Iraq Study Group will recommend "gradual pullback" of troops

Via The New York Times, another leak timed for the Bush/al Maliki meeting:

The bipartisan Iraq Study Group reached a consensus on Wednesday on a final report that will call for a gradual pullback of the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq but stop short of setting a firm timetable for their withdrawal, according to people familiar with the panel’s deliberations.

The report, unanimously approved by the 10-member panel, led by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, is to be delivered to President Bush next week. It is a compromise between distinct paths that the group has debated since March, avoiding a specific timetable, which has been opposed by Mr. Bush, but making it clear that the American troop commitment should not be open-ended. The recommendations of the group, formed at the request of members of Congress, are nonbinding.

A person who participated in the commission’s debate said that unless the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki believed that Mr. Bush was under pressure to pull back troops in the near future, “there will be zero sense of urgency to reach the political settlement that needs to be reached.”

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Open Thread

The news just never stopped today. It was wild -- and none of it was good. Everything Bush touches becomes a disaster. Read More......

That dinner of Bush's that the Iraqi Prime Minister is blowing off, it was actually a "summit," not just a simple dinner

According to the Associated Press, that little "casual dinner" with George Bush, as the White House is calling it, that Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki is blowing off tonight, well it wasn't just a dinner, it was a "high-stakes summit," per AP.

And Reuters is calling it "a crisis meeting."

So this was a rather huge meeting, a key meeting if not the key meeting, of Bush's trip. And the Iraqi Prime Minister canceled while Bush was already in the air. I guess they don't like Bush in Iraq any more than we like him here.

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Democrat Kissell concedes in NC-08

Damn. This was a tough one. Kissell ended up losing to incumbent Robin Hayes by 329 votes.

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Bush team wanted "massive" press coverage to show Bush is in command. That's not what they're getting.

Oops. Be careful what you ask for:

Get used to seeing the Four Seasons Amman. That's the site of Thursday's breakfast and news conference for President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and the U.S. networks are sending their news anchors there, ensuring massive coverage of an event that the White House has said is unlikely to produce any major announcement or development. But the White House, which is eager to show that the President is focused intently on Iraq, is welcoming the coverage.

Bush may be intently focused on Iraq, but his trip became more disastrous by the hour today. That coverage the White House wanted is filled with bad news and talk about the failures of Bush's foreign policy. The entire world got to see that the President of the United States flew half way around the world to get blown off by the Prime Minister of Iraq.

So that's the coverage the White House is getting. Take a look at what the network websites are reporting:


MSNBC headlines: Al-Maliki-Bush meeting postponed for a day: Iraqi officials then cancel three-way meeting with Jordan in surprise move

ABC reports:

Prospects for the already-delayed meeting were put into further doubt when al-Maliki canceled a presummit dinner with Bush. But White House Spokesperson Dan Bartlett denied there was a snub, saying it was nothing more then a schedule change.

Even before the meetings began, ABC News had learned the Pentagon was considering essentially writing off Iraq's deadliest province for American forces, pulling U.S. troops out of Anbar, and moving them to fight what may be an even more difficult battle: the fight for Baghdad.

CBS notes:

The change of plans appeared to surprise some members of the president's entourage. Boarding the motorcade for the trip to the palace, White House press secretary Tony Snow said there were still discussions about whether a photo op Wednesday night would include al-Maliki.

Probably not the coverage the White House was expecting.

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US apologizes and pays $2 million to man falsely accused of terrorism

Our government can't catch real terrorists, but they sure know how to terrorize innocent Americans:

The U.S. government has agreed to pay $2 million to an Oregon lawyer who was wrongfully arrested as a terrorism suspect because of a bungled fingerprint match and has issued an apology for the "suffering" inflicted on the attorney and his family.

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Defense Dept and right-wingers claim, falsely, that story of Iraqis burning each other alive is fake

It's over, you lost. Iraq is dead. Everyone knows it. You aren't going to put this genie back in the bottle. You lost, you bat-shit crazy far-right pathological lying freaks. The Terri Schiavo days are over. No one likes you any more. But please do stay vocal about your denail over Iraq - we still need to win back the presidency in two years.

