Last night I actually saw a couple of interesting interviews. One was Seymour Hersh on Hardball, (transcript [here] - scroll down about half way, first segment they talk about abuse, second segment they talk about Iraq). The other one was Zbigniew Brzezinski on Charlie Rose. Hersh has a new book out Chain of Command (Guardian excerpt) and Brzezinski was just on the show for his expertise, telling his side of the story. These two guys, along with many others, are now of the opinion -- that I came to several months ago -- that Iraq is lost.

Hersh goes through how the torture scandal goes all the way to the top and that the White House -- meaning Rice and those that deal with national security -- knew about this in the Fall of 2002. Of course Rummy and Wolfie and Cambone were heading up the whole show. When they started talking about Iraq I thought this exchange was telling:

MATTHEWS: The new prime minister of the interim government.

HERSH: Who has no support. He couldn‘t walk on a street in Baghdad.

MATTHEWS: Well, why do these conservative writers, neoconservative writers I read in the paper and everybody watching reads in the papers, say, give him time; Allawi will put together a government over there? What are they talking about?

HERSH: I would like to smoke what they‘re smoking, because it isn‘t going to happen.

Look, we promised democracy. You have got a country where the Shiites are the majority. You‘re not giving the Shiites what we promised. We‘re not giving them democracy.

Brzezinski basically said the same thing but there was one point when Charlie asked him what to expect in a 2nd Bush term, it's from memory Charlie doesn't post transcripts. He said that well the preemption doctrine will be fulfilled, in other words war without end, Amen.

Which brings us back to the article I posted yesterday, Bush's Lost Year. It's the story of how by going into Iraq we screwed up both Iraq and Afghanistan. It made me remember how people on both sides and myself included said that what we doin Afghanistan will show everyone how we will treat the world throughout the WoT. To put it another way, Afghanistan will be a template for Iraq and the WoT, which seems to be the case. Both places are now cesspools and the 'Gates of Hell' are Open in Iraq.

There was another thing that Brzezinski said and it went something like this, "Not only is America hated more now then ever around the world, we are also the most hated country in the world." Wow, that is powerful stuff! That is what you have to thank this President for. He is also of the opinion, as are many others, that the Iraq occupation has been beneficial to Al Qaeda (swelling it ranks) and has made us less safe. These are the realities about what this President has transformed The United States of America into. Are you OK with that?

More analysis on Iraq
Surge in violence threatens Iraq elections, U.S. exit strategy
The U.S. strategy to create a stable, democratic Iraq is in danger of failing, current and former U.S. officials say, and the anti-American insurgency is growing larger, more sophisticated and more violent.

Civil what?
Iraq: a descent into civil war?
Lying amid the debris strewn near Al-Karkh police station was the photo of a young man in a blue T-shirt. The passport snap had been part of his application to join Iraq's police force.

Yesterday, however, he and dozens of other recruits queueing outside the station in central Baghdad were blown to pieces by a car bomb. Near the photo, someone had heaped the shoes of the dead and injured into a neat pile.

The destruction from the suspected suicide blast which killed 47 people and injured 114 was everywhere: bits of metal, glass, a broken billiard table, a dead bird and pools of blood.

If these ladies can't convince you...
Widows Back Kerry After Bush Rebuffs 9/11 Probe
The quintet, who were joined by a survivor of the attack on the Pentagon, said they had been rebuffed by President George W. Bush in every attempt to have a proper investigation into their husbands' deaths and said it sullied the memory of their loved ones to have the war in Iraq linked to the attacks.

Are you familiar with the concept of framing? Here is an intro to the concept
Framing the Debate: It's All GOP
How do Republicans continually frustrate Democrats, keeping them on the defensive? It's not just their media control (Fox News, Clear Channel, etc.), it's not just the $2 billion they've put into think tanks over the past 30 years, and it's not just lies and dirty tricks. It's their skill at "framing." Basically the concept is whoever sets the terms runs the debate. Simple, right? - LH

- posted by Mom/Dad @ 8:24 AM