
You have to see this clip at Crooks and Liars to believe it. In it, George Will completely packs his bags and boards the Short Bus to Woof-Woof Land. Will is one of those unlucky souls who's had their brains scraped out with a rusty spoon by the RNC. More than happy to be led down the garden path, these supercilious douchebags honestly believe that the president's "surge" tactic will quell the violence in Iraq once and for all. Because of course, if peace comes to Baghdad, everyone else in every other part of Iraq will suddenly lay down their weapons at once and start gifting each other with baskets of potpourri, gourmet cocoas, and shortbread cookies with notes attached that say, "I'm so sorry I tortured your 12-year-old son with an electric drill before I riddled his body with bullets and dumped his headless corpse in an alley. Can't we still be friends?"
Will:
Baghdad is the problem and while we debate what to do in Baghdad, the Shiites are changing the facts on the ground in Baghdad through incremental—not at all stealthy—rather rapid ethnic cleansing. So we may get a monochrome Baghdad out of this which would be ahhh, sad, but perhaps tranquilizing.
Um. Do what, now? Mono-who? Incremental-not at all stealthy-rather rapid what? Are you high?
"A monochrome Baghdad...," repeats George Stephanopoulos, clearly struggling to hold back his guffaws. But, Mr. Will. Really. How many Klonopin did you take in the Green Room? Six? Ten?
I don't know about you guys, but it's pretty clear to me what's going on here. It's Melinda Henneberger. Her presence has totally thrown Will off his game. He's all like, "I'll show this little blogger chippie! Who the hell does she think she is? I went to Princeton and Oxford and Trinity College! I know big words!"
Pompous old hemorrhoid.
Just FYI, Mr. Will, we "surged" last summer. It was called "Operation Together Forward". Remember that old wheeze? It was the military operation whose name was so wretched that I assumed it could only have been named by Democrats. And it was an absolute fucking failure.
The plan was announced on 14 June 2006 by the then-recently installed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and intended to increase security conditions in Baghdad through instituting major new measures. Operation Together Forward was planned as an operation to be led primarily by Iraqis but with Coalition support and would put about 70,000 security forces on the streets of Baghdad.
70,000 troops didn't get the job done in the summer, so what makes BushCo think that an additional 15,000 to 30,000 now is going to be able to accomplish what they couldn't? This is delusional claptrap. It's bullshit of the first water.
The major provisions of the operation included a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., increased checkpoints and patrols, and further restrictions on carrying weapons. Additionally, Iraqi and Coalition troops would raid terrorist cells and attempt to disrupt insurgent activities through active missions against suspected insurgent locations.
However, although highly touted at the time of its introduction, the plan seemingly failed to increase security in the capital as the high level of violence continued with a spate of major bombings (at least four such attacks with 40+ deaths each occurred in a one week period) and sectarian killings throughout June and July.
From CNN (10/19/2006):
Insurgent attacks increased 22 percent during the first three weeks of Ramadan compared with the previous three weeks, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said -- even as U.S. and Iraqi forces ramped up a 2-month-long crackdown in the capital.
"Operation Together Forward has made a difference in the focus areas but has not met our overall expectations of sustaining a reduction in the levels of violence," Caldwell said.
We done surged, y'all. And it accomplished precisely nothing. If anything, the situation in Iraq has gotten worse. WTF? Why is this idea being given even cursory attention? It's yet another recipe for dramatic and calamitous failure. This fucking fool's errand in Iraq has gone far enough. It's time to cut the President off at the bar. Take away his car keys. Close out his tab. Send him home in a taxi. He's had more than enough. It's time for somebody to shut Preznint Drunk-Uncle down.
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Fitz!
Back on my game!
Sorry bout yer luck twolf1
fitz too
You know?
I’d really like some baklava.
Ah, that sweet calming effect that genocide gives you! Maybe if George Will had been in charge from the beginning, we would have encouraged the Baathists and Sunnis to commit suicide before we invaded. So much tidyer that way.
mmmmmmmmmmmm some like delicate filo
delicious honey…….
Shit, I’m droolin’ on my keyboard.
BTW, How ya doing T?
Baklava? What is it?
Well, it’s a Mediterranian pastry, but that’s not important right now.
Ba-dump!
Good. Glad to be home and not having to smoke outside.
Hey, I’ve seen no blogs or news today, so has anyone mentioned that dear Ol’ Jerry Ford, kindly old moderate, was the guy who sandbagged the Warren Commission Report, and was spying on them for J. Edgar Hoover.
Then there was all the behind-the-scenes crap with the “Pardon.”
Bastard!
