The more I read about this commission the less I like it. The news that the commission deliberate excluded "extreme" views even though the "extreme" left view has majority support is pretty maddening. The real problem, though, is that as best I can tell the Commission has the wrong mandate. Rather than a group charged with finding an optimal Iraq policy for the United States of America, it's charged with finding a formula that suits the interests of the American political establishment -- of Democrats who backed the war, and of Republicans who'd like to see their political party survive the disaster of George W. Bush. So while they'd like a policy that makes things better, what they need is a policy that can espoused while minimizing embarassment to said establishment. Unfortunately, the latter goal makes the former substantially impossible.
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Baker-Hamilton
26 Nov 2006 04:11 pm
Comments (10)
Yes, but.
If that is what they are determined to do, we cannot stop them. And if the result is more doomed, two-years-too-late policy, then it will discredit them that much more.
I realize that "the worse, the better" is sour grapes and meager consolation, but what else will ever shake these bastards' grip on our discourse and decision-making?
But honestly, what else can one expect? The Bush administration has never been interested in solutions as much as the appearance of solutions. They would only acquesce to the creation of a commission whose mandate would insure they not get called on their bluff.
Just consider who Jim Baker is, and the sort of comments Poppy Bush gave in Dubai last week. On the bright side, their mission is impossible, so we can toast to their inevitable failure. A shame so many Dems seem determined to hitch their wagons to such a farce.
The only way to change this sort of outcome is to offer Lamont-style (or, better, candidates more forthrightly critical of US ME policy as a whole, not just the war) challenges to all 'establishment' Democrats in 2008 and beyond.
Good post, MY
"candidates more forthrightly critical of US ME policy as a whole, not just the war"
Getting closer. Forthrightly critical of the people who formulated and supported, even reluctantly, the policy is even better.
Why in the world would you ever have expected it to do anything else? The fact that it was chaired by James Baker, ultimate establishment insider and Bush family fixer, told me everything I needed to know.
Dude, Ed Meese.
House Dems need to come up with a "plan" before the Baker report is released. Something of the order of our troops need to be home for the holidays in 2007. Commit to transfer some of those forces to Afganistan for many years to come so it is not another failed state. Regroup, rearm, recommit
Dude, Sandra Day O'Connor. Seems like the aim was to manufacture legitimacy for whatever right-leaning solution that the panel produced, rather than actually producing something intelligent. Next up a Social Security reform panel headed up by Nancy Reagan, Condi Rice, Bruce Willis and Curt Schilling, in addition to other popular conservative non-experts on entitlements to be named later.
ISRAEL IS NOT A SACRIFICIAL LAMB TO GIVE UP THE GOLAN HEIGHTS TO SYRIA SO
BAKER AND THE STUDY GROUP CAN CATER TO TERRORISTS, SUICIDE BOMBERS,
MURDERERS AND PEOPLE WHO CANNOT GET ALONG IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THE GOLAN
HEIGHTS NOW BELONG TO ISRAEL, NOT SYRIA. THE GOLAN WAS WON IN THE 67 WAR
WHEN ISRAEL WAS ATTACKED ON ALL SIDES FROM THE ARAB STATES. BAKER AND HIS
GROUP, A BUNCH OF ANTI-SEMITES CANNOT TRADE AWAY LAND THAT DOES NOT BELONG
TO THEM. TO EVEN SUGGEST SPEAKING TO SYRIA AND IRAN, WHO HAVE CREATED MURDER
GROUPS AS HEZBOLLAH AND HAMAS IS A DISGRACE PERPETRATED BY A STUDY GROUP
THAT WILL PUSH ISRAEL INTO A CORNER TO SATISFY THEIR TRADING PARTNERS, SAUDI
ARABIA, KUWAIT, JORDAN. HOW COME THESE COUNTRIES NEVER CAME IN TO HELP
THEIR SUNNAI PEOPLE? THE ARABS ARE A BUNCH OF COWARDS. THEY OCCUPY 99% OF
THE MIDDLE EAST, WHICH IS SUFFICIENT TERRORITORY TO HIDE THE TERRORISTS,
MURDERERS, BUTCHERS, THIEVES, DOPE PEDDLERS, ETC. THEY DO NOT EVEN PROTECT
THEIR OWN GROUP OF PEOPLE.
