Letters to the Editor
Jim White
Published Letters: 1325 Editor's Choice: 16
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When neocons are backed into a corner, it gets sloppy
[Read the article: How our seedy, corrupt Washington establishment operates]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]With things happening so fast over the last few days, its been clear a major "offensive" is underway, but the nature of the plan has been eluding me.
One thing that is clear is that a major amount of desperation is involved. How else can you explain all the new "products" being introduced in August, in direct contradiction to Rove's Rule? The Pollock-O'Hanlon talking heads tour, Ari Fleischer's ad purchases and the Levin-Warner show all appear to be desperate attempts at selling the military aspects of the surge and were put together so quickly they've been bungled badly. The level of desperation is illustrated by the ad buys being in Republican districts and indicates that they have no choice but to proceed. Also, I still think some idiot intern on the flight back from Iraq switched Levin's and Warner's talking points for use after their return.
The ultimate desperation, of course, is Bush's bungled attempt to insert VietNam as justification for not pulling out the troops. The M$M response to that has been almost refreshing.
The Allawi for al-Maliki trade attempt also appears to be fairly quickly and sloppily assembled. I mean, if CNN can figure it out and run with the exposure of the lobbying firm only a couple of days into it, that's sloppy. This must have been prompted by the realization that the NIE would leave the al-Maliki government dead in the water.
Of course, they couldn't just have him killed, as that would negate the idea that the surge has pacified Baghdad. Hence, the outsourcing to a lobbying firm.
Yep, when neocons get backed into the corner by an impending deadline they created for themselves, it gets messy from all the pee on the floor. With their actions getting so sloppy, however, I think we are getting a bit of a picture of their plan.
I think (and dearly hope!) that this is a colossally bungled attempt to "Declare victory and leave".
Declaring victory comes from "having the math" in the Petreaus-Crocker report to show that the military aspects of the surge worked. Quite a bit of marketing has gone into selling this point.
Leaving is more difficult, as they know deep in their hearts that violence isn't even truly reduced and they probably believe their rhetoric that leaving will lead to more violence. That is why Allawi is needed. He can control the CIA-organized security force and is willing to be Bush's puppet in passing the all-important oil bill.
More importantly, if you read Allawi's Op-Ed in the Washington Post, you find this nugget:
Iraq must be a full partner with the United States in the development of a security plan that leads to the withdrawal of the majority of U.S. forces over the next two years, and that, before then, gradually and substantially reduces the U.S. combat role.
http://tinyurl.com/2x3hkc
The prime reason for needing Allawi is for him to set the timetable for withdrawal. Bush will never back down on the timetable coming from him or from Congress, so it has to come from Iraq. It can't come from al-Maliki, because they've burned him badly enough recently that if they asked him, he'd say leave now.
Two years for the withdrawal, of course, puts it nicely off Bush's watch.
I fervently hope this is what is happening. Support for the idea could come from Pace's comments today about cutting forces in half within a year. Of course, he's backing off on that now, since he got sloppy and mentioned it before Allawi was put in power. Also, with Levin suggesting military progress and Warner mentioning the beginning of withdrawal, maybe they've been briefed on the plan, too, and that intern isn't so stupid after all. I did see a report today (sorry, don't remember where, so no link) saying that Levin and Warner met with Allawi on their trip to Iraq.
Of course, this is all just rose-colored speculation and there is stil the drum-beating over Iran. Sigh...
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Here's the info on Levin and Warner meeting with Allawi
[Read the article: How our seedy, corrupt Washington establishment operates]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From ABC News:
On Sunday, Allawi met with Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John Warner, R-Va., the chair and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in Jordan. That day, the two men released a pessimistic statement about Iraq's political future.
http://tinyurl.com/28qzlb