Editorial
<...>
Then there is President Bush, who has yet to acknowledge the reality that Congressional Republicans and even administration officials like Defense Secretary Robert Gates now seem to tacitly accept. Three months into Mr. Bush’s troop escalation, there is no real security in Baghdad and no measurable progress toward reconciliation, while American public support for this folly has all but run out.
<...>
Yesterday brought Tony Blair’s announcement that he will step down as Britain’s prime minister next month. He chose to go out on a high note, after the formation of a new Northern Ireland government joining Sinn Fein with its fiercest Protestant foes. That is a historic achievement. But it cannot disguise the way Mr. Blair’s once boundless prospects and personal credibility imploded after he became Mr. Bush’s most articulate enabler on Iraq.
If Mr. Bush hopes to salvage anything from his 20 months left in office, and, more to the point, if he wants to play a constructive role in the accelerating Iraq endgame, he needs to understand how much has changed in this country, and how tragically little has changed in Iraq.
The American people are no longer willing to write blank checks of blood and treasure to an Iraqi government that has refused to stop rampaging Shiite militias, has failed to approve constitutional changes to bring estranged Sunni Arabs back into the political system, and has still not come up with a way to share oil revenues fairly. Now it wants to give itself a two-month summer vacation.
Mr. Bush needs to face up to this grim reality and abandon his fantasies of ultimate victory and vindication. Otherwise, he could find himself, and America’s best long-term interests, run over by a bipartisan rush toward the nearest exit.
linkBAGHDAD (AFP) - Four more US soldiers have been killed in Iraq, the military announced Friday, as an increased pace in combat operations kept the average rate of American deaths at three per day so far this month.
In the bloodiest incident, one soldier was killed and nine were wounded by an explosion next to their patrol Thursday while they were "conducting combat operations" in Diyala province north of Baghdad.
Two of the wounded were able to return to duty, a statement said, while the others are receiving treatment.
In another attack on Thursday one "soldier was killed and two others were wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated on their patrol in eastern Baghdad," another statement said.
moreIRAQ
By Scott Canon, Hussein Kadhim and Laith Hammoudi
McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Supporters of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Thursday that they'd gathered enough support in Iraq's parliament to pass a bill requiring a timetable for U.S. forces to pull out.
The legal or practical implications of an Iraqi law that would attempt to require a timetable for U.S. troops to leave the country were unclear. Even those circulating the legislation said they expected to sort out particulars in parliamentary debate.
But the announcement, on the anniversary of the parliament's swearing-in last year, underscores the difficulty of the American position in Iraq.
Parliament has been unable to reach a consensus on key issues that U.S. officials say are crucial to resolving Iraq's sectarian violence, including measures dividing oil revenues and permitting some former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to hold government jobs.
moreDoesn't stop the puppets in the Iraq government from lobbying Congress:
By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Worried Congress' support for Iraq is deteriorating rapidly, Baghdad dispatched senior officials to Capitol Hill this week to warn members one-on-one that pulling out U.S. troops would have disastrous consequences.
The lobbying push targeted Republicans and Democrats alike, but focused primarily on those considered influential on the war debate. On Thursday, hours before the House voted to limit funds for the war, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh met with more than 30 House Republicans and more than a half-dozen senators, including Sens. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), D-Nev., John Warner (news, bio, voting record), R-Va., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.
"He understands that American patience is waning," said Sen. Norm Coleman (news, bio, voting record), after eating lunch with Saleh, Iraqi Ambassador Samir Shakir al-Sumaidaie and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (news, bio, voting record).
But the lobbying by the Iraqis isn't the only pressure-point being applied in Washington.
more 
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
