Hi there

Anthony Cordesman (supposedly the counter to O’Hanlon and Pollock )(sp?) now up on C-Span1.

Well, we needed some positive news. This fits the bill perfectly!

That candidate tracker is really great. I bookmarked it.

Both Democrats (81%) and Republicans alike (70%) agree that reducing poverty, treating preventable diseases and improving education in poor countries around the world will help make the world safer and the United States more secure.

just subcontract it to Cuba. They can do it 1000% better. Because they care about education, disease and poverty whereas for the u.s.a. those are considered growth industries to export.

Hey gang!

There’ll be more info later today when the full report is released but it’s wonderful to get a preview – and to see that we’re not so far apart on these issues.

Thanks for this, Siun. Very interesting — and the candidate tracker information is fantastic.

Waccamaw @ 2

Anthony Cordesman (supposedly the counter to O’Hanlon and Pollock )(sp?) now up on C-Span1.

Cordesman usually gives a fairly good description of conditions in Iraq. The problem is that his conclusions are always the same ole same ole. He backs what is called “strategic patience” which is actually code for letting Petraeus and Crocker have 1 to 2 Friedman Units to continue what they are doing. His timeframe for the American presence in Iraq is vague and extended. We’re talking years and probably decades.

Unlike O’Hanlon and Pollack, he sees the surge as failing principally because of inaction by the Iraqi government. He sees the Sunni truce in Anbar as a piece of luck not a result of strategy and temporary if not consolidated (no more than 1 Friedman at most if no deal is offered to the Sunnis). So in that sense he is less optimistic than O and P but all of them will keep us in Iraq forever. All of them ignore the political deadlines in this country to get out of Iraq. If it is not 2008, it will happen in 2009. Neither Cordesman nor O and P address this.

Thanks Christy – I thought the results were pretty fascinating – and if we are looking for better directions for our foreign policy this sure points in the right direction.

Siun @ 6

Hey gang!

There’ll be more info later today when the full report is released but it’s wonderful to get a preview – and to see that we’re not so far apart on these issues.

Thanks, Siun. This is heartening. One more piece to tie poverty to healthcare access and affordability (as well as to education). Children who are hungry, who do not have a safe place for shelter and who do not have reliable transportation and weather-appropriate clothing do not learn, if they are able to attend class at all. Adults who do not have nutritious food, who do not have the ability to purchase and prepare it safely, and who do not have safe housing and reliable transportation cannot work at maximum productivity if they can attend work at all.

Poverty is a fundamental problem at all levels.

Was there a question regarding the current level of US support, i.e., nonmilitary foreign aid? I’ve read that most Americans think the US spends a lot (like 20-30% of the budget) on it when it is actually much less than the 1% that is advocated.

Fascinating poll. Is a solid poll, done scientifically or whatever?

(with Cordesman, OHanlon and Pollack – remember that this was a DoD sponsored and controlled tour with zero contact with Iraqis who are not working for the US and only a few carefully controlled hours outside the green zone. Just more propaganda from the good folks in the Pentagon)

Forgive my jadedness, but what does it matter what we think? Policy has been running counter to mass sentiment for some time now. The Ds are nearly as complicit in ignoring the populace as are the Rs.

Jonathan – here’s the description of the poll:

The bipartisan research team of Peter D. Hart Research Associates and McLaughlin and Associates conducted surveys of 504 likely Democratic primary voters and 500 likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire between July 24th and 26th, 2007.

The formal announcement and more info will be out this afternoon but our friends at ONE thought we might like an early glimpse.

BTW, at the link to the panel, you can watch Susan McCue, the Exec Dir of ONE who left her position as Harry Reid’s Chief of Staff to take on this campaign … she’s amazing! And I hope someone gets video up of the other participants – David Beckmann (Bread for the Word’s President);
*Natalie Sugira (native Rwandan and ONE ambassador); and
*Gene Sperling (Center for Universal Education Director and Global Campaign for Education U.S. Chair)

Gene and David both said they’d like to come to FDL and chat some time – and both are doing wonderful work.

Loo Hoo. @ 4

That candidate tracker is really great. I bookmarked it.

It is great! A terrific tool for everyone.

These poll results are amazing ~ R’s need to be doing this too! Will they? Probably not.

fdl reader – the ONE campaign is nonpartisan and works to get support from both party’s candidates.

I was on a conference call with their team and we had both progressive and conservative bloggers talking together with the campaign – no nastiness or fights, just agreement that extreme poverty demands our attention.

Hugh @ 8

Waccamaw @ 2

Anthony Cordesman (supposedly the counter to O’Hanlon and Pollock )(sp?) now up on C-Span1.

