It's Tuesday! So let me tell you about The Tuesday Group. It's a collection of centrist Republican members of Congress whose purpose is "to maintain the moderate wing of the party." They usually meet weekly in the Capitol basement. Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent is a co-chair.
In May, they delivered this stern message personally to President Bush. “The word about the war and its progress cannot come from the White House or even you, Mr. President. There is no longer any credibility. It has to come from Gen. Petraeus.”
They have not stopped there. Pennsyltucky Politics tells us that, frustrated by a dysfunctional Iraqi parliament, they "want President Bush to convene a summit this month to reach a political solution with Iraqi factions or risk losing their support." Eleven ministers have either withdrawn or suspended participation in al-Maliki's cabinet within the last week.
Any solution, if it can be achieved at all, will have to be political.
15 comments:
You said in May they delivered a "stern message" to President Bush.
Did he hear it?
Apparently not. While soldiers are doing everything asked of them, Bush should listen to generals who tell him this war cannot be resolved militarily. I think the suggestion that he drag the competing factions to Camp David is an excellent idea.
Biden's solution is the political compromise. If that comes true he becomes a top tier presidential candidate in 2008.
Whether it's Biden's partition solution or just giving Sunnis more control, it's very clear that the current Iraqi government is a joke. If changes aren't made, that government will soon morph into a group of corrupt thugs who keep power with death squads that exterminate Sunnis.
Charlie Dent and his Tuesday coffee clatch ought to read the recent NY Times Op-Ed from O'Hanlon and Pollack. Charlie supported the war, then supported it even more strongly, then less so, then became opposed ...kinda sorta. Well, you get the picture.
It seems Charlie is always slipping into class just after the bell. Then, with a straight face, he attempts to enter the ongoing discussion as though he'd been there all along. Charlie is an insufferable political finger-wetter, and not a very timely one, at that. His anti-war position directly followed the release of his name on a GOP "most vulnerable" document.
If Charlie wasn't being pursued by the mess that is Sam Bennett's (gulp) candidacy, he'd be in the political rear view mirror very shortly. If Charlie actually stood for something, he might be gone already. He's defied the old bromide about what happens to those in the middle of the road. If a flip flopper like Dent won't be dismissed, who will?
Next week, Charlie Dent is going to make a strong statement in favor of peace, clean air, and motherhood. He'll likely equivocate later, but it likely won't matter. It never does.
I was going to make a crack about the "stern" statement, But AJ beat me to it. so how about Petraues being in charge of the 200,000 missing weapons? That was under his watch, and now he is running the Surge? OOh Boy! can't wait to see those numbers!
Chris, Are you actually going to blame those missing weapons on Petraeus? I don't know the details, but my understanding is they were stolen from weapons entrusted to Iraqis.
no petaras was incharge and they were his responibilty.
Anon 5:17,
As Chris and I (and possibly you) know, any person in the military who loses a weapon will be courtmartialed. It does not matter whether this is a lowly PFC or a 5 star general. So blaming Petraeus for this error is serious stuff.
I've gone back to read these newes stories in more detail.
The weapons were lost between 2004 and 2005. Petraeus was, in fact, the commander who ordered these weapons for Iraqi forces. About 30% of them disappeared after being issued, and pentagon records are shoddy.
Whoever is responsible for permitting this to get so far out of hand, should be courtmartialed.
Petraeus has a history of foulups like this.
Petraeus did not see combat before his 2003 deployment to Iraq,
This is why I distrust everything Petraeus says
"In September 2004, Petraeus wrote an article for the Washington Post in which he lauded the progress he said was being made by Iraqi security forces. The article was criticized by Paul Krugman in his column of July 19, 2007: "General Petraeus, without saying anything falsifiable, conveyed the totally misleading impression, highly convenient for his political masters, that victory was just around the corner"
The simple fact is he is willing to mislead people to get his way just like Bush
Battling for Iraq
By David H. Petraeus
Sunday, September 26, 2004; Page B07
BAGHDAD -- Helping organize, train and equip nearly a quarter-million of Iraq's security forces is a daunting task. Doing so in the middle of a tough insurgency increases the challenge enormously, making the mission akin to repairing an aircraft while in flight -- and while being shot at. Now, however, 18 months after entering Iraq, I see tangible progress. Iraqi security elements are being rebuilt from the ground up.
The institutions that oversee them are being reestablished from the top down. And Iraqi leaders are stepping forward, leading their country and their security forces courageously in the face of an enemy that has shown a willingness to do anything to disrupt the establishment of the new Iraq.
In recent months, I have observed thousands of Iraqis in training and then watched as they have conducted numerous operations. Although there have been reverses -- not to mention horrific terrorist attacks -- there has been progress in the effort to enable Iraqis to shoulder more of the load for their own security, something they are keen to do. The future undoubtedly will be full of difficulties, especially in places such as Fallujah. We must expect setbacks and recognize that not every soldier or policeman we help train will be equal to the challenges ahead.
Nonetheless, there are reasons for optimism. Today approximately 164,000 Iraqi police and soldiers (of which about 100,000 are trained and equipped) and an additional 74,000 facility protection forces are performing a wide variety of security missions. Equipment is being delivered. Training is on track and increasing in capacity. Infrastructure is being repaired. Command and control structures and institutions are being reestablished.
