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Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant What gives you the right to fuck with our lives When the bomb drops it'll be a bank holiday OK, let's get this over with What gives you the right to fuck with our lives What gives you the right to fuck with our lives What gives you the right to fuck with our lives My only release -- is when I get smashed! just keep it on the low What gives you the right to fuck with our lives Friday, October 20, 2006
I'm not an idiot! I'm not an idiot! I'm not a fucking stooge!:
At least McNamara was an intelligent man. Try this Rumsfeld argument on for size:
When most people say "Failure is not an option," they don't mean it's not an option as a matter of logic. But here we have the Mahdi Army seizing a southern city, which was previously the territory of a different militia under the guise of a local police force. To be as non-political as possible, that, um, wasn't part of the plan. Whatever one thinks about the merits of staying vs. leaving Iraq, the seizure of Amara is clarion call that the situation is way, way out of control from the occupier's perspective. What's so interesting is that this is neither the first, nor will it be the last, instance of a militia controlling a city: Basra, for instance, the most important city in Iraq from the perspective of foreign goods exportation, is ruled by the Badr Corps. If anything, Amara is a lagging indicator, bringing into relief for a foreign audience trends that have taken hold in Iraq for a long time and will be incredibly difficult to roll back. On the other hand, it's possible that this is what Donald Rumsfeld thinks is basically acceptable. After all, the Mahdi Army is a) willing to Stand Up so we will Stand Down, and b) answerable (kind of) to people who are part of Iraq's elected government. How long until Rumsfeld starts to suggest that this was part of the plan all along? --Spencer Ackerman
Sadly, even when this President hints that he is willing to look at alternative strategies, he uses language that further fuels the flames of fanaticism. In defining the goal of those who oppose us as a clash of civilizations, whereby he asserts that they seek to "extend the caliphate", he once again obfuscates the potential for reasoned clarity and measured dialogue. Unfortunately, I'm not sure he has the discipline needed to restrain his confrontational outbursts. Further, it has yet to be seen if he can moderate his goals to match that which can reasonably be achieved in Iraq and the Middle East. |