Cordesman usually gives a fairly good description of conditions in Iraq. The problem is that his conclusions are always the same ole same ole. He backs what is called “strategic patience” which is actually code for letting Petraeus and Crocker have 1 to 2 Friedman Units to continue what they are doing. His timeframe for the American presence in Iraq is vague and extended. We’re talking years and probably decades.

Unlike O’Hanlon and Pollack, he sees the surge as failing principally because of inaction by the Iraqi government. He sees the Sunni truce in Anbar as a piece of luck not a result of strategy and temporary if not consolidated (no more than 1 Friedman at most if no deal is offered to the Sunnis). So in that sense he is less optimistic than O and P but all of them will keep us in Iraq forever. All of them ignore the political deadlines in this country to get out of Iraq. If it is not 2008, it will happen in 2009. Neither Cordesman nor O and P address this.

Anyone ever think that the reason the Iraqi government is failing even more now is because of the Surge. Nah – too rational.

The problem with all these dog and pony shows like Cordesman is they assume there is a “rational” solution to this nightmare. Why in the he## are we still talking new strategies at this late date?
I see us plucking the last of our supporters off the top of our beautiful new embassy in 2011 or so as this craziness continues.

Bring them home now and leave the damn equipment!

Siun @ 17

fdl reader – the ONE campaign is nonpartisan and works to get support from both party’s candidates.

I was on a conference call with their team and we had both progressive and conservative bloggers talking together with the campaign – no nastiness or fights, just agreement that extreme poverty demands our attention.

Now THAT is groundbreaking. A real conversation with real people about real issues that can have real impact.

Ok, now I’m *really* starting to cheer up.

Thanks to you and ONE!

Thank you Christina!

And you can thank my colleague Herman Marin for our trackr;)

Please let me know if you have any questions-

Ginny
ONE.org

Siun @ 13

(with Cordesman, OHanlon and Pollack – remember that this was a DoD sponsored and controlled tour with zero contact with Iraqis who are not working for the US and only a few carefully controlled hours outside the green zone. Just more propaganda from the good folks in the Pentagon)

Yes, it is the dog and pony show. But I think military analysts like generals have a very telling kind of mindset. With generals I call it a toxic “can-do” philosophy. When the military situation descends into quagmire, they don’t try to figure out ways to pull out. They just spin their tires harder and harder and get stuck deeper and deeper. Military analysts are much the same. They only hem and haw more before advising to floor the accelerator.

Jim Clausen @ 19

The problem with all these dog and pony shows like Cordesman is they assume there is a “rational” solution to this nightmare. Why in the he## are we still talking new strategies at this late date?
I see us plucking the last of our supporters off the top of our beautiful new embassy in 2011 or so as this craziness continues.

Bring them home now and leave the damn equipment!

This is why I was so frustrated with Al Franken when he was pushing the war and its “rational resolution” (division of the country) on his radio show. (His meme – well they should have done it right, is basically the same as the neo-con supporters). These folks see this as an opportunity to institute a Western (read US) thumb on the pulse of the Middle East. And, clearly the Middle East sees this for what it is as well, hence the steadfast (and violent) opposition to this.

R bloggers are working on this cause too. Some names: Patrick Ruffini, Matt Lewis, Soren Dayton, Joe Carter.

Check out this Townhall Blog post:

http://www.townhall.com/blog/g…..f0efcc5495

Siun @15

What concerns me about the validity of the poll, in terms of giving a true picture of U.S. attitudes, is that it was limited to NH residents. NH has a lot of affluent, well-educated people.

This is obscene. We have since the first Gulf War murdered on the order of a million Iraqi children, utterly destroyed civil society, and are now congratulating ourselves on our good American values?

Poverty? Read the Oxfam report, and others. 20% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 so malnourished that their growth is stunted. Water systems destroyed. Electrical systems destroyed. Health care destroyed. Four million refugees.

We did this.

And until we deal with it other issues don’t matter.

Richmond @ 18

Anyone ever think that the reason the Iraqi government is failing even more now is because of the Surge. Nah – too rational.

The surge is largely irrelevant to what is going on in Iraq. It is only one tool among others which various groups are using to help their side in the civil war. The government is weak but Maliki is doing with it what he wants to do with it. It is only not something that Bush and the generals want done or understand.

As for withdrawal, this can be accomplished in about 9 months moving all of the equipment out to staging areas in Kuwait where it can be processed and where it will be more secure.

