The Surge Is Working...
By Nicole Belle Sunday Jan 20, 2008 12:01pm...so sayeth the administration's proxies in the media.
But it really depends on what your definition of "working" is, doesn't it?
UPDATE: Andrew Bacevich in WaPo says don't kid yourself, we're on the "Surge to Nowhere" and at GNB, Evan looks at Legions of Imperial America.
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Anyone recall a soda pop called 'Surge' not so long ago?
I wonder what happened to it.
Bush drank it all.
Pay-off enough Sunnis to lay down the guns. Presto! Instant surge.
Can I put up a banner now 'Mission Accomplished II'?
Have I mentioned yet today, just how MUCH I loathe and despise this administration? No? Well, it's ALOT!
Just crime family business.
On the economic front...just pay-off the people with a little check. Instant surge! (Not)
Jump up the MSM's ass with enough money and bullshit. Surge!
"The Surge Is Working…" my ass and the Bush administration is BEGGING Saudi Arabia to pump more oil to the United States because the "market demands it."
Imagine, the Bush administration having to BEG the Saudis for more oil and oh how they (Bushies) must feel so emasculated today!!!
What impotent losers that Bush administration is and that vermin media who parrot the Bushies and the Repukes at every turn without ever looking to sources that rebut the lies of the Bush-Cheney and McCain-Lieberman sicko-wacko-psychopathic-liars!!!!!!!
wisedup @ 3:
Only if you've donned your flight suit with cod piece.
I'll try to do more "Quagmire Accomplished freewayblogs when I get back (am out of the country on a secret mission) in the meantime, a brave lassie from florida's been putting these up today...
http://freewayblogger.blogspot.com/2008/01/mlk-in-fla.html
peace y'all - scarlet
Yes, I am angry as hell today. Wanna know why?
Because we are entering a new week of more of the same old lies and crimes and unaccountability of the Bush administration with complicity from a criminal element in Congress, guilty of passive allowance of such crimes to continue, and a feeble media more worried about its corporate wealth than the truth....I am tired of the evil at the top of the elite structure in American society. I am sick and tired of the lies told by those at the highest ends of the hierarchial/white patriachial system of oppression and crimes in American life throwing their weight around to no good end or cause. I am tired of all the lies and the continued criminal enterprise of the United States and the present Bush administration that is selling every American down the tubes and the media fails to do its frickin job!
Blue Lensman @ 7:
Can I have some chips with malted vinegar and a pint of Bass with that?
sicko-wacko-psychopathic-liars
WOW ...Thanks ...I needed that
Wanna know why I am angry?
Because the Republican pigs set it up so the economy would tank, and that the "surge" nonsense is all about ensuring the continued American presence in Iraq.
An economic collapse would mean the end of the social welfare programs the Republicans want to be rid of, so, yes, the economic woes are turning out well for them on the right wing side. All is going according to the plans of Bush-Cheney & Co.
being a shill for our military empire makes one walk a fine line.
the lies are easier when they don't have to nuanced. but, unfortunately for them, they have to thread the needle and lie very carefully. they say the surge is working--which makes sense that the profiteering thugs who helped formulate the surge would claim its efficacy now. BUT, they can't argue that it worked so well that troops can be pulled out. it has to be a 'the surge is working, like we promised--but, whoa their tonto, we still need all the troops (and more)'...
like a half-squished cockroach, dragging its nasty body across the ground, i do have some sympathy for these pitiful beings. which eventually passes *stomp*
If the surge is working so fucking well, why are we bombing more?
Surge this!
The surge is working ehhhh? I think (and I'm reaching here for the sake of my own sanity) that what Bush means by this is that the troops that were deployed in the said surge are working as in they are doing their jobs and hence the surge is working. Now, if this is the context that Bush is using for his basis that the surge is working, then he is correct. However, I don't think that the monkey is cleaver enough to play on words that well. So, this whining Christian douche-bag of a wanna be pres. is lying to our faces once again. Don't Christians believe in being honest or some bullshit like that? Maybe I'm wrong. Or maybe BushCo. is so full of shit his brain shut down due to toxic fumes.
That was no codpiece, that's for real.
Ask the people of New Orleans, the people of Iraq or the American middle class, for example.
They're working a surge on the troops too, a hormonal, drug induced surge
Lean Mean (Drugged) Killing Machines - HR3256, The Psychological Kevlar Act of 2007
(crossposted @ Out of Iraq Bloggers Caucus)
Pentagon’s new lethal weapon
Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:55:17
The US Department of Defense’s wide-ranging ‘warfighter enhancement program’ is preparing grounds for the most lethal weapon ever.
