Gary Hart: “Karl Rove Will Concoct A Patently Phony Iraq Exit Strategy”…

[kpete]

Gary Hart
An October Surprise

Depending on the fate of Senator Joe Lieberman on Tuesday, it should come as no surprise to anyone when (not if) the Bush administration announces a dramatic plan to exit Iraq sometime before the Congressional elections this fall.

As an increasing number of Republican Members of Congress confront unhappy, sometimes angry, constituents finally fed up with the absence of purpose in the continued U.S. occupation and the death and dismemberment of young American troops for no purpose having to do either with combating the jihad or making the U.S. secure, they will demand White House rescue for their political careers.

Since, with precious few exceptions, political careers trump principle, and since the cabal of neoconservatives and the religious right intend to govern forever, the genius Karl Rove will concoct a patently phony Iraq exit strategy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-hart/an-october-surprise_b_26589.html

[joemurphy]

1. There will be a surprise. Rove just hasn't decided if it will be

withdrawal or a new war. He'll try one or the other. I think the latter is more likely than the former. Neither one will work this time.

[madmunchie]

2. Don't be so sure

The sheeple have fallen for lesser things. The voting boxes have still not been fixed. I wouldn't be singing until the fatboy STOPS singing.

[krkaufman]

7. Exactly. The only thing at which these idiots are NOT incompetent ...

... is getting themselves "elected." It's governing that they can't do.

[KittyWampus]

26. Rove isn't the warmonger. He's a ruthless political operative but not the

one who has pushed PNAC. That's Rumsfeld and Cheney. There is a difference.

[Jacobin]

3. Yep. Like Tricky Dick's 'secret plan to end Viet Nam war'

The secret unveiled after the election: Bombing and more bombing which was utterly useless. War drug on for years more.

[The Wizard]

21. I recall

Nixon's secret plan was to threaten Ho Chi Minh with nukes to which Ho replied "go ahead" knowing that the international community would have turned on the U.S. if Nixon pulled the trigger, and Nixon knew he didn't have international support for such a drastic move. That's the difference between Nixon and Bushigula. Bushigula doesn't care about international support nor the well being of the American people.
Now recall the war criminal Kissinger about two weeks before the 72 elections proclaiming "Peace is at hand."
Shit, Ku Klux Karl would say Iranian flying saucers landed in New Jersey if he thought the dolts would buy it.

[Vidar]

4. Hart nails it!

[humbled_opinion]

5. My money is on the escalation strategy

Whereas Iran and Syria are drawn into the existing Middle East crisis between Hezbollah and Israel. This may come as an Israli Air Strike on Tehran or strikes on the Iranian Nuke facilites or bombing Assad's residence either way the play is to escalate the confrontation in such a way to show the Shiites as being the bad guys (Terraists) both with the Iraqi insurgency and in the war with Isarel. Once it is all neatly tied together by the GOP the Shiites will be the defined Islamo Facists led by Ahmadinajad and the GOP NEOCON answer will be extermination.

[krkaufman]

8. Yep, very likely. And before the invasion of Iraq ....

... the Democratic reformists in Iran were gaining strength. Now they're either marginalized or have become anti-American, or both.

[sendero]

20. As you can see...

... I'm all too afraid you are right. These guys can't pull out of Iraq in failure. Bush has been playing double-or-nothing with the lives of our troops for over 2 years, he's not going to pitch it all now.

[LostInAnomie]

6. Bush's arrogance won't let him withdraw troops.

He plans on keeping them their until he can dump the whole situation on the next president. That way he can say he didn't withdraw. The only way I can see him accepting a withdrawl is if we win either one or both of the houses. That way he can place the blame for his failures on the Democrats.

Bush will continue his stay the course bullshit until he is forced to change.

[krkaufman]

10. If the Dems *do* retake one or both houses ...

... and we begin moving to withdrawal from Iraq, I'm growing ever more concerned that *that* will be the trigger for the next terrorist strike within the US.

bin Laden helped keep Bush in office in '04, and I expect they're laying off the US for now, since Bush is robotically assisting bin Laden in every one of his objectives: higher oil prices, US military out of Saudi Arabia, unpopular US invasion of Middle East creating ME-wide conflagration. If and when anyone tries to get us back on a sane path, bin Laden will again strike. (Plus the bonus of potential civil unrest in the US when all the psychotic Right Wingers take to the streets blaming Dems for the strike.)

[The Wizard]

22. Bush gave

bin Laden what he wanted, U.S. military bases out of Saudi Arabia and Saddam Hussein removed from power. Bush is a real jerk off and punk. One more thing. The Saudi Royals are making more money on inflated oil prices. I wonder how much of that inflated oil money finds itself in Carlyle coffers.

[krkaufman]

28. Yep. It's all so patently what bin Laden wanted ...

... that one can't help but wonder if there wasn't some sort of 1984-ish agreement made, that would provide each side with justification and the means to increase their power.