Welcome Ginny from ONE (who btw is that gorgeous lady in the pic!) Thanks for joining in …

Jonathan – having lived in NH for 1/well educated …a lot of NH s rural and struggling and it’s not the friendliest to foreign aid, more a “pull yourself up by your own goddamned bootstraps” sorta place – I loved it but it does have its own personality!

Yes. Thanks for some good news. Fianlly. What an excellent organization. Like some others above, I have also bookmarked the candidate tracker.

wondering at 26 — Yes, trying to have better, more sane foreign policy and trying to hold elected officials accountable for making craptastic decisions instead of intelligent ones as opposed to repeating the idiotic atrocities of the Bush Administration is just so much crazy talk.

O.o

Jeebus…

It’s all scientific- and there will be more of them. We’re working to prove to our presidential candidates that there is a constituency for this work.

Jonathon at 25 – It’s a single poll in a series of polls. And given that this particular one is intended to influence Presidential candidate considerations in shaping foreign policy platforms, hitting NH voters for the survey was a smart move, I think.

You can’t expect any one poll to take care of every factor. And my understanding is that the ONE campaign folks are going to be doing a lot of work on different factors on this over time — this isn’t the sole representative sample, but will be one of many over time.

Hugh @ 22

Siun @ 13

(with Cordesman, OHanlon and Pollack – remember that this was a DoD sponsored and controlled tour with zero contact with Iraqis who are not working for the US and only a few carefully controlled hours outside the green zone. Just more propaganda from the good folks in the Pentagon)

Yes, it is the dog and pony show. But I think military analysts like generals have a very telling kind of mindset. With generals I call it a toxic “can-do” philosophy. When the military situation descends into quagmire, they don’t try to figure out ways to pull out. They just spin their tires harder and harder and get stuck deeper and deeper. Military analysts are much the same. They only hem and haw more before advising to floor the accelerator.

All I gotten out of Cordesman’s presentation is “blah, blah, blah, another friedman, blah, blah, blah, another friedman.” Oh, yeah, and we’re on “Iraqi time”.

I always figured that the “Surge” was a total PR effort. Clusterfuck was dead in the water if he kept up the “stay the course” rhetoric- so he had to pretend that he was doin something new. In fact- it wasn’t new at all- he’s done it at least twice before with no positive result.

He’s just stalling for time- hopin to stay under the anus of the war god when he starts shittin gold stead of shit.

I was flored to see this yesterday I think) at TPM
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/016375.php

Huckabee making sense!

By Greg Sargent | bio
Bush soars up to 36% in a new CNN poll released today. And it looks like he really is getting a Broder Bounce — but only among Republicans. His approval has jumped a surprising 16 points among GOPers, CNN says — perhaps they’re swooning over his success at securing new powers to wiretap the phone calls of Americans?

Jonathan @ 25

Siun @15

What concerns me about the validity of the poll, in terms of giving a true picture of U.S. attitudes, is that it was limited to NH residents. NH has a lot of affluent, well-educated people.

Lots of people from Massachusetts

Waccamaw @ 33

Hugh @ 22

Yes, it is the dog and pony show. But I think military analysts like generals have a very telling kind of mindset. With generals I call it a toxic “can-do” philosophy. When the military situation descends into quagmire, they don’t try to figure out ways to pull out. They just spin their tires harder and harder and get stuck deeper and deeper. Military analysts are much the same. They only hem and haw more before advising to floor the accelerator.

All I gotten out of Cordesman’s presentation is “blah, blah, blah, another friedman, blah, blah, blah, another friedman.” Oh, yeah, and we’re on “Iraqi time”.

Well that’s the bottomline isn’t it? Petraeus says this, O’Hanlon and Pollack say that, Cordesman weighs in as well, but it all comes down to another Friedman and when that Friedman is done they will want another and another. That is the limitation of the way they think. They see only the problem at hand and not the wider political realities. They can’t get past it. It is like watching a windup car that bounces off a wall, then moves forward, hits the wall again, bounces off it, hits the wall, bounces off it, etc. They don’t realize that what is needed is a change in direction.

Two pieces of health policy news:

DeMint put a hold on the Mental Health Parity Act

Asst. HHS Sec., Admiral John Agwunobi, who presented wrong and misleading information on the HHS propaganda Pandemic Flu Leadership blog, is jumping ship and becoming Wal-Mart’s health lobbyisthealth and wellness director.

Hi!

Are people in New Hampshire nicer than people in Texas? Here they tell you to use your own boot straps and don’t expect them to help you.

A president who has cognitive difficulties:

At a White House press conference this morning, a reporter noted that George W. Bush hasn’t done much to hold Iraqi leaders to their promises, that he commuted the sentence of Scooter Libby, and that he’s standing by embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

“There have been a lot of questions about your commitment to accountability,” the reporter said. “I wonder if you can give the American people some clear examples of how you’ve held people accountable during your presidency.”