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When culture wars have culture wars

A very healthy culture war is brewing in the religious right. So far, the hate-riddled dinosaurs are winning. But it's going to get interesting. I really believe we're witnessing the beginning of the end of the current leaders, and direction, of the religious right hate groups.

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Powell to Bush: Admit it. Iraq is a civil war

Colin Powell is still on his quest for redemption. He's saying Iraq is a civil war and Bush needs do deal with that reality. Think Progress has the video.

Too bad Powell wasn't so honest and forthright in 2002 and early 2003.

It's just one bad thing after another for Bush today on Iraq. From this Powell slam to the major dis' by al-Maliki to al-Sadr's followers quitting the government. That's not even counting the all the violence. It just feels the whole debacle is crashing down around him. Bush went to Jordan to show he's in control. Instead, he's looking weak -- really, really weak. Read More......

Iraq Prime Minister cancels dinner with Bush on eve of summit

That's called, you gonna Sista Souljah ME? I'm gonna Sista Souljah YOU.

You'll recall that the Bushies leaked a memo from top Bush adviser Stephen Hadley yesterday saying that Maliki was a schmuck. I suspect that the memo was leaked as part of a larger Bush-Rove strategy to blame the failure in Iraq on Maliki - this is laying the groundwork for Bush's eventual cutting and running from Iraq ("gosh, we were winning until that Maliki fellow took over"). So, consider this Maliki's way of saying fung-oo back to Bush (and Maliki is getting blowback from the Al Sadr folks in the parliament, so this is his way of snubbing Bush to curry their favor).

So, ironically, Bush and his puppet are each trying to scapegoat the other as the cause for the utter disaster in Iraq. Talk about poetic justice.

From ABC:

Prospects for the already-delayed meeting were put into further doubt when al-Maliki canceled a presummit dinner with Bush.

Oh, and don't miss the rest of the article - we are absolutely screwed in Iraq:

Even before the meetings began, ABC News had learned the Pentagon was considering essentially writing off Iraq's deadliest province for American forces, pulling U.S. troops out of Anbar, and moving them to fight what may be an even more difficult battle: the fight for Baghdad.

Professor Noah Feldman from New York University helped write the Iraqi constitution.

He said, "As Baghdad goes, so goes the nation."

But the fact that the Pentagon is considering abandoning Anbar shows the "ineffectiveness of the strategy and troop commitment to this point," Feldman said. "We have spent so much blood there."

It's especially ironic that the White House claimed this weekend that the violence in Iraq was really only in Baghdad, not anywhere else. First off, that's a lie, as Joe already noted. Just look at Anbar province where we've already lost the war entirely. Secondly, note the experts saying that Baghdad sets the stage for the rest of the country - so if Baghdad is where all the violence is, then that means Iraq is REALLY in trouble. Either way, the White House is still playing games with us, rather than leveling.

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Why you should love Jim Webb

John posted a link about the Webb-Bush encounter last night after it was reported over at TPM. The Washington Post has a bit more of the encounter, specifically Webb's response to Bush:

At a recent White House reception for freshman members of Congress, Virginia's newest senator tried to avoid President Bush. Democrat James Webb declined to stand in a presidential receiving line or to have his picture taken with the man he had often criticized on the stump this fall. But it wasn't long before Bush found him.

"How's your boy?" Bush asked, referring to Webb's son, a Marine serving in Iraq.

"I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President," Webb responded, echoing a campaign theme.

"That's not what I asked you," Bush said. "How's your boy?"

"That's between me and my boy, Mr. President," Webb said coldly, ending the conversation on the State Floor of the East Wing of the White House....

...If the exchange with Bush two weeks ago is any indication, Webb won't be a wallflower, especially when it comes to the war in Iraq. And he won't stick to a script drafted by top Democrats.

"I'm not particularly interested in having a picture of me and George W. Bush on my wall," Webb said in an interview yesterday in which he confirmed the exchange between him and Bush. "No offense to the institution of the presidency, and I'm certainly looking forward to working with him and his administration. [But] leaders do some symbolic things to try to convey who they are and what the message is."

Webb is the polar opposite of Joe Lieberman.

And while Webb's "boy" is in Iraq fighting in the Iraqi civil war that Bush created, Bush's "girls" are creating an international incident in Argentina. Nice. W should be very proud about what he's doing to other people's kids.