[Marr]

9. I agree, but it's only to provide an explanation for another *stolen*

election. You know- like "values voters" from the last presidential election. It doesn't have to make sense, and it doesn't matter if it's demonstrably false. But the TV idiots will require some sort of trite explanation for why a party that's clearly in the toilet managed to stay in power.

[bananarepublican]

14. This is a zillion percent correct! The only other possibility is...

...that something will happen where martial law is declared.

[glitch]

24. That's it - it's all about getting the lie accepted, even if temporary.nt

[Nevernose]

11. Well, no shit Gary! Now convince the DLC/DNC.

Voters, untlimately, don't care who right. They care for whom they perceive the person who FIGHTS for what's right.

Lieberman is the past. He's fighting to keep what's wrong, and running on the good will earned during the Great Depression, as many Dems do these days, and has many have noted are outdated.

[struggle4progress]

12. The remaining question is: Who's next? Easily-bored-George ..

.. desperately wants a new military adventure. So if out-of-Iraq, then into ... where?

[nealmhughes]

13. I can imagine a couple of scenarios.

Since the DLC and Republican Party are run by focus groups' and polls' numbers, if the numbers are right, then in order to prevent a Republican massacre in November, Iraq's "government" will suddenly claim that the Israel get out of jail free card has pissed them off so badly that we simply must exit in order to preserve democracy, since the overwhelming majority of Iraqis demand it.

That saves face and allows further adventure.

Another scenario is a sudden, but not immense withdrawal with "plans" for a complete withdrawal being negotiated with all parties...

This allows the adventure to continue and face is saved to all. Of course the media will be all abuzz about the troops marching out and into Kuwait and there will be flowers and candy strewing the route to Kuwait City once a few hundred are over the border. Then post election, they will be off their R&R and back again. See, conditions will require it, mysteriously. It will be worse if the Democrats take the House after this scenario, because then they will have until the new Congress to wreck havok in the Middle East.

Third scenario, they do absolutely nothing. They seem to be very good at this, after all.

I don't see the BushCo leaving until the House forces them to by funding $1 for the "war."

Absolute worst case: a disaster happens after the Democrats win and the (present) Congress, backed up by the USSC declares that due to an emergency, the new Congress is not taking their seats and elections are cancelled until the new war is won.

I don't even consider this, but what if we get an October Suprise? And they really pull out? This is the only one where people don't end up dead.

[Tekla West]

15. War without end

Exactly what had Rove concocted that was not "patently phony" from crisis to crisis, from war to war, from bogus values, false flag operations. If he ever told the truth I would fall over. But they have no - NO - intention of getting out of the mideast as long as there is oil there, that's the alpha and omega, nothing changes that.

[Skittles]

18. YOU KNOW IT Tekla West

welcome to the DU

[newyawker99]

23. Hi Tekla West!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Polemicist]

16. The 5 year anniversary of 9/11 is in a month...

And is about 50 days before the midterm elections. Does anyone really think the GOP will pass up this opportunity to beat the "fear/war" drum? Does anyone know what commemoration events or plans are being set for this anniversary?

How will the GOP militarists be able to both capitalize on the anniversary of 9/11 and announce withdrawal plans from Iraq simultaneously? Doesn't that cause a bit of a dilemma for the Bushites?

[VolcanoJen]

17. I finally saw "Syriana"

It took about two hours after I'd watched it to process everything, but it did make sense, and it was a bit jarring, and an excellent film.

I wish it were fiction. It's not.

Nothing would shock me now. Sure, it would... no, it wouldn't.

[Disturbed]

19. Hart is wrong.

The Busholini Regime will not pull out all of the troops from Iraq. There may be a large draw down before the Nov. Elections but at least 60% of the troops will stay hunkered down and low key and all the US Mercs will stay.

There is only one way that the US will be forced to leave. If al Sistani issues a Fatwa that the Occupation cease the US will have to leave. The Shi'tes that are not bought off will insist upon it. My guess is that 10 Million Shi'ites will storm the Green Zone and kill everyone inside.

[Quixote1818]

25. Rove better be careful because that could backfire

Bush and the Republicans have already lost most of the public on the war and it's clear Iraq is going badly. To announce a pull our in October is going to look like a political stunt and the American people are on to Roves tactics. Announcing a pull out could also cause their base to stay home.

I think this is a risky plan for Rove and it could end up hurting Republicans more than help them. It's going to look like a political stunt because Iraq is going badly not getting better.

[McCamy Taylor]

27. If it's a "secret plan" will be shades of Nixon and no one will buy it.

And Rove does not have the smarts to come up with a real plan.

The best W. can hope for is that the Saudi Royals persuade Al Qaeda and Bin Laden to do something to quiet things down in Iraq to make W. look good for the best intetest of Al Qaeda (since W. has been so good for him). James Baker III and Dick Cheney will have to negotiate that, not Karl Rove.