The president couldn’t, or at least he didn’t.

“Lewis Libby was held accountable, Bush said. “He was declared guilty by a jury. He paid a high price for it. Al Gonzales — implicit in your question is that Al Gonzales did something wrong. I haven’t seen Congress say he’s done anything wrong. As a matter of fact, I believe we’re watching a political exercise. I mean, this is a man who has testified. He sent thousands of, you know, papers up there. There’s no proof of wrong. Why would I hold somebody accountable who’s done nothing wrong?

“Frankly, I think that’s a typical Washington, D.C., assumption — not to be accusatory. I know that you’re a kind, open minded fellow, but you suggested holding the attorney general accountable for something he did wrong. And, as a matter of fact, I hope Congress would become more prone to delivering pieces of legislation that matter as opposed to being the investigative body. . . .”

…and the S.S. United States, the hybrid Luxury Liner/Prison Barge, lumbers on into the darkness. Steering intentionally towards troubled waters so that the Captain – the Deciderer – can meet his Destiny…

Wow – this polling news is a bit of a surprise, considering most Repubs don’t give a damn about poor people in their own country!!!

How do they reconcile the cognitive dissonance? Oh wait, they don’t have any, from lack of conscience.

SnarKassandra @ 40

Hi!

Are people in New Hampshire nicer than people in Texas? Here they tell you to use your own boot straps and don’t expect them to help you.

People in NH are more responsive to the needs to their neighbors and community. They live close together and are used to dealing with the hardships of cold winters (talking the old line New england Yankee types here and the smaller towns in the north)

Virginia Simmons @ 24

R bloggers are working on this cause too. Some names: Patrick Ruffini, Matt Lewis, Soren Dayton, Joe Carter.

Check out this Townhall Blog post:

http://www.townhall.com/blog/g/6e5fc0b6-49f6-494b-
8d8b-e1f0efcc5495

SnarKassandra @ 40

Hi!

Are people in New Hampshire nicer than people in Texas? Here they tell you to use your own boot straps and don’t expect them to help you.

Having lived in both, I can only tell you that we found New Hampshire folks to be as friendly, welcoming and kind as you could hope for. I was concerned when we moved there because I checked out a couple of books, and one went on and on about how cold and impersonal Gnu Hampshire folks were.

There are always exceptions, of course, but in general I think that one-on-one, people tend to return friendliness in kind.

I miss terribly old friends from N.H.

radiofreewill @ 42

…and the S.S. United States, the hybrid Luxury Liner/Prison Barge, lumbers on into the darkness. Steering intentionally towards troubled waters so that the Captain – the Deciderer – can meet his Destiny…

The Rapture-o-matic now fully automated on auto-pilot veering dangerously to the right coming soon to a nation near you

OT — I just finished a post about why Bush called Barry Bonds and didn’t call the families of soldiers that died.

i just have to say it’s a little shocking to see such disparity between the party of morality and the party of loose women, hippies and gays on issues of children and poverty. wow.

but wait! look at the positive, and there’s lots of that. this makes them seem more human to me. thanks for the post. my old hippie heart is warmed.

SnarKassandra @ 40

Hi!

Are people in New Hampshire nicer than people in Texas? Here they tell you to use your own boot straps and don’t expect them to help you.

I’ll bet many people don’t even really know what bootstraps are….

Candidate Tracker–cool! Thanks Siun!

Tom Hartman speaking wisely about the way we are losing freedoms. One piece at a time.
The FISA law is the key to us losing all our freedoms.
He speaks of the Nazis and how this is frighteningly the same.

Siun, these are wonderful numbers!
Looking forward to hearing your take on the full report later.

Feels like things are looking up!

Jonathan @ 25

Siun @15

What concerns me about the validity of the poll, in terms of giving a true picture of U.S. attitudes, is that it was limited to NH residents. NH has a lot of affluent, well-educated people.

Jonathan, be assured, this is the first ONE poll. Stay tuned for more… You will see the next ONE poll results coming from another one of the early states very soon.

“Now, boys, if I tell you a skeeter can plough a field – I don’t want to hear any backtalk – just hitch him up!”

“Yes, boss.”

“If there’s trouble in the area, I want to know about. When the Dems see a disaster – I see opportunity. Terror hides in trouble, remember that.”

“Yes, boss.”

And a spooked White House?