So, Mr. Will, are you telling us to send more soldiers there to stand by and watch the ethnic cleansing as it happens? Are you telling us that an ethnic cleansing “isn’t so bad”? If so, why do you want to send more troops to Iraq…
Last I heard, Bush & Co. wanted to send more troops in order to prevent this from happening (though I doubt that our troop presence could do any help).
I don’t get it…
And obviously, neither does George Will.
SteveAudio @ 9
NPR practically gave themselves lockjaw fellating his shade today. I almost ran off the road.
TRex @ 7
Well kick back, find some good old jazz, put your feet up, grab a scotch and light one up. A toast to Trex, the therapod with a heart!
TRex @ 11
But they can’t be half as bad as the cable “news” crap…
They’ve all been falling over each other, trying to kiss the cold hand on the corpse.
Now, I’m all for letting Ford RIP…
And I don’t think we should just trash the guy…
But please, must we canonize him?
Short George Will,
Monochrome - We don’t know what it may look like, but it smells like shiite.
Surge - I’ve never been wrong, I have a reputation as well. GW and GW sittin in a tree…..
Fuckin’ Putz!
Ah yes, “Together Forward.” Kinda sounds like a dating service.
was the guy who sandbagged the Warren Commission Report,
Knew that.
and was spying on them for J. Edgar Hoover.
Didn’t know *that*!
Then there was all the behind-the-scenes crap with the “Pardon.”
Do tell.
Will and company are souless creatures. They have no compassion for the innocent.
Kermit! Dumbass on steroids.
I don’t think shooting him out of a big gun would help at this point, but if someone wants to try…
jayt @ 16
Follow some of the links at my place in the piece I wrote this AM. There were some otehr links, too, I’ll try and find them.
jayt @ 16
How ’bout allowing 1/3 of East Timor to be massacred?
Subway Serenade @ 19
No, thanks. I wouldn’t want to clean up that mess.
Operation Together Forward always made me think of Mao’s many “Five Year Plans,” and I have a great Maoposters.com site bookmarked. Such pretty posters. Such hellish times for people.
Can we counter “The Surge” with “Whip Inflation Now” buttons?
I still have mine - you wouldn’t believe what it’s worth now…
TRex @
11
Be the first to FOIA Ford’s FBI file! :)
The “surge” has to work this time or else the dirty f’in hippies will claim they were right! We, of the respectable class, must not let that happen, even if thousands more have to die.
Stiff upper lip, everyone!
-now excuse me while I go barf.
http://www.crimemagazine.com/0.....n,1014.htm
Montag, I like the way you think.
East Timor? Must we always dwell on the past? Can’t we all just link arms and move forward, no matter how many bodies we have to step over?
Sheesh!
OT:
Q What’s the difference between “The Celestine Prophecy” and “The Gift?”
A. “The Gift” is a true story.
Emptywheel has a book you all might like to order.
So it turns out that Bob Woodward has been holding an embargoed interview with Gerry Ford from freakin’ 2004, in which the former president states that the invasion of Iraq was a dumb idea.
Here’s an edifying lazy-day activity for an irritated citizenry: howzabout we storm Woodward’s office with torches and pitchforks and liberate any remaining embargoed interviews from his hard drive that might save a life or two or ten thousand if released now instead of when the suits finally lock down the book contract?
Who is the enemy? George Will the whole Bush family especially George, Marvin, Neil and the other one, ExxonMobil, Cheney and Halliburton, Corporate journalists especially Fox News, and Washington Post, Kissinger, Olmert, Rice, Rumsfeld, Gates, Blair, and did I mention the Oil Companies. (We should be worrying about those killer asteroids anyway.) But to our pathetic nonleaders it is all about the OIL.
For those keeping score official US KIA is almost 3000. I predict Jan. 1 for that sad number (just a comma for the war profiteers).
http://www.icasualties.org/oif/
TheOtherWA @ 29
I second that e-motion.
Subway Serenade @ 29
Yes, don’t we always feel just nice and squeaky clean every time that we try to whitewash history?
jeffreyw @ 31
HOORAY!!!
I would like to think of the Democratic Congress as a surge protector
OT-When a reporter does a bad job, we jump all over them, so when one does a good job we should show them some bloggy love.
AP story in the LA Times today.
Mr. Margasak does a nice round up of many agencies and their nasty ways of treating the people looking out for us taxpayers.
I’ve said it before, we need Unitarian Jihad to break into the green rooms, toss a bottle of patchouli and take everyone out with a group hug.
atdnext @
34
What’s one more trail of tears? Folks are gettin rich!
jeffreyw @ 30
Yeah, baby! *claps and cheers for Marcy*!!
