Petreus Testimony to Congress on Live

[Shinova]

It's a little frustrating too that Al-Qaeda are the ones solely responsible for the violence in Iraq. Stop. It. No one believes that shit anymore douches.

Here's the thing: does it matter to them that no one believes it? I think people in Washington really do exist in their own micro-world called Washington D.C., with its own geopolitical boundaries and allegiances, completely ignorant of the world outside theirs. Yes, they hear reports about the war and all that, but they're all through D.C. channels and in D.C. speak with edits made appropriate for the D.C. environment. They receive nothing fresh and honest from the outside world and I don't think they want any either.

[Guardsman Bass]

Is there a copy of this online that I could possibly watch? Thanks.

I don't know about there being a watchable version, but you can get a full transcript of Petraeus's testimony here.

[Vympel]

Here's the thing: does it matter to them that no one believes it? I think people in Washington really do exist in their own micro-world called Washington D.C., with its own geopolitical boundaries and allegiances, completely ignorant of the world outside theirs. Yes, they hear reports about the war and all that, but they're all through D.C. channels and in D.C. speak with edits made appropriate for the D.C. environment. They receive nothing fresh and honest from the outside world and I don't think they want any either.

I think the micro-world of Washington DC is a pretty good explanation for the Democrats otherwise inexplicable craven spinelessness. A solid majority of the American people:-

- Want US troops out as soon as possible. This has been backed up in numerous polls, even the most recent ones following the PR offensive in support of the surge before Petraeus' testimony;
- Even more tellingly, have been polled as stating that their views on Iraq will not change no matter what General Petraeus says.

The second one is extraordinary, but the result couldn't be more clear - the Democrats are acting like fucking losers even though they will without doubt have the full support of the public on their side if they put their fucking foot down and act to end this thing. They've pre-emptively surrendered. It's just bizarre. Would the Republicans act this way? Fuck no. They'd push their obvious advantage to the hilt and use it to beat the Democrats with it.

The following from DailyKos sums it up pretty well:-

That's not "ask Bush to perhaps make plans if he feels like it".

That's not "maybe we'll set a start deadline, but not worry about an end one."

That's not "give Bush his $200 billion and lots more war because if we don't, Republicans and David Broder might criticize us!"

That's not, "let's compromise on the issue and find 'common ground' were none exists."

That's not, "pass a bill, any bill, so long as it gets some Republican support."

That's not, "what can we do, the president will just veto it!"

That's not, "but the Washington Post might say something mean about us!"

That's not, "let's give them another Friedman Unit and another 600 dead G.I.s and another $100 billion down the tube" to see if maybe this time everyone gets their ponies.

That's not, "but 'supporting the troops' means keeping them in the Iraq meat grinder, rather than home, safe and sound with their families!"

MORE people, not less, think we need to get the f' out of Iraq even after the PR offensive they've waged to change public perception. Yet Democrats are acting defeated before Petreaus even gives his report. (And btw, where the heck is Obama? Still AWOL?)

The only explanation I can think of is that they're in their own DC bubble, where up is down, black is white, weakness is strength, and General Petraeus is not a political hack who's been saying for four years straight that things in Iraq are just going fantastic.

Either that, or they don't want the war to end at all.

As to where the heck Obama is - where the fuck are any of the Democratic presidential candidates? They're certainly not leading the party. They mumble and whisper platitudes in the corner.

Makes me fucking sick.

[TithonusSyndrome]

Slightly off topic, but did anyone else notice this ad for a new "multiplayer online game"?



So this is what it's come to, I see.

[Wyrm]

This missive by someone I greatly respect blows the administration's claims of progress being made right out of the water:

A lesson on how to mislead with statistics

September 9, 2007

I'm writing in regard to a story that appeared in the Sept. 2 edition of the Sunday Rutland Herald and Times Argus, "U.S. combat deaths in Iraq decline; reasons unclear."

The article expressed surprise that the number of American combat deaths in Iraq has declined over the summer, and expressed hope that this may mean that the "surge" is working.

In fact, there is no surprise. An inspection of the deaths over the past four years shows a clear seasonal pattern: With some exceptions, deaths have been generally low in the winter, rise during the spring, decline in the summer, and rise again in the fall.

The right way to look at the statistics is to compare each month in 2007 with the same month in previous years. Looked at this way, the pattern is quite disturbing.

If we compare the number of U.S. military fatalities in 2007 month by month with the figures for the corresponding months in 2004-2006, they are significantly higher in 2007 than in the previous years in almost every instance.

The only exceptions are August 2005 (85 in 2005 vs. 82 this year), April 2004 (135 in 2004 vs. 104 this year) and January 2005 (107 in 2005 vs. 83 this year).

That is only three months out of 24. Even more disturbing, the number of fatalities in the first eight months of this year (737) is significantly greater than the number in the first eight months of 2004 (496), 2005 (549) and 2006 (462).

Fatalities in the first eight months of this year were 49 percent higher than in the corresponding months in 2004, 34 percent higher than in 2005 and a whopping 60 percent higher than in 2006. These figures are taken from the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count Web page (http://icasualties.org/oif/).

So, far from showing signs of progress, these figures indicate that by this measure at least, progress is not being made, and indeed, that the situation has deteriorated significantly.

William H. Jefferys

Adjunct Professor of Statistics

The University of Vermont

Harlan J. Smith Centennial Professor of Astronomy (Emeritus)

The University of Texas at Austin

The long and short of it is that the decrease in casualties during the summer months is due to the heat of summer, not the surge. If the surge really is working, we should have a drop in casualties from the same months in previous years, not over previous months in the same years.

And I'm not really buying that Petreus's testimony is truly his own.

[FSTargetDrone]

Is there a copy of this online that I could possibly watch? Thanks.

I don't know about there being a watchable version, but you can get a full transcript of Petraeus's testimony here.

Video and transcripts of these hearings are available on C-SPAN.

[Vympel]

The really sad thing about this whole sorry PR spectacle is how rueful and embarassed everyone's going to act in about 2 to 3 months from now, when it becomes painfully clear that this entire spectacle was a charade, there's still no progress being made, and we're back to square one again.

I can picture it now - collective embarassed fidgeting at the silly Petraeus/Crocker hearings, remember them? How ever could we have been taken in by such obvious PR flackery?

Shit like that.

[weemadando]

Just remember. Its only six more months and then its no longer the current administrations problem. And at that point they can start the spin to show that it was the new administrations fault that everything went wrong all along.

Umm, no. It's 14 months until the election, and another 2.5 after that until the new President takes office.

Oh sorry, that's right. Its six more months until we get to find out who's even running in your fucking election. Jeez. Get onboard with the Hare-Clark or preferential system already.

[Vympel]

Rep. Lantos gave the best speech at the hearing as to why this is all a pile of bullshit.

Link

The National Security Network also did a great prebuttal:

Link

Watch for Richard Clarke saying "no duh!"