As promised, my new column about the limits of counterinsurgency strategy
If it didn’t work here, maybe it will work in Iraq
In today’s WSJ, , Rudy and Newt are urging “workfare” for Iraq:
The administration should direct a small percent of that amount to create an Iraqi Citizen Job Corps, along the lines of FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression.
Isn’t that exactly the kind of program Republicans spent decades trying to shut down in …
I Have a Surge… IN MY MIND
800,000 Privileged Youths Enlist To Fight In Iraq
Private Jonathan Grace, 18, who was to commence studies at Dartmouth College next fall, but will instead attend 12 weeks of basic training before being deployed to Fallujah with the 1st Army Battalion [said] “Whether I agree with the war or not, our president needs us, and I’ll be damned
…
Re: The McCain Doctrine
“I’d much rather lose a campaign than lose a war.”
It’s true, Jay, that few people doubt McCain sincerely believes in what he is advocating. But when he first took this position of calling for more troops, it was something of a free shot for him: It didn’t look all that risky politically, because Rumsfeld was still running the …
The McCain Doctrine
What to make of John McCain’s unequivocal embrace of Bush’s plan? On Monday I wrote,
Here’s something to watch for: will McCain, Bill Kristol, Gen. Keane and Fred Kagan go along with the President if what we are hearing is correct — that Bush will propose a “surge” of approximately 20,000 troops rather than the 30,000-plus, over at
…
Nerd Patrol
Today’s WSJ brings an important clarification on Nancy Pelosi’s newly instituted ban on smoking near the floor of the House, which Representatives had been permitted to do, despite a District-wide ban on smoking in the workplace:
But Congress often exempts itself from the law. Unlike most other employees, members of Congress are exempt
…
Mancrush on the Wane?
Some reliable swooners seem to have been underwhelmed by the speech last night. Over at Powerline, John Hinderacker, who memorably once described a meeting with Bush as “the most inspiring forty minutes I’ve experienced in politics” and and Bush himself as a “man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius,” said Bush …
Rocky Mountain High (Hotel Rates)
The Dems just made it official. They are having their 2008 convention in Denver:
Judith Stoler, our logistical coordinator here at TIME, was way ahead of the news: She learned months ago that the DNC had already booked 90% of all the hotels you would want to stay in there. And of course, the rates for the rest of us will be doubled, as usual.
Leave Poor Harriet Alone
Okay, I get Osama-Obama, but this, from Yahoo News, is ridiculous:
Nonsense
Condi at the Foreign Relations Committee:
“The Iraqis have developed a plan…and we will support that plan.”
The most blatant nonsense in the President’s speech was that we’re just supporting an Iraqi plan to escalate. Now Condi’s doing it. Disingenuous and insulting.
Did Anyone Notice This?
Senator John Warner, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Commitee, pointedly did not support the President last night. He did it in the most perfectly Senatorial way, by indirection:
Larry, I found the speech to be credible and sincere. And it does lay down a plan that reflects a lot of study by the executive branch, a lot of …
Scary
The absolute worst moment of President Bush’s dreadful speech last night was when he threatened to take action against Syria and Iran:
Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are …
Where does it go from here?
Today’s Washington Post tells us that House Democrats are seriously considering cutting off the money for Bush’s plan to send nearly 22,000 more troops to Iraq–which would be the most serious foreign policy confrontation between a President and Congress since the Vietnam War. But that takes two houses.
The group to watch here is not …