This makes me sick….. I heard Amy Goodman speak about her experience in East Timor, she was there and nearly killed, she was hit and lay with the dead and wounded bodies. Some of this is outlined in her book “Exception to the Rulers”.
I would looooove some baklava. There’s a place here in town that has the best I’ve ever tasted that has chopped walnuts incorporated into it that makes it extra awesome. Mmmmmm now I gotta make a trip there.
Subway Serenade @ 39
Yeah, just as long as the military-industrial complex continues to prosper…
SteveAudio says
December 27th, 2006 at 8:17 pm*
Follow some of the links at my place in the piece I wrote this AM.
Done. Damn.
Just when I start to think that I’m smarter than the average bear, I find out I don’t really know much at all.
A surge with 15 to 30k troops.
Operation Hiccup?
katymine @ 41
I really should read that book once I’m done reading all the others that I just got for X-mas. I do what I can to NEVER, EVER miss Democracy Now! in the morning.
Well, done, TRex. That “surge” we tried last summer was . . . well, just a summer surge. We haven’t tried a winter surge.
Did someone say baklava?
Scarecrow @ 47
Further alternatives:
Right Guard Xtreme Cool Spray Surge Anti-Perspirant & Deodorant
or
Speed Stick Icy Surge 24/7 Antiperspirant
or perhaps
Old Spice Pacific Surge High Endurance Clear Gel Antiperspirant & Deodorant
Eureka Springs, AR @ 46
Operation Fuckup.
Eureka Springs, AR @ 45
Operation Together Backward.
Ixnay on using that “young child who had had his hands drilled and bolted together before being killed” bit — it really muddies the waters.
As far as I’ve been able to determine, it was taken out of context from the original Nic Robertson article. Robertson seemed to be referring to the rumors that were out there, and from fourth or fifth-hand sources, none of whom were named. I didn’t see anything he wrote that suggested that the atrocities claimed had been verified as actually happening.
howdy folkses…
god, I had a long and frustrating day… I sure know how to ruin a vacation.
How’s with you?
Subway Serenade @
19
Wasn’t that the tribute of HST as well?
atdnext 34:
“don’t we always feel just nice and squeaky clean every time that we try to whitewash history?”
Are you referring to Ms. Fromme?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeaky_Fromme
Cujo359 @ 51
Task Force:Target Practice
Fini FiniTOOBZ! @ 42
in Indy? Where would that be?
From the BBC:
well, TRex, you sure know how to bring the party…
Reuters:
neurophius @ 55
Sure…
Now I must wash my brain after reading that!
; )
Let’s put her on the Best Seller list, mmkay? I preordered my copy, like all the smart people do.
See some of the background information in the comments here:
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/.....s-of-iraq/
While I don’t doubt the ability of people to commit such atrocities using drills, I’d rather the stories be used by us only if known to be true in the specific case. Using examples of what might be made-up claims doesn’t help our credibility in the long run.
jayt @ 57
Four Seasons Restaurant on Shadeland just off the I70 exit. Next to the Starbucks. Good stuff.
Trex:
There’s a documentary from Uk Channel 4 that details the practices of the Death Squads - I have only watched the trailer and some segments so far but the full video is available online:
Info:
http://www.channel4.com/news/d.....jsp?id=484
full video:
http://video.google.com/videop.....2252839443
The segments I’ve watched are very graphic but so is the war we’ve waged on the Iraqi people.
patrick rex @ 53
Dude! (as the kidz say)
Ferry Fey - the evidence is quite clear.
I should note that our former commenter Du and MfI have tatoos as well - in case they are necessary given their work for the people of Iraq.
I ordered Marcy’s book!
TRex, really good post. Lotta people getting tortured and killed in our name. We need to put on our thinking caps, I see you got there first.
And now to sleep. Doing ok, today I was able to solve a puzzle without looking at the answer. Took a walk. Appetite still poor and still very tired. But a tinge better.
TRex @ 58
so I guess cutting electricity down to 3 hours a day is a way to limit their drilling?
BRB, gotta make Pam some snacks
If that self-satisfied asshole George Will were to be dropped off in Baghdad, captured, tortured and beheaded it would be ahhh, sad, but perhaps tranquilizing.
Even Keith Olbermann is devoting his show tonight to President Ford.
Are his producers making him do this story?
It just occurred to me what bothers me so much about the line that Ford “healed the nation’s wounds” when he pardoned Nixon.
Ford didn’t heal the nation. What he did was to take a major step toward healing the Republican Party so that it could come back and bite the country on the ass in 1980 with the election of Reagan.
Or so it seems to me.
I say this with all due respect for the departed former president. But let us not forget the facts.
Riesz Fischer @ 72
serenity now!