BUSH MADE AN AWFUL MISTAKE BY INVADING IRAQ. HE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A CAKE
WALK. NOW THAT HE HAS FAILED MISERABLY, HE MUST EXTRADITE HIMSELF AND OUR
TROOPS BY SLOWING BRINGING DOWN THE NO. OF TROOPS IN IRAQ AND SENDING IN
SPECIAL TRAINING FORCES TO TRAIN THE IRAQI ARMY. ISRAEL HAD NOTHING TO DO
WITH BUSH's DECISION TO INVADE IRAQ. THAT WAS HIS PLAN, PLUS CHENEY'S PLAN
BEFORE 9/11. THE INVASION OF IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11. THIS GROUP
WANTED THE IRAQI OIL AND HAVE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DEFENSE CONTRACTS eg:
HALLIBURTON. THEY HAVE SQUANDERED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM TAXPAYER MONEY,
WITHOUT EVEN EQUIPPING OUR TROOPS OR THE IRAQI ARMY WITH THE BEST DEFENSE
MATERIALS AS
NEW HUMVEES, NEW TANKS, ARMOR. PARENTS HAD TO SEND ARMOR TO IRAQ TO HELP
SAVE THEIR CHILDREN'S LIVES. THIS WHOLE MATTER IS A DISGRACE AND SHOULD BE
THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED.
BAKER AND LEE HAMILTON HAVE ALWAYS DENOUNCED ISRAEL AND SIDED WITH THE ARAB
COUNTRIES WHO ARE PARTNERS WITH BUSH's DADDY AND HIS GROUP, THE CARLYLE
GROUP. LET's PUT THE CARDS ON THE TABLE. BAKER STATED DURING DADDY BUSH's
ELECTION,
"F--K THE J--WS, THEY DON'T VOTE FOR US ANYWAY. MANY JEWISH PEOPLE VOTED
FOR BUSH II BECAUSE OF HIS PRO-ISRAEL STANCE.
DUE TO JIMMY CARTER, ANOTHER ANTI-SEMITE, IRAN WAS LOST IN 79 TO A GROUP OF
TERRORISTS LED BY KHOMENI. IF CARTER WOULD HAVE GONE IN TO HELP THE SHAH OF
IRAN, IRAN MIGHT HAVE BEEN SAVED. WHAT RIGHT DOES CARTER HAVE TO WRITE A
BOOK ABOUT ISRAEL/AN APARTHEID COUNTRY. CARTER WILL GO DOWN, NEXT TO BUSH,
AS ONE OF THE FAILED PRESIDENTS. CARTER WAS ELECTED BUT BUSH WAS "SELECTED"
BY BAKER's ARGUMENT TO THE SUPREME COURT AND HIS INTERFERENCE IN THE STATE
OF FLORIDA IN 2000. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE 10TH AMENDMENT OF STATES'
RIGHTS? WHAT RIGHT DID THE CORRUPT SUPREME COURT HAVE TO CHOOSE THE
PRESIDENT?
NOW WITH THE NEW BAKER AND HAMILTON REPORT, THE FINGER IS ONCE AGAIN
POINTING TO ISRAEL GIVING UP LAND. ISRAEL HAS ALREADY GIVEN UP THE SINAI
(PUSHED BY THE ANTI-SEMITE CARTER), GIVEN LAND BACK TO JORDAN, GIVEN UP THE
GAZA WHERE HAMAS IS SMUGGLING WEAPONS. ROCKETS ARE BEING THROWN DAILY INTO
ISRAEL, FIRST BY THE HEZBOLLAH AND NOW HAMAS. ISRAEL WAS DEVASTED BY SUICIDE
BOMBERS AND FINALLY IS BUILDING A FENCE TO SEPARATE THEMSELVES FROM THE "SO
CALLED PALESTINIANS" WHO ARE BASICALLY JORDANIANS. JORDAN DOES NOT WANT TO
LET THEM IN. 5,000 YEARS AGO, ISRAEL STRETCHED FROM THE RED SEA PAST
JORDAN. ALL THE LAND BELONGED TO ISRAEL. BUT DUE TO THE ROMANS AND OTHER
CONQUERORS, THE ISRAELITES WERE FORCED TO LEAVE ISRAEL IN A DIASPORA TO
OTHER COUNTRIES. SINCE ISRAEL IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A GROUP OF THE WORST
NATIONS IN THE WHOLE WORLD IN THE MIDDLE EAST, ISRAEL NEEDS DEFENSIBLE
BORDERS. THEY DO NOT NEED SYRIA LOOKING DOWN UPON THEM. WITH THE GOLAN, THE
ISRAELIS LOOK DOWN UPON SYRIA. SYRIA DID NOT THINK ANYTHING OF OCCUPYING
LEBANON FOR OVER 30 YEARS. THIS WAS NOT THEIR LAND. THEY DID NOT WIN IT BY
WAR. THEY JUST TOOK IT. ISRAEL WON THE GOLAN WHEN ATTACKED BY SYRIA. THE
GOLAN IS NEEDED FOR PROTECTION.
