[Carlhole]

Meet the Press Online

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MTP', 'R')OVE (video): Like too many Democrats, it strikes me they are ready to give the green light to go to war, but when it gets tough and when it gets difficult, they fall back on that party's old pattern of cutting and running. They may be with you at the first shots, but they are not going to be there for the last, tough battles. They are wrong and profoundly wrong in their approach.

RUSSERT: Cutting and running.

MURTHA: He's in New Hampshire. He's making a political speech. He's sitting in his air-conditioned office on his big, fat backside, saying stay the course. That's not a plan. I don't know what his military experience is, but that's a political statement. This is a policy difference between me and the White House. I disagree completely with what he's saying.

[rwwff]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', '
')But why does no one in these arguments and discussions EVER bring up the fact that the US is spending billions building 4 humongous, heavily fortified military bases and one ginormous US Embassy in Iraq? Those facts speak volumes about true political intentions.

[Daryl]

[quote="rwwff"] Notice that none of the real contenders from either side of the isle for Pres '08, are strongly advocating a rapid pull out. They all know that once they are elected as POTUS, they are going to do everything they can think of to hold on to those bases in Iraq.[quote]

Excellent read on Murthy's position rwwff. Out pandering to the Democratic base ahead of the mid-terms. Both parties have exactly the same position on Iraq.

[Carlhole]

Just got this in email...

TomDispatch.com

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Robert Dreyfus', '.')..The Bush administration's strategy in Iraq today, as in the invasion of 2003, is: Use military force to destroy the political infrastructure of the Iraqi state; shatter the old Iraqi armed forces; eliminate Iraq as a determined foe of U.S. hegemony in the oil-rich Persian Gulf; build on the wreckage of the old Iraq a new state beholden to the U.S.; create a new political class willing to be subservient to our interests in the region; and use that new Iraq as a base for further expansion.

To achieve all that, the President is determined to keep as much military power as he can in Iraq for as long as it takes, while recruiting, training, funding, and supervising a ruthless Iraqi police and security force that will gradually allow the American military to reduce their "footprint" in the country without entirely leaving. The endgame, as he and his advisors imagine it, would result in a permanent U.S. military presence in the country, including permanent bases and basing rights, and a predominant position for U.S. business and oil interests.

Marshaling the Bad News

Many progressives scoff at such a scenario. They argue, with persuasiveness, that the American project in Iraq is doomed. To prove their point, they cite (what else?) the bad news. And there certainly is a lot of it...

[Jack]

I like your thinking rwwff.

We can vote for whoever we like, so long as the candidates are selected by the real powers that be.

[rwwff]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Robert Dreyfus', 'c')reate a new political class willing to be subservient to our interests in the region; and use that new Iraq as a base for further expansion.

[Carlhole]

Sunday Bloody Sunday performed by George W. Bush

[Pops]

Funny I thought the thread was going to be about the interview of 3 oil company CEO’s.

Oh well, I’ll stick in what I thought this was an interesting comment from the CEO of Conoco:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')R. MULVA: Twenty to 30 years, 60 to 70 percent, at least, of energy provided in the world is going to come from fossil fuels.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'F')unny I thought the thread was going to be about the interview of 3 oil company CEO’s.