguided strategy should Mr McCain get elected. I wish he would reconsider his position, but alas that seems doubtful. The spoiled coke-head in the Whitehouse is a whack job who clearly doesn't want to hear anything that doesn't fit his myopic worldview. Sad.

He was described as a lone wolf calling on the administration to tamp down the drumbeat of war and engage Iran.

Smart man. Our nation owes him a debt of gratitude!

If you actually read Admiral Fallon's resignation statement he says that it is false that there was disagreement with the Administrations policy OBJECTIVES. Basically it's a meaningless statement because unless you are arguing on behalf of the enemy, the objective is to prevent Iran from enriching weapons grade uranium, building nuclear weapons, and threatening the world with deadly WMD. The point of disagreement was never about the objective, it was about the best way to achieve it. Bush & Co. believe dropping bombs and marching young soldiers into buzzsaws is the best way, Admiral Fallon disagreed and was forced to retire. It's as simple as that and for Medill to claim the Esquire article was a hit piece means he either never read the article and/or what Fallon said or he is a complete idiot. Again, it's as simple as that

Does anyone take the statement in Esquire seriously? Does anyone really think this was the only guy “standing in the way of Bush going to war with Iran”? I don’t.

Lest we forget, Congress would have to authorize military action against Iran. It’s in the Constitution. After what this country has been through for the past seven years, I think it’s a fair bet that anyone voting to authorize a war against Iran – in the absence of an obvious necessity (whatever that might be) – would be committing political suicide. The wars we have are already unpopular with the Democrats and their constituencies. Thus, we can already be fairly certain the President could not count on a majority in either the House or Senate to vote for another unpopular war. Even Republicans know that a vote for another war – in the absence of near certain necessity – could (and would) be used against him or her by a challenger in the next election. In short, the 11%ers don’t want to be flat-liners.

Consider, also, the fact that going to war in a situation where we are not directly threatened has always required some consensus building. Our President, love him or hate him, just doesn’t have the political capital to pull that one off. He doesn’t have the credibility to do it any more. That’s because, regardless of whether he actually lied or told us honestly held untruths, most people doubt his veracity based on the representations made regarding Iraq’s military potential. The only way he’s going to go to war is if he does it without congressional approval. He wouldn’t dare.

I could be wrong (and I have been wrong before), but I just don’t see a war with Iran happening even without this guy Fallon.

Lest we forget, Congress would have to authorize military action against Iran. It’s in the Constitution. . . The only way he’s going to go to war is if he does it without congressional approval. He wouldn’t dare.
Posted by: John W
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HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa
Who are you, really? Ron Paul?
Bush would simply say that Congress already authorized him to attack any country he wants in his war on terrorism. Or he can also visit a kindergarten and let another 9/11 happen while he sits there staring into space.
As for asking Congress to approve of another war, I think Israel would tell them to vote yes, and that they would comply. The NO votes would number only in the single digits.

Bruce Y:

In case you didn't know (and apparently you didn't), Congress approved a resolution to go to war in Iraq separate from the first general resolution allowing the United States to use force against those who attacked us on 9/11. So, it's pretty clear to all parties involved that:

1. Any resolution dealing generally with the war on terrorism wouldn’t authorize a war with Iran. The Authorization for Use of Military force, passed as a joint resolution of Congress on September 18, 2001 [P.L. 107-40; S.J. Res. 23], specifically authorized force against “those nations, organizations, or persons [the President] determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons . . .”

See http://news.findlaw.com/wp/docs/terrorism/sjres23.es.html

2. The Bush administration never used the afore-mentioned resolution to authorize the attack against Iraq. Congress authorized the use of force against Iraq in a separate resolution on October 16, 2002 [Public Law 107- 243].

See http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ243.107.pdf

It would, therefore, seem unlikely and even improbable that President Bush would try to use either resolution as justification to wage war against Iran. Iran did not attack us, and there is no evidence that Iran aided or harbored the terrorists who did in the interim. If Iran did, it would be strange that Bush and Co. hadn’t already made such a claim – and they haven’t. For the same reasons, you would see Congress scream bloody hell if Bush tried to do so.

You should really do your homework a little better before you resort to laughter.

You should really do your homework a little better before you resort to laughter.
Posted by: John W.
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You don't get it, do you?
George Bush has no respect for the Constitution whether it be wiretapping or war. As for the spineless Democrats, all GW has to say is 9/11 and they roll over.
When Bush decides to bomb Iran, he will do so.
As for doing my homework, you've done it for me:
. . . specifically authorized force against “those nations, organizations, or persons [the President] determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons . . .”
They've left it ALL up to [the President] to decide. While it is true that he got extra permission to invade Iraq, that was only for PR. He knew he would get the dems to capitulate, but would have invaded anyway, after all, he planned to invade Iraq before 9/11, he just needed an excuse, which is why he let 9/11 happen. (Before you accuse me of being a conspiracy nut, I don't believe Bush planned 9/11, but he clearly knew about it and he let it happen. There is no other explanation for his staring into space on that fateful day.)

You said:
You should really do your homework a little better before you resort to laughter.

I say:
Then stop with the jokes.

"For the same reasons, you would see Congress scream bloody hell if Bush tried to do so."
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HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa

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