Kristol: ‘We’re Not In A Civil War’ In Iraq, ‘This Is Just Not True’

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/07/15/kristol-civil-war/

Kristol: ‘We’re Not In A Civil War’ In Iraq, ‘This Is Just Not True’

Approximately one year ago — in an August 2006 appearance on the Charlie Rose show — Bill Kristol acknowledged that Iraq was teetering on the edge of civil war, stating: “It is true that we are at risk of a sectarian civil war there, and I’m extremely worried about that. I don’t quarrel about that.”

Since Bush adopted his escalation strategy earlier this year, Kristol has turned to defying the reality of the situation on the ground in Iraq in order to justify the troop increase. Today, on Fox News Sunday, Kristol argued that the violence in Iraq does not constitute a civil war:

We’re not in a civil war. This is just not true. American troops are attacking al Qaeda. They’re attacking some elements of the Shi’a militias. They’re doing other things, helping with reconciliation. They are not in the middle of a civil war. It’s not true.

Watch it at link~

As sectarian violence has increased, multiple U.S. intelligence sources have acknowledged the civil war. In January, the National Intelligence Estimate said, “the term ‘civil war’ accurately describes key elements of the Iraqi conflict, including the hardening of ethno-sectarian identities, a sea change in the character of the violence, ethno-sectarian mobilization, and population displacements.” In March, the Pentagon for the first time said the violence in Iraq constituted a civil war.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell explained, “I have characterized it as a civil war even though the administration does not call it that. And the reason I call it a civil war is I think that allows you to see clearly what we’re facing. We’re facing groups that are now fighting each other: Sunnis vs. Shias, Shias vs. Shias, Sunni vs. al-Qaeda. And it is a civil war.”

UPDATE: More Bill Kristol delusions. In an op-ed in the Washington Post, he writes “Why Bush Will Be A Winner.”

[sakabatou]

1. Take your rose colored glasses off

[JacquesMolay]

8. good one, m8

... that guy is in a fucking dream-world. Last week he published an article describing how absolutely swell the surge was working.

[C_U_L8R]

2. There's a small typo in that Post headline..

"Why Bush Will Be A Weiner."

[Terri S]

3. and I just heard that Karl Rove said

that the Iraq war will not be the major concern at the 2008 election. And the moon is made of green cheese ...

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Or maybe, just maybe, Rove knows something we "outsiders" don't

and there will be a LIHOP, intentional or not, before November 2008.

Nothing about these evil fucks surprises me anymore.

What does continue to surprise me is how much deceit and harm they are allowed to continue with next to no negative consequences for them.

ITMFsA!

:grr: :mad:

No need for hearings or investigations. The truth is already out!

All of their lies and deceit have been recorded, revealed and unraveled on videotape.


(From DU's davidswanson)

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/24608

Why We Need More Investigations Like Cheney Needs More Power

Submitted by davidswanson on Thu, 2007-07-12 19:51. Evidence | Impeachment

Their crimes stand open on the table before us. Their lies about Iraqi ties to al Qaeda are on videotape and in writing, and they continue to make them to this day. Their claims about Iraqi weapons have been shown in every detail to have been, not mistakes, but lies. Their threats to Iran are on videotape. Bush being warned about Katrina and claiming he was not are on videotape. Bush lying about illegal spying and later confessing to it are on videotape. A federal court has ruled that spying to be a felony. The Supreme Court has ruled Bush and Cheney's system of detentions unconstitutional. Torture, openly advocated for by Bush and Cheney and their staffs, is documented by victims, witnesses, and public photographs. Torture was always illegal and has been repeatedly recriminalized under Bush and Cheney. Bush has reversed laws with signing statements. Those statements are posted on the White House website, and a GAO report found that with 30 percent of Bush's signing statements in which he announces his right to break laws, he has in fact proceeded to break those laws. For these and many other offenses, no investigation is needed because no better evidence is even conceivable. And rather than taking three months, the impeachment of Cheney or Bush could be completed in a day.
But the investigations that Congress has pursued at its glacial pace over the past six months, while thousands upon thousands died, have produced another impeachable offense, the refusal to comply with subpoenas. That is what President Richard Nixon did; and his refusal to comply with subpoenas constituted the offense cited in one of the three Articles of Impeachment approved by the House Judiciary Committee on July 27, 1974 as warranting "impeachment and trial, and removal from office."
Bush and Cheney are claiming executive privilege. Nixon also tried that one. It didn't work then; and it won't work now. Condoleezza Rice is claiming, with more frankness, that she's just not inclined to comply. Even Nancy Pelosi ought to understand by now that the removal of the threat of impeachment is what empowers the White House to ignore subpoenas, and that the threat of impeaching the White House for its stonewalling would break down the wall even before we reached impeachment.

[Lasher]

4. Less than 2% of the fatalities in the Iraq war are American.

If that 2% makes it a war for us, then the 50-times-greater death toll from Sunnis killing Shiites and vice versa certainly makes it a civil war for Iraq.

[glowing]

6. I think its a mad house, but what is the unifying theme... end the US

occupation. All these intelligent reports and nothing new... just people dying... time to leave, let them sort out the mess through negotiation and with UN... and make sure they keep their oil.

[spanone]

7. mr. crystal, it doesn't help to LIE to the American people.

They are smarter than smart-asses like you give them credit.

you, sir are a pathetic excuse for a pundit.

[tjwash]

9. Baghdad Bob has been hired by Rove and loves his new name----"Bullshit Bill"

nt

[Hubert Flottz]

10. Why do you think they call him Kristol?

He must snort an ounce of Dummy Dust a day! Send him to find out what kind of war it is.

[Peregrine Took]

11. DId he have that supercilious frat boy grin on his mug when he said it?

Jeez, I can't stand that creep.

[ThoughtCriminal]

12. Shall we call it

"A War Between the States" so it will appeal more to Neo-Confederates? But I've lost track - Which side are the "Yankees" on?

[CBHagman]

13. Link to Kristol's piece in The Washington Post.

This sat right next to Ron Charles's "Harry Potter and the Death of Reading." No prizes for guessing which article is more intelligently written and backed up with research.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301709.html

DUers, don't overlook the comments section, well-hidden though it is. Just search for "View all comments" (See bottom of the page).

[NewJeffCT]

14. Isn't Kristol the one that poo-poo'd the Sunni-Shia divisions?

Basically said that anybody who said there would be problems in Iraq between the Sunni & Shia were stupid and naive?

[Coexist]

15. Bill who?