The release of a documentary on the administration’s failures in Iraq, “No End in Sight,” directed by Charles Ferguson, has the White House spooked. Bush’s aides are not worried because the film is brilliantly shot and edited, or because it is compelling, but because of what — or whose appearance — it might augur to upset their September rollout.

The film features three former administration officials speaking on camera as unreserved critics of prewar and postwar planning: Powell’s former chief of staff, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson; Powell’s former deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage; and former U.S. ambassador Barbara Bodine, a senior member of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance in Iraq, closely aligned with Powell.

Wilkerson and Bodine have spoken out before. But Armitage’s debut in particular has the White House fuming and fretting that it somehow signals Powell’s emergence as a full-throated critic in the middle of the September P.R. offensive. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, according to sources close to him, has voiced anger and concern about whether Powell will step forward and what he might say, and other presidential aides are wondering how to cope with that nightmarish possibility.

Welcome Kimberly from ONE … you guys are doing such wonderful work! Thanks for sharing this info with us at FDL!

Polling in the primary states is a BRILLIANT strategy!

Kimberly or Ginny if you’re still here – care to fill us in on ONE Vote’s goals with the candidates?

Forgive me for being cynical about these polling numbers, but how can these issues be an important element of foreign policy to a huge percentage of both Democratic and Republicans and not be just as important when the affected people are here in OUR country? Poverty, as a domestic issue, simply doesn’t hit the top 5 or 6 issues when American voters are polled, and if the Republicans really cared about child health care, more of them would support SCHIP. These are all noble and important sentiments, and I, personally, support these initiatives, but if the people in New Hampshire are 1) being honest, and 2)representative of the populace at large, Hillary’s pollsters would have picked up on compassion as a part of foreign policy, IMO. She’s nothing if not pragmatic when it comes to trying to win this thing. Instead, the only campaigns to espouse this thinking are those of Edwards and, more recently, Obama. So there’s some cognitive dissonance here for me.

Siun, Is that the same ONE that gave out the t-shirts from Chicago? Aunt Betsy brought me one.

grayslady @ 59

Forgive me for being cynical about these polling numbers, but how can these issues be an important element of foreign policy to a huge percentage of both Democratic and Republicans and not be just as important when the affected people are here in OUR country? Poverty, as a domestic issue, simply doesn’t hit the top 5 or 6 issues when American voters are polled, and if the Republicans really cared about child health care, more of them would support SCHIP. These are all noble and important sentiments, and I, personally, support these initiatives, but if the people in New Hampshire are 1) being honest, and 2)representative of the populace at large, Hillary’s pollsters would have picked up on compassion as a part of foreign policy, IMO. She’s nothing if not pragmatic when it comes to trying to win this thing. Instead, the only campaigns to espouse this thinking are those of Edwards and, more recently, Obama. So there’s some cognitive dissonance here for me.

It’s cause they say we’re not dying from poverty here. Not like in other countries.

Christy Hardin Smith at 30 – Iraq was not a mistake. The effect of the systematic destruction of Iraq’s water system in 1991 – irrigation, sewage and water purification – mass death of children, was understood – _and commented on_, at the time. Add the sanctions, and you get on the order of 500,000 children dead.

And the middle class destroyed. Read Ali Alawi. No mistakes here.

It’s not about “sane” and “intelligent” foreign policy. Paul Bremer for instance: Phillips Academy, B.A. from Yale, M.B.A. from Harvard, C.E.P. at Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. _And ten years as managing director of Kissinger Associates_.

It’s about war crimes.

Mass murder. And our responsibility for it. And what we are going to do about it.

Ask yourself what Riverbend might have to say about this thread. Though I think she isn’t talking to us anymore.

More than nine in ten Democrats (93%) and 84% of Republicans agree that when millions of children around the world are dying from preventable diseases and hunger, we have a moral obligation to do what we can to help.

I’m just wondering: is this before or after we butcher them?
I don’t see any great groundswell of anger over the clinton/gore/albright sanctions enforcement that killed 350,000 children in iraq (source: unesco).
and i’m thrilled (snark) to see the republican concerns about world disease and hunger.

N=1 @ 49

SnarKassandra @ 40

Hi!

Are people in New Hampshire nicer than people in Texas? Here they tell you to use your own boot straps and don’t expect them to help you.

I’ll bet many people don’t even really know what bootstraps are….

I forgot — while typically viewed as socially conservative, New Hampshire has traditionally plunked much $$ into special ed in public schools. That, plus they’re smart enough to offer the same bus service to both parochial and private students, providing they meet the 2-mile/same city qualifications. Much more embracing than Texans, in that regard.

Biodun @ 55

And a spooked White House?

