It's tough to blog outside. I mean, how does one generate the fine rage needed to fuel this when I'm sitting outside on a beautiful day, working with the Airport wireless connection. I can't imagine a happy blog would be much worth reading.
Tony Blair goes to Washington. What was supposed to be a moment of glory for Blair has soured considerably. So much so, that the plans to award him a congressional medal have been postponed, saved for less turbulent times. So much so, that in his speech to congress, Blair states that the invasion of Iraq and the deposition of Hussein is "something that I am confident history will forgive." Forgive? Hardly a positive spin. Good speech, though, and at least he is self-conscious enough to feel some hubris right now.
Bush doesn't have a gene for that. But the cover of Time doesn't bode well for him. Finally the press has gotten off the couch and are probing the administration's assertions. The Time story will also bring the now unsteady reasons of war to the living rooms and barber shops in the red states.
It's especially devastating for Bush, as the credibility story is followed immediately in the magazine by a story on the death of Chris Coffin, 50. It's heart-rending, and a reminder of how badly the post-war was planned for by the civilians in the Pentagon.
Maybe the blow to Bush's credibility on this topic will now lead the press and public to put as much effort to cover his lies, mistatements, and dubious logic with as much intensity as they clung to every silly Gore claim.
Perhaps we're watching a turning point for the administration.
I continue to be truly impressed by the guys in uniform, though. Gen Abizaid's testimony to congress yesterday was impressive in the breadth of his knowledge, and the clarity and forthrightness of his statements. And Gen. Shinseki's prediction that was scoffed at by Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz are turning out to be right on target. The direct opposite of his bosses.
Trouble is, we don't have the troop strength to put more boots on the ground in Iraq. "Currently, 21 of the Army's 33 active-duty combat brigades are deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea and the Balkans," the Wall St. Journal reports today. "Three more brigades are in the process of modernizing and can't be sent abroad. That leaves nine brigades -- or 45,000 troops -- to relieve all of the Army forces deployed around the world."
And three brigades are being held in reserve in case they're need on the Korean peninsula.
Which just keeps getting uglier. In a story I initially missed, North and South Korean soldiers traded gunfire inside the DMZ yesterday. A clear violation of the 50 year old armistice. Speculation is that the North started it, just to remind the world of the presence of their artillery aimed at Seoul.
Kim keeps acting out and Bush, like an embarassed parent with a screaming child in the walmart, just keeps shushing him, to no effect.
Nicholas Thompson in Salon takes John Kerry to task for passing up an opportunity to rip Bush on the false Iraq intel. Instead, Kerry -- on a stage with uniformed police and firefighters in New York -- talked about the fact that the Bush admin. has not focused on "homeland security," and we're no safer from massive terrorist attacks now than we were 18 months ago. I think Kerry's right to not dive too deeply into the State of the Union fraud -- let Bush and his minions flail away on that subject -- and instead focus on security right here rather than Iraq. The Democratic candidates need to convince voters that they care -- and have a plan -- for making the US safer. Sniping at Bush at this stage just reminds us all that they often do more whining than leading. Kerry has his bona fides on war.
Tony Blair goes to Washington. What was supposed to be a moment of glory for Blair has soured considerably. So much so, that the plans to award him a congressional medal have been postponed, saved for less turbulent times. So much so, that in his speech to congress, Blair states that the invasion of Iraq and the deposition of Hussein is "something that I am confident history will forgive." Forgive? Hardly a positive spin. Good speech, though, and at least he is self-conscious enough to feel some hubris right now.
Bush doesn't have a gene for that. But the cover of Time doesn't bode well for him. Finally the press has gotten off the couch and are probing the administration's assertions. The Time story will also bring the now unsteady reasons of war to the living rooms and barber shops in the red states.
It's especially devastating for Bush, as the credibility story is followed immediately in the magazine by a story on the death of Chris Coffin, 50. It's heart-rending, and a reminder of how badly the post-war was planned for by the civilians in the Pentagon.
Maybe the blow to Bush's credibility on this topic will now lead the press and public to put as much effort to cover his lies, mistatements, and dubious logic with as much intensity as they clung to every silly Gore claim.
Perhaps we're watching a turning point for the administration.
I continue to be truly impressed by the guys in uniform, though. Gen Abizaid's testimony to congress yesterday was impressive in the breadth of his knowledge, and the clarity and forthrightness of his statements. And Gen. Shinseki's prediction that was scoffed at by Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz are turning out to be right on target. The direct opposite of his bosses.
Trouble is, we don't have the troop strength to put more boots on the ground in Iraq. "Currently, 21 of the Army's 33 active-duty combat brigades are deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea and the Balkans," the Wall St. Journal reports today. "Three more brigades are in the process of modernizing and can't be sent abroad. That leaves nine brigades -- or 45,000 troops -- to relieve all of the Army forces deployed around the world."
And three brigades are being held in reserve in case they're need on the Korean peninsula.
Which just keeps getting uglier. In a story I initially missed, North and South Korean soldiers traded gunfire inside the DMZ yesterday. A clear violation of the 50 year old armistice. Speculation is that the North started it, just to remind the world of the presence of their artillery aimed at Seoul.
Kim keeps acting out and Bush, like an embarassed parent with a screaming child in the walmart, just keeps shushing him, to no effect.
Nicholas Thompson in Salon takes John Kerry to task for passing up an opportunity to rip Bush on the false Iraq intel. Instead, Kerry -- on a stage with uniformed police and firefighters in New York -- talked about the fact that the Bush admin. has not focused on "homeland security," and we're no safer from massive terrorist attacks now than we were 18 months ago. I think Kerry's right to not dive too deeply into the State of the Union fraud -- let Bush and his minions flail away on that subject -- and instead focus on security right here rather than Iraq. The Democratic candidates need to convince voters that they care -- and have a plan -- for making the US safer. Sniping at Bush at this stage just reminds us all that they often do more whining than leading. Kerry has his bona fides on war.
posted by John at 6:28 PM
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