Pentagon’s ‘the Psychological Kevlar Act of 2007′ puts forward the idea of using different drugs to insulate combat soldiers from the stressful psychological element of killing.
The move not only desensitizes them to the horrendous aspect of war, but also maximizes soldiers’ lethality by bypassing their moral autonomy.
Analyst Penny Coleman criticizes Pentagon’s attempt to peddle magic pills to chase away the horrors of war, saying: “The neurological and genetic re-engineering of soldiers’ minds and bodies is aimed at creating what the Pentagon calls ‘iron bodied and iron willed personnel… tireless, relentless, remorseless, and unstoppable.”
Barry Romo a national coordinator for Vietnam Veterans Against the War, also denounces the plan: “That’s the devil pill, that’s the monster pill, the anti-morality pill. That’s the pill that can make men and women do anything and think they can get away with it. Even if it doesn’t work, what’s scary is that a young soldier could believe it will.”
SBB/RA
Source, Press-TV (Iran)
Google This
It might be noted that at the time that infamous Rumsfeld/Hussein handshake photo was taken, Donald Rumsfeld was not working for the U.S. government… He was just an envoy.
His occupation at the time was pharmchem industry.
Blue Lensman @ 7:
and you cant afford a carrier to land on , its hopeless!
"The surge is working" is destined to join "the light at the end of the tunnel" in the gallery of cringe-inducing phrases of encouragement.
OT: stock markets plunging outside the USA.
Holy God...wait until tomorrow.
I'm afraid that George Bush has become the very poster child of lowered expectations. They have spent billions of dollars , many soldiers lives and health and all of this Administrations minute reserves of credibility on the surge and now, because the situation is marginally less catastrophic than it was before this is their grand success. Of course the real test will be when the surge troops are withdrawn. Only then will it be revealed whether the surge has made any difference. Therefore they won't be withdrawn, at least until after the election when the the blame can be transferred to someone else.
are these airstrikes a sign how US will fight the war in 2008? Fill the gap of the surge and keep American casualties down. Paint a happy picture at home in time for Bush leave of office all while more innocent uncountable Iraqis are left homeless or dead due to "collateral damage"
Bitter Scribe @ 19:
ah yes, our remember the maine moment
has our troops learned the difference between star shells for illuminating a target and that white phosperous is for killing and mutealating civillians yet? fallugia revisited!
The surge works as well as the little Shrub's "peace" trip to the MidEast.
"I'ma here ta premote peace"......."and I'll do it by selling WMD to Israel and Saudi Arabia while screaming 'be afeared' of them there terrist Irainians."
Lollimom @ 20:
No one wants our worthless stocks and paper.
Not pretty.
The Surge is working all right -- it's WORKING MY LAST NERVE.
The Surge is working me DOWN TO A NUB.
The Surge is Working MY HAPPY ASS TO FUCKING DEATH.
Friend, nomads, country gals, lift up your glass:
And drink a toast to your Surge-Happy Ass.
The surge of not telling us what is happening over there is working.
No, it is not working. The only people who say it is, are the WH and the ilk which supports their policies.
Of Course the surge is working. The surge of the U.S. Treasury vanishing into the Bush Cabals off shore money laundering operations and pirates cove vaults.
The economy is fantastic too!
I can't wait to hear Chimpy's FINAL!!!! Sorry-assed State of the Union babble.
Theres no business like - war profiteering business.
Meet Whistle-blower Bud Conyers.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/11/halliburton200711?pr...
other shady stuff...
The London Stock Exchange has hired the finance director of defence company QinetiQ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/01/18/cnlse1...
..... The deal made millions of pounds for QinetiQ's US private equity owner
--> Carlyle Group and senior executives
QuinetiQ ..created in July 2001, just prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, ...Tony Blair approved the privatization of part of the Defense Evaluation Research Agency (DERA)..
coincidence around that time...
... among Carlyle's board members, investors, and advisers at the time were former British Prime Minister John Major, Shafiq Bin Laden (the brother of Osama Bin Laden), and former Secretary of State James Baker. Former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, former chairman of the Carlyle Group.
Oh....
and former CIA Director George Tenet joined
--> QinetiQ Group, a British international defense and security technology company in 2006
http://www.fcw.com/online/news/96592-1.html
Theres no business like - war profiteering business.
Samson- @ 23:
You're forgetting "We're turning the corner" and "last throes"
chlorocardium @ 31:
My fellow Mericins, times are tuff, real tuff, it's gunna be hard, real hard.........hard work.....terists.....surge is working.......hard work......terists.....god bless.
seevee @ 34:
MSNBC ought to broadcast the address with an on-screen real-time lie counter. That's the only way I could watch it.