Most important, Iraqi security forces are in the fight -- so much so that they are suffering substantial casualties as they take on more and more of the burdens to achieve security in their country. Since Jan. 1 more than 700 Iraqi security force members have been killed, and hundreds of Iraqis seeking to volunteer for the police and military have been killed as well.
Six battalions of the Iraqi regular army and the Iraqi Intervention Force are now conducting operations. Two of these battalions, along with the Iraqi commando battalion, the counterterrorist force, two Iraqi National Guard battalions and thousands of policemen recently contributed to successful operations in Najaf. Their readiness to enter and clear the Imam Ali shrine was undoubtedly a key factor in enabling Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani to persuade members of the Mahdi militia to lay down their arms and leave the shrine.
In another highly successful operation several days ago, the Iraqi counterterrorist force conducted early-morning raids in Najaf that resulted in the capture of several senior lieutenants and 40 other members of that militia, and the seizure of enough weapons to fill nearly four 7 1/2-ton dump trucks.
Within the next 60 days, six more regular army and six additional Intervention Force battalions will become operational. Nine more regular army battalions will complete training in January, in time to help with security missions during the Iraqi elections at the end of that month.
Iraqi National Guard battalions have also been active in recent months. Some 40 of the 45 existing battalions -- generally all except those in the Fallujah-Ramadi area -- are conducting operations on a daily basis, most alongside coalition forces, but many independently. Progress has also been made in police training. In the past week alone, some 1,100 graduated from the basic policing course and five specialty courses. By early spring, nine academies in Iraq and one in Jordan will be graduating a total of 5,000 police each month from the eight-week course, which stresses patrolling and investigative skills, substantive and procedural legal knowledge, and proper use of force and weaponry, as well as pride in the profession and adherence to the police code of conduct.
Iraq's borders are long, stretching more than 2,200 miles. Reducing the flow of extremists and their resources across the borders is critical to success in the counterinsurgency. As a result, with support from the Department of Homeland Security, specialized training for Iraq's border enforcement elements began earlier this month in Jordan.
Regional academies in Iraq have begun training as well, and more will come online soon. In the months ahead, the 16,000-strong border force will expand to 24,000 and then 32,000. In addition, these forces will be provided with modern technology, including vehicle X-ray machines, explosive-detection devices and ground sensors.
Outfitting hundreds of thousands of new Iraqi security forces is difficult and complex, and many of the units are not yet fully equipped. But equipment has begun flowing. Since July 1, for example, more than 39,000 weapons and 22 million rounds of ammunition have been delivered to Iraqi forces, in addition to 42,000 sets of body armor, 4,400 vehicles, 16,000 radios and more than 235,000 uniforms.
Considerable progress is also being made in the reconstruction and refurbishing of infrastructure for Iraq's security forces. Some $1 billion in construction to support this effort has been completed or is underway, and five Iraqi bases are already occupied by entire infantry brigades.
Numbers alone cannot convey the full story. The human dimension of this effort is crucial. The enemies of Iraq recognize how much is at stake as Iraq reestablishes its security forces. Insurgents and foreign fighters continue to mount barbaric attacks against police stations, recruiting centers and military installations, even though the vast majority of the population deplores such attacks. Yet despite the sensational attacks, there is no shortage of qualified recruits volunteering to join Iraqi security forces. In the past couple of months, more than 7,500 Iraqi men have signed up for the army and are preparing to report for basic training to fill out the final nine battalions of the Iraqi regular army. Some 3,500 new police recruits just reported for training in various locations. And two days after the recent bombing on a street outside a police recruiting location in Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqis were once again lined up inside the force protection walls at another location -- where they were greeted by interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
I meet with Iraqi security force leaders every day. Though some have given in to acts of intimidation, many are displaying courage and resilience in the face of repeated threats and attacks on them, their families and their comrades. I have seen their determination and their desire to assume the full burden of security tasks for Iraq.
There will be more tough times, frustration and disappointment along the way. It is likely that insurgent attacks will escalate as Iraq's elections approach. Iraq's security forces are, however, developing steadily and they are in the fight. Momentum has gathered in recent months. With strong Iraqi leaders out front and with continued coalition -- and now NATO -- support, this trend will continue. It will not be easy, but few worthwhile things are.
The writer, an Army lieutenant general, commands the Multinational Security Transition Command in Iraq. He previously commanded the 101st Airborne Division, which was deployed in Iraq from March 2003 until February 2004
this was the steaming load of crap Lt general Petraeus dumped on us in 2004 right before the 2004 Presidental election
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Anon 12:42,
This blog has nothing to do w/ Bennett, so you should probably save it for your next spam attack.
A few weeks ago, George Speros Maniatty was posting Molchany's op-ed about Sam Bennett anywhere he could, including here. It was a word for word cut and paste job, like this, with no independent thought. It was lengthy, like this. It was anonymous, like this. He finally had to ID himself when he did it on Varkony's blog.
There is an awful lot of flip-flopping going on in Mr. Dent's office.
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