The release of a documentary on the administration’s failures in Iraq, “No End in Sight,” directed by Charles Ferguson, has the White House spooked. Bush’s aides are not worried because the film is brilliantly shot and edited, or because it is compelling, but because of what — or whose appearance — it might augur to upset their September rollout.

The film features three former administration officials speaking on camera as unreserved critics of prewar and postwar planning: Powell’s former chief of staff, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson; Powell’s former deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage; and former U.S. ambassador Barbara Bodine, a senior member of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance in Iraq, closely aligned with Powell.

Wilkerson and Bodine have spoken out before. But Armitage’s debut in particular has the White House fuming and fretting that it somehow signals Powell’s emergence as a full-throated critic in the middle of the September P.R. offensive. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, according to sources close to him, has voiced anger and concern about whether Powell will step forward and what he might say, and other presidential aides are wondering how to cope with that nightmarish possibility.

I find it incredibly difficult to believe that Powell will ever question his commander in chief. He may allow, even encourage, his subordinates to raise questions, but Powell himself?

Nuh. Gunna. Doit.

SnarKassandra@61–

If anyone says that and truly believes it, then I can only assume they weren’t watching the news broadcasts from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

wondering at 62 — So, you’d just have us continue down the wrong road then instead of trying to change it? Thank you, no — and I think prety much everyone who thinks the Bush policies are a craptastic failure would agree that more of the same is NOT in anyone’s best interests. Including the folks in Iraq and elsewhere who want us out.

I dont’ know if someone else saw this but Pelosi is not the only one going on the NOLA trip. Clyburn is also going to New Orleans

In Mississippi, Members will tour the consolidated Pass Christian school system, visit a family living in a formaldehyde-laced FEMA trailer, take a windshield tour of Pass Christian and hold a town hall meeting in Bay St. Louis on insurance reform.

As for Hoyer: An Ellsworth fundraiser is planned in Indianapolis this month, and House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md . . .

mc @ 65:

I find it incredibly difficult to believe that Powell will ever question his commander in chief. He may allow, even encourage, his subordinates to raise questions, but Powell himself?

Nuh. Gunna. Doit.

Sid Blumenthal seems to think so:

Hadley and others are taking Powell’s early skepticism toward the surge and willingness to express it as a potential sign that he will swoop down on them just after Petraeus asks for more forbearance for the president’s policy. Powell is the White House’s ticking-time-bomb scenario. He was Petraeus before Petraeus, the good soldier before the good soldier, window-dressing before window-dressing. The White House aides’ fear of Powell reflects their guilt, if not their stricken consciences, over his disposal. Powell was used, ruined and tossed overboard. His warnings were ignored, his loyalty was abused, and when he no longer served Bush’s purposes he was unceremoniously discarded.

Throughout the excruciating years of his slow destruction, no one served Powell less ably than Powell. To the degree that his abusers and tormentors may be haunted, he is more haunted. Powell’s aides are now on the front line of criticism against the administration, while he obviously simmers, pretending to be happily retired. He travels the country delivering motivational speeches, a theater of make-believe, as though he were the same Colin Powell as before Bush. While he preaches his secrets of success, he can see the neoconservative architects of failure in Iraq who demonized him distributed among the leading Republican candidates for president. There is not one among them who does not boast neocon dominance of his foreign policy circle. Powell’s absence cedes the political terrain to those who ousted him from office. Notwithstanding his tarnished reputation, he has a final chance to regain his dignity and at least some of his previous standing by stepping forward at the crucial hour. Does he accept his marginalization as permanent? He is Banquo’s ghost, but will he make an appearance at Bush’s banquet?

mc @ 65

Biodun @ 55

And a spooked White House?

I find it incredibly difficult to believe that Powell will ever question his commander in chief. He may allow, even encourage, his subordinates to raise questions, but Powell himself?

Nuh. Gunna. Doit.

Apparently the reason he never ran for President is because his family feared for his life. If he talks there no doubt would be similar concerns. Such things have happened already in relationship to this war, alas (remember the British guy who was in contact with Judy Miller?).

Cassie at 60 — Yep, same folks.

Although Sid has a number of tough questions for Powell:

When did he realize that as secretary of state he was not the principal foreign policy advisor to the president? Was it when he was appointed in December 2000 as secretary-designate?

Being an experienced bureaucrat at the most senior levels of government, having been national security advisor and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, why did he not make common cause with Brent Scowcroft and other experienced senior personnel with whom he had long relationships to get an alternative point of view to a president whose only policy choices were being filtered through Dick Cheney’s neocon structure? As chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, Scowcroft was politically isolated, forced to speak out occasionally in Op-Ed pieces and interviews. When Scowcroft published his Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 15, 2002, “Don’t Attack Saddam,” where was Powell and what did he say to Scowcroft?

