IRAQ: Midterm “Milestones” for the Election
File this under U-turn, who are you accusing of flip-flopping, changing course,
fill in your favorite phrase here.
Today, Mr. Khalilzad used “benchmarks,” “milestones”
and “timetable” interchangeably to describe the agreed-upon political
and economic steps, and made no mention of what the United States might do
if the timetable was missed. Likewise, General Casey linked plans for pulling
back American forces solely to projections for progress in building Iraqi
military capacity.General Casey described the current security situation in Iraq as “difficult,”
and said that “it’s likely to remain that way over the near term.”
Senator Lindsay I love torture Graham had this to say about the situation
yesterday:
“We're on the verge of chaos, and the current plan is not working…”
Aw hell, Lindsay, no kidding?
Richard Holbrooke advises “disengagement
and damage control.”
Billmon saves me from
having to write the bottom line myself. This b.s. Bush and his election year
boosters are pushing just doesn't pass the sniff test.
The ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, said the timetable includes settling political
differences between the country’s competing groups through a “national
compact” within the next year, and taking quick action on some of the
country’s most obdurate issues, including cracking down on Shiite militias,
persuading Sunni insurgents to lay down their arms and reaching a fair division
of oil revenues.The Iraqi leader has also agreed to end world hunger, capture Osama Bin Ladin,
broker a comprehensive peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians,
and develop a cheap, reliable alternative to fossil fuels — all within the
next six months, Khalilzad noted. …
Bush is now adopting their anti- “stay the course” and anti- “benchmark”
rhetoric to try and turn around this election.
Two weeks to go with the Republicans down, a press conference is called to announce “benchmarks.” I don't see a bull but I sure smell something foul.
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