Riesz Fischer @ 72
But then who would write snooty and supercilious books about baseball?
Great article, TRex. (And I am happy with you, that you can smoke inside now.)
Agree, Ford may have “healed” the country, but he really put a band-aid on a puncture wound. The wound festered and now we are dealing with the fallout.
Twisted Martini @ 77
Yes, Ford never got around to sanitizing that wound before he put that band-aid on…
So now, we’re dealing with a dangerous infection.
Whether we are talking about the bolting together of hands or torture with an electric drill, the distinction at this point is fairly academic, don’t you think?
George Will did some ok writing about baseball years ago, and then I think he was walking down a hallway and fell facefirst into the Bush Administration’s KoolAid bucket.
interestingly, I think both of his baseball books were written during the Clinton administration…
that’s another goal to put on the list of our “What we’d like to accomplish with a new president”: Getting silly people to write about games instead of about warmaking and foreign policy.
TRex @ 79
That a human could do this to another…I mean, I’ve been really pissed off at some folks, and sadly, even wished them ill-fortune.
But the idea of hurting someone in any way, unless they were actually attacking someone I love, is just so far out to me.
I’m going to go watch Battlestar Galactica while I wait for my new sheets to dry. And thank god for letting me be lucky enough not to have been born in Iraq.
Mary brought this ceremony to my attention in the last thread.
snip
Love to say I told you so:
I’m still waiting for the Kraphammer column.
hey ES - does the ceremony merit the same respect if I substitute an out of date beef jerky for a live animal?
rumi @ 85
Just say it tastes like chicken and howl at the sun after your first bite.
Well of course. They’re brown and they’re not Christian. WTF do we care. Can’t you brown people settle down and act like subservient colonized consumers? It’s our oil, our right to take whatever we want and leave you in squalor, and damn but “tranquilizing” sure does sound good to our stockholders.
—-
And you people writing the mere word Baklava while I’ve got another two weeks or so before I can swallow. I’m taking names. And if your gluttony isn’t enough, my lovely wife tonight goes down to the kitchen and bakes a double chocolate brownie cake, then dribbles raspberry jam over it, a scoop of ice cream, and eats it in front of me. Cruel and unusual punishment, far as I’m concerned.
TRex @
79
Well, I think we can all agree that Iraq is better off than they were under Sadam. They are a thriving democracy (they’ve had two elections!) and democratic nations never attack other nations.
From my battle with a true believer on Control Congress (GOP-Georgia-radio show-open blog), the best tends to come in threads like these:
Cujo359 @ 51
Operation Defective Legacy.
marksb - That is brutal!
Fini FiniTOOBZ! @ 65
If for some odd reason you find yourself in Richmond Indiana stop by Sacred Grounds on National. Great deserts including Baklava, two computers, wi-fi, and of course nice coffee/chai/fraps/etc. It’s my California spot in Richmond.
Eureka Springs, AR @ 86
I think you’re right about the presentation being more important.
h-h-h-oooowwwlllll
…they likely have as much trouble appreciating some of our traditions, like shotgunning beer from cans, passing out dollar bills and drinking games during the Bob Newhart show.
marksb -
cruel and unusual doesn’t begin to describe it! good thing she loves you so much!
;-)
Umm, was just thinking… anyone want to give me odds that, when Jimmy Carter dies, we’ll hear nothing from the press but reminders of the 444 days, and how ineffectual he was as President?
Huh, no takers? :)
1,377 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
Citizen Trex and all the Firepup Patriots:
Aristophanes described where these insane bastards live - Cloud Cuckoo land. My God, this nightmare has gotta end sometime!!
Get those kids outta there now and turn ‘em loose on the White House..we’ll see a REAL surge and save impeachment and trial of the sonofabitch!
KEEP THE FAITH, GOD HAS GOTTA BE PRETTY PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW!!
You ask the question of whether or not Will is high as he babbles about monochrome Baghdad (I’m surprised he did not break into some swelling rendition of an equally fatuous bit of Romantic poetry): the answer of course is that he has to be. If you were George Will, wouldn’t you require enough Klonopin to kill a horse, all topped off with a doob to shame Marley?
montag @ 95
Could happen, but I don’t need the press to tell me Jimmy Carter’s worth anyway. His actions speak for themselves.
See we must execute Saddam to show the world that there is a rule of law and when you break the rule of law there will be penalties.
Then the US will commemorate Gerry Ford who pardoned Richard Nixon for breaking the rule of law. Because when one of your own stands to be severely punished, well what better time to go soft on crime and argue for the civilized and compassionate and easy way out.
Chick a boom don’t you just love it.
-GSD