Why did Powell not join Scowcroft in expressing concern about the rehabilitation of Iran-Contra convicted felon Elliott Abrams, appointed on June 1, 2001, as special assistant to the president and senior director on the National Security Council for Near East and North African Affairs. And why did Powell make no effort to block Cheney’s neocon takeover of the administration?

Notwithstanding his tarnished reputation, he has a final chance to regain his dignity and at least some of his previous standing by stepping forward at the crucial hour.

Powell if he spoke up now could only be too little too late. His reputation is not so much tarnished as shot to pieces. The crucial hour for him was in late 2002 and early 2003 in the runup to the Iraq war. He was AWOL then and irrelevant now.

Hugh at 73 — Amen. Although if he wants to toss some stinkbombs anyway, I’m happy to watch. *g*

Biodun @ 69

mc @ 65:

I find it incredibly difficult to believe that Powell will ever question his commander in chief. He may allow, even encourage, his subordinates to raise questions, but Powell himself?

Nuh. Gunna. Doit.

Sid Blumenthal seems to think so:

Hadley and others are taking Powell’s early skepticism toward the surge and willingness to express it as a potential sign that he will swoop down on them just after Petraeus asks for more forbearance for the president’s policy. Powell is the White House’s ticking-time-bomb scenario. He was Petraeus before Petraeus, the good soldier before the good soldier, window-dressing before window-dressing. The White House aides’ fear of Powell reflects their guilt, if not their stricken consciences, over his disposal. Powell was used, ruined and tossed overboard. His warnings were ignored, his loyalty was abused, and when he no longer served Bush’s purposes he was unceremoniously discarded.

Throughout the excruciating years of his slow destruction, no one served Powell less ably than Powell. To the degree that his abusers and tormentors may be haunted, he is more haunted. Powell’s aides are now on the front line of criticism against the administration, while he obviously simmers, pretending to be happily retired. He travels the country delivering motivational speeches, a theater of make-believe, as though he were the same Colin Powell as before Bush. While he preaches his secrets of success, he can see the neoconservative architects of failure in Iraq who demonized him distributed among the leading Republican candidates for president. There is not one among them who does not boast neocon dominance of his foreign policy circle. Powell’s absence cedes the political terrain to those who ousted him from office. Notwithstanding his tarnished reputation, he has a final chance to regain his dignity and at least some of his previous standing by stepping forward at the crucial hour. Does he accept his marginalization as permanent? He is Banquo’s ghost, but will he make an appearance at Bush’s banquet?

Blumenthal’s article implies (to me, anyway) that Powell’s motivation for countering Bush and the surge in September would be pure revenge for fucking him over while he was Secretary of State. I agree with Hugh (73), Powell is irrelevant now. Whatever he says would be met with withering “disgruntled ex-employee” attacks from the Bushies.

Powell had his Adlai Stevenson moment before the UN where he could have filled Adlais’ shoes.

Instead he went along with the con. I wouldn’t cross the street to listen to Powell

Siun @ 58

Kimberly or Ginny if you’re still here – care to fill us in on ONE Vote’s goals with the candidates?

Thanks, Siun.

ONE Vote ‘08 aims to get strong commitments from each of the presidential candidates to accomplish goals such as eradicating malaria, drastically reducing the number of children that die each day from treatable, preventable disease (currently a staggering 30,000 children) and expanding access to clean water and basic education.

Right now, we are working with all of the candidates to make sure they are informed not only about the problems, but also about the effective, proven solutions that exist.

A shout out to all of you involved with the ONE organization. I attended a church convention where we committeed to ending world hunger now helped in no small part by presentaions from ONE volunteers. Thanks for all you do!

rwcole @ 36

By Greg Sargent | bio
Bush soars up to 36% in a new CNN poll released today. And it looks like he really is getting a Broder Bounce — but only among Republicans. His approval has jumped a surprising 16 points among GOPers, CNN says — perhaps they’re swooning over his success at securing new powers to wiretap the phone calls of Americans?