..and it might least have value as a drinking game.
That video and the message from Dr. King, so many years ago, is amazing. We haven't learned a damned thing. I shouldn't say "we", I should say those who run our government haven't learned a damned thing.
Everyone, please watch the video at the link Nicole has provided to Firedoglake. You'll find it almost impossible not to think that Dr King is alive and speaking of this war in Iraq.
the dollar has died, record homelessness, record gas prices, more dead soldiers than the last 4 presidents combined, Apartheid in Iraq but the beltway bumpkins drink the Betray Us kool aid
seevee @ 34:
Something's missing...oh yes...
My fellow Mericins, (applause)
times are tuff, (applause)
real tuff, (applause)
it's gunna be hard, real hard.....(applause)
....hard work (applause)
.....terists (applause)
.....surge is working (applause)
.......hard work (applause)
......terists (applause)
.....god bless. (standing ovation)
The only surges working, and they too are bad, are the electrical surges that the locals have to endure from their intermittent electrical power.
Gee USA MSM, what happened to all those mixed Shia/Sunni neighborhoods?
A fitting end for GWB.
Stock Market Crash of 08
Regardless of what happens tomorrow, it's increasingly clear that our credit-fueled dream years are rapidly coming to an end.
pissed off patricia @ 28:
Can some one scrounge up a gold metal of some sort for Patricia on that one please.
Latest from The "Strategists"
"Our themes continue to be: patience, earnings recession, U.S. recession spreading global, bear market regime, don't be lured into value stocks as most are likely to be value traps, much more monetary easing. We expect flat but volatile markets just as in the 1989-92 period -- a real whipsaw environment for the market," they said.
pissed off patricia,
It is an incredible speech...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b80Bsw0UG-U
I can think of a better way to spend a couple of billion dollars every week.
Andrew J. Bacevich is a professor of history and international relations at Boston University. His new book, "The Limits of Power," will be published later this year.
Hmmm, Prof. Bacevich has a new book to sell. Doves and hawks alike are profiting from this war.
Think how "great" the economy would be if it weren't for the war.
gempei @ 39:
dammit! I meant to say that the posts @ 34 and 39 are fuckin hilarious!
The "Troop Surge" is Not Working, and it is incredibly frustrating that the administration and so many right wing talking heads refuse to look at it from a rational viewpoint. I suppose when analyzing the surge in terms of -- day X before the surge had 12 car bombs killing 5 U.S. personnel, and day Y, since the surge only had 7 car bombs killing 2 U.S. servicemen -- one could say it is showing signs of success. However I am hard pressed to find any valid example in our history where something is defined by how less evil, or negative it is in comparison to previous circumstances. Simply put, saying something is successful because it is less bad then before really lacks any scientific relevance.
www.HyerStandard.com
OFFICIAL DEBUNKING GUIDE TO THE con-servative right wingnut BS MYTH: "SURGE IS WORKING":
1) When they say 'Baghdad is secure'...learn what that really means. Does it mean you can stroll through the streets like John McCain & Peter King ('its like Manhattan') with helicopter gunships, US security details (Secret Service & Military personnel) & blackwater protection units, Bradleys at every end of every street into the area you're 'strolling through', Hummers with 50 cals.?
Or does it mean they've effectively pushed out most of the former residents or matriculated them through the bremer walls (labryinthes of them) into other areas of the city where press coverage is even more scarce???
Also....notice the heavily armed escorting of 'Iraqi gov't officials' has been greatly reduced and they've effectively 'bunkered in' inside the green zone.
2) Patrols & Door-to-doors have been reduced dramatically, therefore less casualties as the result of ambushes, IEDs, etc (Stars & Stripes, military.com, ivaw) You know its an election year....and casualty reports when people finally start tuning in would result in a major blow to already low expectations of Republican turnout....
3) Al Sadr/Sadr City Najaf cease fire called in August 2007, for six months in duration. Recently Sadr has stated that cease fire WILL NOT extend beyond the February deadline. Violence/'insurgency' is expected to return to pre-cease fire levels by middle of February/beginning of March 08.
4) The Bush Administration is paying both Sunni & Shiite militant groups to fight one another instead of targeting the U.S. Military (well documented by International media) per usual 'insurgent' violence patterns. Saudi backed Sunnis & Iranian backed Shiite groups are busy targeting one another clearing out Sunni areas of Shiite residents, and Shiite areas of Sunni residents, essentially ethnically cleansing entire regions (let alone towns/villages) that were once living together under Hussein's dictatorship.
