The U.S. military claims success in killing Iraqi insurgents:

The U.S. military said ground forces with air support killed 20 suspected al Qaeda militants, including two women, in an area north of the capital where the Sunni Arab insurgency is strong.

Iraqi citizens tell a different story:

Police and officials in Ishaqi, 90 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, said the bodies of 17 civilians, including six women and five children, were found in the rubble of two homes.

“The Americans have done this before but they always deny it,” Ishaqi Mayor Amer Alwan told Reuters by telephone. “I want the world to know what’s happening here.” – Reuters

Does this dead child look like an insurgent to you? I realize it’s brutal and distirbing, but it’s the truth and people in America need to recognize that we’re killing innocent women and children in Iraq.

Imagine that was your son or nephew or brother and then ask yourself if it’s any wonder why our presence in Iraq is hurting more than it’s helping?

President Obvious reporting for duty:

President George W. Bush said on Thursday that a new approach was required on Iraq, one day after a scathing report by the Iraq Study Group called for changing U.S. strategy.

“I believe we need a new approach,” Bush said during a press conference with British Prime Minister
Tony Blair. – Reuters

This is like a baseball player who’s struck out the previous 5 at-bats telling his manager, “I believe I need to stop swinging at the ball with my eyes closed”.

Where were the calls for “a new approach” a month ago? Or a year ago? The fact is that Bush doesn’t really want to change anything about his Iraq policy, because that will make him look “weak”. He’s said it numerous times that we’re going to be there as long as he’s President, so damn what anyone else thinks or suggests.

If he was really interested in “a new approach” there would have been one by now.

Most average Americans can’t imagine only working a two day work week, but under the Republican controlled Congress it’s been a nice fringe benefit.

In fact, many people are working multiple jobs every day of the week just to make ends meet.

So I can’t imagine anyone is feeling really sorry for Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) who’s complaining about Democratic plans to bring back a five day work week to the House. In fact his faux outrage is exactly what we need less of these days in Washington D.C.

“Keeping us up here eats away at families,” said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who typically flies home on Thursdays and returns to Washington on Tuesdays. “Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families — that’s what this says.” – Washington Post

I wonder how members of the military who’ve been deployed overseas for 9-15 months at a time would react to Rep. Kingston’s complaints about have to work a whole 2 days a week? Like I said before this is the kind of behavior and attitude that we need less of out of our public servants in Washington, and Rep. Kingston should be ashamed of himself for such a comment.

We’re not winning in Iraq? No kidding. Too bad it’s taken three years and tens of thousands of lives to come to that conclusion.

Robert Gates, U.S. President George W. Bush’s choice to take over the Pentagon, said on Tuesday America was not winning in Iraq and warned the Middle East could explode into violence. Reuters

Funny how quickly the expectations for Iraq have changed in the past few months. Anyone else remember some of these quotes?

“The only way we can lose is if we leave before the job is done.”

“The consequences of retreat would be felt for generations…You see, the enemy has made it clear that they expect us to lose our nerve”

“Fellow citizens, we are in this fight to win, and we are winning.”

“This country will stay the course and get the job done”

…and on and on.

One other observation I have about the Robert Gates hearing today:

Robert Gates, the White House choice to be the next defense secretary, conceded Tuesday that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq and warned that if that country is not stabilized in the next year or two it could lead to a “regional conflagration.”

What happens if it’s not stabilized in the next year or two though? What’s the plan for that? There is a good probability of there not being a stable Iraq in “a year or two” and it would be nice to hear a plan from this administration about what they plan on doing if, you know, things don’t go the way they plan? Because they seem to have a pretty bad track record of their predictions coming true.

Is George Bush just going to pass the buck off to the next administration and let them deal with it the whole Iraq mess, or have his dad’s pals swoop in and clean things up for him?

Kansas Senator Sam Brownback is in the race for the Presidency as a Republican in 2008 as the right wing express rolls on!

Does this sound like the kind of man a majority of voters would elect?

Brownback, 50, says his deep faith in God guides his well-known opposition to abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem-cell research. He pledged to make “issues of life,” fiscal restraint and tax reform key components of his effort to woo supporters. AP

Keep ‘em comin, it’s going to be a fun 18 months!

Ever since John Bolton’s recess appointment – because he couldn’t get confirmed by a Republican controlled Senate – I’ve been saying that America’s international standing has been hurt by having John Bolton as our Ambassador to the U.N.

So it’s about time he’s calling it quits. Not that he had any choice mind you, his term was up this year and he had zero chance of being confirmed by the Senate, so his “resignation” is really just a formality at this point. And while I have no faith that President Bush will nominate anyone better than Bolton, it’s going to be hard to do worse.

If only we had this kind of reality based acknowledgment managing our foreign policy:

Rich Galen, a strategist for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, also a potential 2008 candidate, went even further. “It’s a two-way contest between McCain and Romney,” he said – Salt Lake Tribune