Conason went to college instead of serving in the military during Vietnam. If, as you moonbats claim, Dick Cheney is a draft dodger because he went to college, then it follows that Conason is also a draft dodger.

I see. How many deferments did Conason get? What's that? Just one? Okay, so if Conason is, according to you, a draft dodger for his single college deferment, what does it mean that Cheney got 5 deferments? Cheney had 5 opportunities to join the war that he supported, and he turned them down all 5 times. Conason got one chance, and based on his intelligence I'm sure he didn't support the war. So doesn't that make Cheney out to be the most grievous draft dodger, as well as a hypocrite? Is that the point you were hoping to make?

if Conason's argument is that the surge has failed, then he is calling the troops failures

Is there somewhere we can vote for the stupidest comment written on these discussion boards? Because this one certainly takes the cake.

Let me try and understand your befuddled brain here. It seems you're saying that we should never assess the performance of our military, because if our assessment says the military did not meet its goals, then that would mean we were calling the troops "failures," and we can't have that. Is that your point? Is there anything I've missed or misunderstood regarding your opinion in this case?

Please, do try and explain where you're going with this. Or, failing that (because you, sir, are obviously a failure), feel free to run away from this thread. We will simply understand that you're out of your depth.

He showed that contrary to all the shrill posturings of the past week, the surge is working

Yes, but he did it with fiction, not facts. In the movies, we get to see Harry Potter fly around and cast spells, but everyone understands that it's fiction, and therefore they don't, say, base foreign policy on those ideas. In this case, Patraeus lied by omission in some places, and severely mischaracterized the fats in others. You found this gratifying. I think this says more about you and your own fears than about Iraq.

and that we can and will responsibly start reducing our forces, beginning this month!

You believed that too? Damn, if only I were a car salesman, I'd love to meet a guy like you.

Moreover he proffered a damning indictment of Iran, pointing out that we are already very much at war with them and their proxies in Iraq.

You sounds like you've just seen the trailer for the next Harry Potter film, and are now prattling on about it as if it were a documentary. Ohhh, let's see the real nasty villain Harry battles with next time!! Can't wait!

I am very encouraged and I expect some effective military countermeasures in the near future.

nabalzbbfr, I invite you to return to these pages "in the near future" and report to us how your expectations were met. However, I accept that by that time, you will have changed your name and moved on to new talking points. What will it be then? "If we maintain our troop strength for the next 100 years, I think we can limit the Iraqi genocide to a mere 60% of the population, assuming all goes well."

Clinton said she gives Petraeus and Crocker "tremendous credit for presenting as positive a view" as possible of a "rather grim reality."

In other words, thanks for coming here and lying your ass off in front of Congress and the American public. The taxpayers sure got their money's worth today!!!

...that "Silenced" could actually be a republican? Otherwise, he's unbelievably cliche. I mean, c'mon: a liberal for whom every issue is an occasion to argue for the legalization of pot? Isn't that exactly how the Republicans would love to portray the opposition?

Iraq war? Legalize pot. Corruption in government? Legalize pot. Global warming? Legalize pot. Someone who sees pot legalization as the answer to all of society's ills (and who also indulges in some wild conspiracy theories on that topic) can't really be true, can they? Isn't it more likely to be a republican who would like to cast liberals as a bunch of non-serious stoners?

This reminds me of this time when a friend of mine came for a visit to my lovely left-wing hippie town. She ended up leaving her purse at the Hemp Store. A week or so later, the store rang me up because they found my number in her purse, and told me that she'd left it there. I asked them to give me their phone number, and I'd have my friend call them back. The employee at the Hemp Store then said, "Uh...um...We don't know our phone number. We'll just call you back."

True story. So, given that, perhaps Silenced is true as well.