5) Violence will go down as the result of the surge, we have to keep a troop presence there......this is as stupid, as stupid gets. AFTER British troops withdrew from Basra and the people were allowed to return to their homes, begin to put their lives back together, and start building again....ATTACKS FELL 90%, that's not a typo. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=3538226
"ATTACKS have plunged by 90 per cent in southern Iraq since Britain withdrew its troops from the main city of Basra, their commander said yesterday. Since then there has been a "remarkable and dramatic drop in attacks", General Binns said. "The motivation for attacking us has gone, because we're no longer patrolling the streets."
If you want to know what's really happening over there....the MSM is an abyssmal waste of time. Two links - http://www.ivaw.org/ & http://www.iava.org/
When a vet comes home, listen to them (don't talk at them), 70% of them think its done and want to come home...the only way that happens is if the people of the country demand it (not answering polls) from the next president (its not happening with the current AWOL boy wonder)
"Also….notice the heavily armed escorting of ‘Iraqi gov’t officials’ has been greatly reduced and they’ve effectively ‘bunkered in’ inside the green zone."
This is a reference to escorting in and out of the city...
"The Bush Administration is paying both Sunni & Shiite militant groups to fight one another instead of targeting the U.S. Military (well documented by International media) per usual ‘insurgent’ violence patterns."
This is not to suggest they're not targeting US Military personnel while they are fighting their civil war....wrong choice of words to use 'instead'....better to say they're more focused on 'ethnically cleansing' than targeting occupying forces.
Joe Lieberman, John McCain, and Jon Kyl, are Fascists and Psychopaths!!!!!!
L.A. Confidential @ 42:
If the uber-rich start to feel real pain, I shudder to think where that will leave the rest of us. Be careful of what you wish for.
I have no doubt our military can do military things. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq had few causalities (my pardons to troops injured or killed in those campaigns) and the surge got rid of more evil doers.
However, it's kind of like guarding a bank without any money. The Iraqi government took a break during the surge and the US has no faith in the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. So shortly we'll be back to the same crap as before the surge.
Maybe the Repubicans should draft George Bush the Senior for Pres, at least he knew when to get out when the getting's good.
In some aspects the Surge is working just look at the marked decrease in violence in Baghdad. Through genocide the Shiite have liquidated the Sunni throughout most of the city thus creating a Shia mini-state. The additional Surge U.S. troops have helped secure the Shia dominance and rarely if, ever, become involved in tribal fire fights, kidnapping or ethnic cleansing...
Now, if one considers genocide and surge to not be simpatico, well all I can write is 'that the end truly does justify the means'. We are a results oriented nation...
Only if we can somehow explain away the 3,929 dead troops with 3 KIA this weekend then the Surge is a smashing success...
It can all be explained in an hour or so that you will not forget...
http://www.gnn.tv/videos/viewer.php?id=31&spd=hi
Yo, Peaceful at 48,
Bacevich's son was killed in Iraq a few months ago.
Book schmook.
What a bunch of crapola on this site. Like your people can run a government. Hell, the terrorists are be salivating to get some oh-my-gosh-terrorists-are-people-too lefties in key roles of nationa leadership.
chlorocardium @ 31:
Wow, I had not thought about him having to do another State of the Union. This will have to go down as the greatest collection of BS, ever to come from a human mouth, spoken over a short period of time. I cannot think of a single highlight he can focus on. I bet we get the 'surge' success story, cut taxes, attack Iran. Have we ever had a SOTU where no one showed, or did not clap (which might delay their departure?
Bit NOLA @ 2:
Local commanders on the ground have stopped the fighting between the different tribes. Ask any soldier on the ground in Iraq. The Army officer corps has more diplomats then the US State Department and better educated. At West Point, cadets are learning the language and customs of the middle east. It is a tribute to our military leaders. Just take a look at history at what General Welsey Clark did in central Europe. General Clark was a Rhodes scholar. These soldiers are better trained than the President...oops I forgot he did not finish his obligation to the Reserve...maybe a military no-show.
Although the surge MAY be working in SPECIFIC parts in Baghdad, what they don't tell you is how the Iraqi combatants relocate to other parts of the country and pick up the fighting where it left off. Thanks to the Media blackout, you'll rarely ever hear about this. Since the surge, fighting has intensified around Tikrit, Samarrah, Tal, Afar, Mosul, and many other places. I can clearly see that if CNN can't see the fighting, then it must not exist.
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