when I see this meme:

Iraq is so disintegrated, so ethnically cleansed, so broken that, as Rosen points out, it does not really exist as an entity any longer...

repeated as a "fact," I wonder if this isn't part of the "softening up" part of a sales pitch... less by "Biden" the candidate, more by the part of the experienced "reality-based" congressional/MIC subset. It's not a "bad" plan, except that it's beyond our legitimate control and Al-Sadr and the Mahdi army opposes it and, as I see it, it's desperately unfair to that "middle" leftover segment between the Kurdistan and a semi-autonomous wealthy Shiia south (which has been being quietly "ethnically cleansed") for the last couple of years ... "leftover" is the Sunni Triangle and Baghdad (including the million or so slum dwellers of Sadr City and follower of Moqtada Al-Sadr).

Ironically, about the only thing these two groups have in common is antipathy towards Iran (while the proposed southern Shiia mini-state is strongly pro-Iran).

None of this necessarily solves the log-jam that is the petroleum revenue sharing (which constitutionally needs parliamentary approval as I understand it) or how to gracefully transition out of this bastardized grossly unrepresentative democracy with several million displaced Iraqis roaming the region or how to wrest power away from the embedded "militia" and return local governance (and power) to some democractically elected autonomous civil service. (Regional elections are due this year which could take on additional significance if partitioning moves to a front burner but which will also suffer by the massive, lop-sided displacement of "residents." )

it purports to be a "gathering site" for coordination of demonstrations at the Democratic Convention in Denver next year ...

I thought it was a very bad idea ... although certainly the disappointing positions taken by the "front-running" democratic candidates wrt getting out of Iraq seemed vaguely analogous to the frustration the anti-war movement felt seeing business-as-usual at the 68 convention, resulting in Hubert Humphrey's nomination.

At the moment, I'm reconsidering, yet again, perhaps "Recreate 68" is the ultimate Karl Rove E-ticket to redeem the Rethugs ...

I'm considering taking some time off from monitoring all this ... it's all so dishonestly manipulative. As another letter writer said today elsewhere (I think in Glenn's blog), this is ALL about domestic politics ... it's all theatre for domestic advantage ... real world consequences hardly figure into the day-to-day posturing. We are so screwed.

this "we left too soon" meme has been surplanting the "they didn't let us win" (the "war should be fought by the generals and not the politicians" meme got lost somewhere recently) that preceeded it ....

Whatever happened to the other 2 of those 3 kidnapped soldiers?

Twenty years from now, will private multimillionaires be grandstanding while sponsoring "missions" to find the remains of the missing in action?

For that matter, wonder what happened to all those OTHER hostages ....

whatever.

occasionally in medical reports, doctors refer to the "tincture of time" ... meaning, particularly with healing and/or the resolution of inflammatory processes, the body must heal itself, time must pass -- a process that cannot be medicinally addressed or "sped up" ...

gee, most of us knew this "surge" thing was doomed ... but it's still sobering to see the disappointment on the faces of the "physicians and surgeons" who thought they had some remedy ... unfortunately the remedy was "more of the same, in bigger doses."

institute a draft or engage in MASSIVE recruiting efforts, and to break contracts with suppliers who were not performing -- for starters.

Most of this relates to George W Bush's refusal to admit he has EVER made a mistake ... 4 years ago, when all hell broke out in Iraq after our invasion admidst a decide absence of flowers and smiling faces ... that might have been a good time to reevaluate... the distinct problems and unpopularity of our chosen "leaders" might have prompted some reconsideration .... the absurdly low Sunni turnout for both elections -- again -- the tortuous constitutional congress and the THINGS LEFT UNDONE ... GOD KNOWS, there were hints .... the insurgency grew rather slowly actually ... but at the moment it has MOMENTUM... as Iraqis are fleeing in droves ... many fleeing the SURGE ...

George Bush is a coward who refuses to address his failure here ... this week has seen a laundry list of his blame passing ... for some future "loss" ...

It's sad. Day late, dollar short ... that ship has sailed.

they don't seem to realize that time's a'wastin' ... and that what might have been a good thing to do 6 months ago ... well, things have changed.

This doufus is saying -- fairly clearly, imho -- that things are SO VOLATILE in Iraq that it's pointless (and possibly a liability) to write a report because it's likely to be obsolete in 2 weeks.

I think Friedman's right ... this is war by consensus, after hours of examining the play-by-plays in an undisclosed secure location ... hours, days, weeks, months, later these technocrats "discover" what we "should" have done ...

Friedman was again calling for a date for our full and complete withdrawal to be set ... sooner rather than later ... "what are we waiting for?" ... with any possible negotiations thereafter based on progress seen ...