Not Quite Center

On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice criticized Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of Iraq’s largest Shi’ite militia, the Mahdi Army. Sadr had threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.

Rice commented, “I know he’s sitting in Iran. I guess it’s all-out war for anybody but him. I guess that’s the message; his followers can go to their deaths and he’s in Iran.” This is astounding hypocrisy from the administration that has, from the comfort of D.C. offices, ordered more than a half-million Americans into combat where 4000+ have died, more than 40,000 have been injured (some completely debilitated), and about one-third of the survivors have returned with some degree of emotional or mental problems. The bald-faced hubris is outrageous. GWB has never put anything on the line more than his father’s name and his own legacy. He has ruined both.

The other instance of hypocrisy is the Bush administration’s criticism of Jimmy Carter’s attempts to find some common ground for dialogue with Hamas. The administration says that Carter’s trip “legitimizes” Hamas. The irony: Hamas was elected by the people; Bush was elected by the Supreme Court. Which has more legitimacy? Hamas is indeed a terrorist organization, but it is also the legitimately- and democratically-elected leading party of a sovereign territory (or at least part of it). The U.S. needs to grow up and realize that talk is indeed cheap, or at least cheaper than bombs, and often more effective.

Only 273 days left.

Seeing my interest in Team of Rivals about the Lincoln presidency, Heather bought me Grant and Sherman: The Friendship that Won the Civil War. This was a very interesting book about two men and the war that brought them together. (more…)

I was intrigued by the quotes from Eisenhower that I found while writing a previous post, and I decided I needed to learn more about this man. So I picked up the one-volume biography by Stephen E. Ambrose, an abridgment of his original two-volume work. (more…)

With the increasingly good news in Iraq over the last several weeks, I had been preparing for myself a tossed salad of crow, guarded optimism, and chagrin (at the benefit it might give John McCain’s candidacy). I thought all the progress attained up to a few weeks ago might unravel until Muqtada al-Sadr extended for another several months the ceasefire he had ordered for his Mahdi Army (JAM). I let myself get quite hopeful about the effectiveness of the surge. Then last week happened. (more…)