36%, stick a fork in it, it’s done. The repubs will be out with pitchforks for Bush. At today’s press conference he basically told them (the elitists investors of hedge funds), “it sucks to be you.” as the hedge funds are tanking due to the sub prime lending disaster. And he refuses a taxpayer bailout of lenders threatened by the subprime home-loan crisis with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae taxpayer dollars(yeah no taxpayer bailout!!).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..id=topnews
And China shying from shaky US mortgage market
China is unlikely to take a chance on buying additional US mortgage-backed securities (MBS) as they are now considered too risky…
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/C…..6Cb02.html

Bear Sterns two hedge funds filed for bankruptcy protection, and Bear Stearns said it moved late Tuesday to prevent investors from pulling money out of a third hedge fund, which had $850 million invested in highly rated mortgage-backed securities….The two bankrupt funds — the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Master Fund Ltd. and the Bear Stearns High-Grad Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Master Fund Ltd. — bet heavily on subprime loans.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20075984/

Big Bank Failure Could Turn Credit Crunch Into Global Crash
….The seizing up of the world credit markets—triggered by the collapse of the household debt bubble in the United States—may turn from a slow-motion collapse into a thorough crash, if one or more major investment banks fails in the near future…..As veteran bond trader William Gross, head of Pacific Investments Management Corp., stated July 25, “the credit market is shaking like an earthquake of 8.0 magnitude.” Gross said that a “shock liquidity crisis” could hit those markets in the near future.
http://www.larouchepub.com/oth…..crash.html

This is BIG news and just the beginning of the oncoming Tsunami of bank investment failures and hyper-inflation on the horizon.

Christy Hardin Smith at 67 –

I thought I was clear. Bush’s policies are not a “craptastic failure.”

They are war crimes.

The war crimes have been going on for 16 years.

The democrats are as responsible as the republicans.

See for example Scott Ritter here:

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/48729/

We are obligated to end the nightmare that we created, and not maintain our psychological comfort by busying ouselves talking about planning to do some good somewhere else sometime in the future.

Iraq is now. The democrats have done nothing. Electing more is will not change anything. Listen to what they say. Study what they have done.

The catastrophe in Iraq – for the Iraqis – is bipartisan, and was intended.

You have an important site here. In the face of the unmitigated horror we have wreaked upon the Middle East you should perhaps do more than encourage people to waste their time on ‘candidate tracking.’

Siun @ 6

Hey gang!

There’ll be more info later today when the full report is released but it’s wonderful to get a preview – and to see that we’re not so far apart on these issues.

hi siun … thanks for a link to the full report, when available. i look forward to reading through it in depth. do you know if it will be a summary, or will is also include the survey questions?

wondering at 80 — I missed the part where this was an either/or. How about we (a) change the current policies to better ones and (b) also hold those persons accountable who are responsible for the crappy policies.

Hey everyone! The full memo has been released. Please feel free to ask questions!

Quick ONE Blog post with full memo link.
http://www.onevote08.org/blog/?p=132#

direct link just to memo:
http://www.one.org/documents/NHpoll080907.pdf

SnarKassandra @ 60

Siun, Is that the same ONE that gave out the t-shirts from Chicago? Aunt Betsy brought me one.

We are the exact same ONE! ;)

I hope you liked them. It’s our mission to get the word out- and we find the shirts help.

Ginny

The catastrophe in Iraq – for the Iraqis – is bipartisan, and was intended.

yeah but if that was true wouldn’t you see things like teh democrats voting for increased police state spying powers and stuff?

see, I knew you were wrong.

Christy Hardin Smith at 82 – Mass murder is not a “crappy policy.” Systematic destruction of the civil society of 25 million people is not “crappy policy.”

And as for the “either/or,” which I did not suggest, I see neither here, but rather a feelgood tone here might be harder to support if people for example looked at this:

http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/…..g-herself/

or this:

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i…..rist072307

or this:

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/…..the-surge/

Or this synopsis of your Dr. Maryam post:

http://www.pastpeak.com/archiv…..handle.htm

and followed all the links.

Or this, and especially the photo of two of the lucky ones, alive and getting medical attention:

http://www.pastpeak.com/archiv…..tastro.htm

Or these:
Hometown Baghdad – http://hometownbaghdad.com/index.php?page=videos
Especially: http://hometownbaghdad.com/ind…..s&v=37

Or this, “Iraq, the Women’s War.”

http://sabbah.biz/mt/wp-mobile…..amp;more=1

Most poignant and illuminating might be to go back and read all of Riverbend, from the beginning.

So I propose this – a lobbying campaign to require that of the 3 billion we spend each week in Iraq sufficient money be put aside to insure that Iraqi children aren’t starving, have adequate clean water, and the hospitals have basic supplies.

Doesn’t seem like a lot.

Oh dear. I just looked at “the memo.”

Obscene doesn’t begin to describe it.

God help us.

“[..] United States has both a security and moral interest in playing a leadership role in helping to improve health, education, and economic opportunity in the poorest nations in the world.”

Hey, wow. Sounds like the World Bank mission statement, doesn’t it?

Firedoglake = credulous.