So, are we leaving Iraq yet?

September 24, 2007

I remember before the summer started a lot of media-heads saying that the President had until September, roughly, to straighten things out in Iraq. And that Republican congressmen, conscious of the horrible presidential approval ratings, would peel off from the President come September if the surge didn’t work.

It is the end of September and the only way you can make the argument that the “surge” has “worked” is if you cherry-pick evidence by, for example, claiming that everyone who was shot in the face is a crime victim, not a victim of sectarian violence.

But experts within and outside the government contend that some of the statistics employed by Petraeus are based on questionable methodology. One senior intelligence official in Washington has noted that Iraqis fatally shot through the back of the head are considered victims of sectarian attacks, while those shot in the front are deemed victims of ordinary crime. [ How Much has the Violence Decreased ]

In any case, the “surge” was supposed to give the Iraqi government breathing room to arrive at some political solutions, and by all accounts that’s been a failure. So here it is September. And the Republicans don’t support sane rotation strategies for our troops, and they don’t support an end on the war, but we can all apparently get together to condemn an ad placed by MoveOn.

Incidentally, I’m following Digby’s advice.

Money talks, people. And direct donations to Democrats won’t cut it, except to the best of the best. When a truly large portion of a Democratic candidate’s funding comes from MoveOn - more importantly, when a truly large portion of the Democratic Party’s war chest comes from MoveOn and similar groups… well, no guarantees. But I can guarantee that if liberals don’t seriously organize their funding of Democrats, we will repeat the awful spectacle of the last few weeks again and again. Rules #1 - 200,000,000 For Effective Liberal Politics

I’m making no donations to any Democratic campaign — not even Jim Webb’s, since he decided to side against us last week — and instead giving to MoveOn. I’m tired of seeing my point of view finally reflected as the majority opinion week after polling week and yet still be treated like the fringe left. It’s time the Democratic leadership learned that their constituency is the American citizen and not the Washington punditocracy that always seems to fall for the “just six months more” line.

Posted in War