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The peace wreath stays

It's amazing that there was even a debate to begin with, but the Denver-area peace wreath is staying and the local community board, who wanted to take legal action and who perhaps found peace offensive during the Christmas season, is gone.
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Frist not running for President

Another one bites the dust. Hotline is reporting that Frist won't be running for President in 2008. All that groveling to the theocrats -- the Schiavo "diagnosis," the gay-bashing -- was for nothing. Well, it did help the GOP lose the Senate.

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al-Sadr allies quit Iraqi Government over Bush meeting

Following through on their threat, AP is reporting that the al-Sadr bloc is backing out of the Iraqi government:

Lawmakers and cabinet ministers loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have suspended participation in parliament and the government to protest Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's summit with U.S. President George W. Bush.

A statement issued Wednesday by the 30 lawmakers and five Cabinet ministers said their action was necessary because the meeting constituted a "provocation to the feelings of the Iraqi people and a violation of their constitutional rights." The statement did not explain that claim.

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Senate Republicans: losers and in debt

Okay, it's not a big surprise when political operations are in debt after elections. But, that's usually the case for Democrats, not Republicans. The Senate GOP is going to have a tough year in 2008. They have to defend 21 seats compared to 12 for the Democrats. And, thanks to Liddy Dole, they're starting out in debt:

In an urgent appeal to donors this week, Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, the chairwoman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, beseeched contributors to "help us retire our debt."

"If we let this debt linger, it will cripple our efforts to recruit great candidates for the next election and begin our drive to win the one additional seat we need to regain the Senate majority," Dole wrote.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter, which was confirmed by NRSC spokesman Dan Ronayne. "We do have a debt, as Senator Dole noted," Ronayne said.

The Senate Republicans are in debt and Chuck Schumer is still running the DSCC. That's a good way to start the 2008 campaign.

And one important note about a 2008 Senate race: Maine's Susan Collins is not a moderate. She wants Mitch McConnell and Trent Lott to be her leaders. If those two ran the Senate like Collins wants, it would undermine the entire progressive agenda. Every now and then, Susan does cast a moderate vote. But day in and day out, she votes with Bush and the GOP. Collins is a reliable Republican in DC, but portrays herself as a maverick back in Maine. That will have to be exposed this time.

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On eve of summit, White House leaks memo trashing al-Maliki

The Bush White House, which is always bitching about leaks, itself leaked a memo that trashed al-Maliki on the eve of the summit between the Iraqi P.M. and Bush:

“His intentions seem good when he talks with Americans, and sensitive reporting suggests he is trying to stand up to the Shia hierarchy and force positive change,” the memo said of the Iraqi leader. “But the reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action.”

That could all be true. But, the memo was written by Stephen Hadley who was part of the team that got us in to this mess. It's hard to believe that any analysis about Iraq by anyone in the White House can be trusted.

But it's a classic move from a Bush White House staffer to leak a memo about national security to benefit their their own political agenda.

You have to wonder if the Iraqis have a similar memo about Bush that reads:

The reality on the streets of America suggests Bush is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action.

Because a memo like that would be accurate -- not that Bush has any good intentions.

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Big day for George Bush. He wants to show the world what a tough, determined leader he is. That's a mighty big task because almost everybody outside the U.S. already thinks he is an incompetent, dangerous idiot. Anyone who thinks that is, of course, right.

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Bush to focus on Iraqi troop training

Now there's the leader that we all know and love. Who else would have thought to promote the Iraqi army picking up more responsibility for the mess Bush created? And, this time, he really, really means it. Really.
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EU nations clueless when it comes to dealing with racism

Tell me something I don't already know. A year after the race riots that crossed the country, I still have the pleasure of hearing how racism is much more of an American problem. It exists, sure, but the differences in addressing the issue are about 40 years apart. The main similarity that I see at the moment is that some people in both America and Europe are obsessed with immigrants and preaching the same kind of hatred.

Most European Union nations are doing little to report incidents of racism or discrimination, the EU's racism monitoring agency said Tuesday.

The agency gave EU governments poor marks in its report for 2005 on the state of racism and xenophobia in the 25-nation bloc, concluding that the EU as a whole must increase efforts to combat discrimination.

The upside here is that there is at least a recognition that the problem exists.
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Open thread

Bedtime Read More......