WHY DOESN'T THE US GIVE UP TEXAS (BAKER's HOME) TO MEXICO AND DOESN'T THE US
GIVE UP THE WHOLE SOUTHWEST TO MEXICO, WHICH INCLUDES SANDRA DAY O'CONNER's
HOME. WHY DOESN'T THE US GIVE UP THE US TO THE INDIANS. AFTER ALL, THE LAND
ORIGINALLY BELONGED TO THE INDIANS. WHY DOESN'T THE UK GIVE UP THE
FALKLANDS, GIBRALTER, NO. IRELAND? AFTER ALL, THESE TERRITORIES BELONG TO
ARGENTINA, SPAIN AND IRELAND. WHY IS IT ONLY ISRAEL THAT IS ASKED TO GIVE UP
LAND? I WILL TELL YOU WHY. THIS WHOLE BAKER AND HAMILTON GROUP ARE A BUNCH
OF ANTI-SEMITES, IN BED WITH THE ARABS IN MANY BUSINESS DEALS. THESE ARABS
COULD NOT EVEN PROTECT THEMSELVES WHEN IRAQ INVADED KUWAIT. THEY ARE BRAIN
DEAD BUT OIL RICH. LET's ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT IT WAS THE TERRORISTS FROM
SAUDI ARABIA AND EGYPT THAT ATTACKED THE US ON 9/11. SAUDI ARABIA EVEN HID
THE MURDERERS WHO BOMBED THE KOBAR TOWERS.
AMERICANS SHOULD IGNORE THE BAKER REPORT OF SPEAKING TO IRAN AND SYRIA. THEY
HAVE KILLED MANY OF OUR TROOPS IN IRAQ BY SENDING IN INSURGENTS IN CHOP OFF
PEOPLE's HEADS, MUTILATE BODIES, TIE HANDS AND FEET TOGETHER AND SHOOT
PEOPLE IN THE HEAD. THEY ARE WORSE THAN ANY LIVING THING ON EARTH. SAUDI
ARABIA CUTS OFF PEOPLE's HANDS AND FEET BY SHARIA LAW. THESE PEOPLE ARE
BUTCHERS.
ISRAEL IS NOT THE CAUSE OF THE DEBACLE IN IRAQ AND SHOULD NOT BE THE
SCAPEGOAT. THE CAUSE OF THE DEBACLE ARE THE LIES MADE UP BY THE BUSH
ADMINISTRATION, NOT LISTENING TO THE COMMANDERS ON THE GROUND, NOT EQUIPPING
OUR TROOPS PROPERLY, NOT HAVING THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT AND THE STUPIDITY OF
THIS MISSION. IRAQ WAS NOT OUR ENEMY. AS A MATTER OF FACT, SADDAM HUSSEIN
(NO MATTER HOW BAD HE WAS) WAS A BULWARK AGAINST IRAN. THE ENEMY WAS IN
AFGHANSTAN CALLED THE AL QUEIDA. OUR EYE WAS TAKEN OFF THE BALL IN
AFGHANASTAN WHEN GREEDY PEOPLE WHO WANTED OIL, MADE UP LIES TO INVADE IRAQ
TO GET ITS OIL WEALTH.
I CONDEMN THIS BAKER AND HAMILTON REPORT MAKING ISRAEL THE SCAPEGOAT. I
INTEND TO WRITE TO OUR JEWISH SENTATORS AND CONGRESSMEN AND ALL JEWISH
ORGANIZATIONS ABOUT "SCAPEGOATING" ISRAEL, NOT CARING WHAT HAPPENS TO THE
JEWISH PEOPLE IN ISRAEL.
YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO PUBLISH THIS.
ILENE RICHMAN
PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL.
Comments closed December 10, 2006.
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Heads in the Sand
Exactly right. What will come out of the irrelevant centrist committeee is irrelevant centrist babble. Robb, Vernon Jordan, Leon Panetta, Lee Hamilton have the same motivation and same blinders on and the same moral limitations as do the neo-con apologists. They are first and foremost political hacks. The new reality on the ground (even the old reality on the ground, say of one year ago) has made this committee obsolete before it utters the usual political bromides whose goal is to save the political bacon of the bankrupt politics of the right-wing militarists and their Democratic enablers.
Posted by della Rovere | November 26, 2006 4:26 PM