Giving credit where credit is due — not
The Surge is not working. Petraeus is not worth his paycheck. American political and military resolve have nothing to do with the stabilizing situation in Iraq. How do I know this? Because Obama said so. In Obama-land, the reason for the decrease in violence and the increase in stability in Iraq is because the Democrats took over Congress in 2006. No, I’m not hallucinating, although Obama may be. Here’s Lorie Byrd’s catch of Obama’s take on the matter:
I missed the Republican debate, but am still sifting through my many emails from the candidates’ representatives. I came in on the Democrats’ debate almost an hour ago. I wasn’t going to post anything on it, until I heard the comments about the “surge.” Charles Gibson told the candidates that there is real evidence that the surge in Iraq is working. (Yep, you read that right. I wrote Charles Gibson. Of ABC News. It shocked me, too.) They showed a short piece about some of the improved security in Baghdad and the dramatic drop in U.S. casualties. He asked the candidates if they were wrong to oppose the surge. Predictably they all said the surge is a failure because there has not been political progress made. Obama said that much of the progress that has been made was due to agreements made between the tribes in the Anbar Province and that those were made (not because of the surge, but) because those in Iraq saw the Democrats win back the Congress in 2006 and decided they would be pulling the troops out so they had to step up [Update: This portion of the transcript from the debate has been added after the jump. The full transcript can be found HERE Bruce Kesler noted the “stolen valor” aspect of Obama’s statement at Democracy Project .] I wanted Gibson to point out that even John Murtha had admitted the surge was working, but I guess that was a bit much to wish for.
Bruce Kesler caught it, too, and directs us to Jim Hoft for the most obvious error in that statement:
Obama also said the Anbar Awakening was an attempt by the Sunnis to make peace with the Shia.
SORRY- The Anbar Awakening was an agreement among Sunni Tribal Leaders to join together to fight Sunni Al-Qaeda terrorists.
It had nothing to do with the Shiites.
Obama showed that besides hope- he also has the audacity to make things up.
I have two comments. One is something I’m sure you’ve heard before: “If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a probably a duck.” The other is advice given to young medical doctors who, flush with newly acquired knowledge, often try to apply the most arcane diagnosis possible to any symptoms that walk through their door: “If you hear hoof beats outside your window, look for a horse, not a zebra.” My point in citing those two folksy aphorisms goes to the timing of the decrease in violence. The Democrats took Congress in November 2006 — and, as Obama himself admits, violence escalated dramatically. The Surge began in mid-year 2007 and, after a short increase in violence as the military engaged the bad guys in battle, it then decreased even more dramatically. If I were talking ducks and horses here, I’d be talking military horses, and Congressional lame ducks. (And that’s not even getting into the fact that, since the Dems ostensibly took over Congress they’ve done absolutely nothing but get a minimum wage law passed and make incandescent light bulbs illegally — neither of which are likely to strike fear into the hearts of tribesman everywhere.)
Obama has shown, again, that he’s not yet ready for prime time, since he’s both ignorant and disingenuous. I’m becoming more convinced than ever that his sudden ascendancy has nothing to do with his allgedly magical abilities on the campaign trail (something about which Bob Herbert embarrassingly swoons in an NYT op-ed), and everything to do with the fact that Iowa and NH primary voters (a) want an anti-War candidate (even as the War goes better — go figure that one out); and (b) they want the NOT Hillary candidate. This left them with a choice between the smarmy Silky Pony and the Harvard Law grad — and we know how much the party of the people hews to the Ivy League.
Others blogging: The Anchoress, Brutally Honest
