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The theory of the thing is very peculiar indeed. You are in the middle of a war--a hard war, a war that is going badly. If the government has bogged down, if the people inside have gone stale, you would say that the sound thing, the Churchillian or Lincolnian or Rooseveltian thing, would be, first, to fire a bunch of officials (generals as well as top civilians), promote or bring in fresh talent, and put together a small group of people to take a new and unillusioned look. Those people would report back in secrecy to the president and his...

I know a Marine. He sits in a bar in North Carolina. He came there by way of Fallujah. The same close-cropped blonde fuzz glimmers on his head in the dim light as burned under the hot sun of Iraq. He’s the greatest storyteller I know, spinning tales about his overseas exploits, both combat and otherwise—only with the express permission of the mixed company present, of course. He speaks with a wit and color that would surprise John Kerry. He is not a quiet man. But I wonder what he would say this week. I wonder what he would say...

The release of the report by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group this week exposed deep fissures among Republicans over how to manage a war that many fear will haunt their party — and the nation — for years to come. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page described the report as a “strategic muddle,” Richard Perle called it “absurd,” Rush Limbaugh labeled it “stupid,” and The New York Post portrayed the leaders of the group, former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, a former Democratic member of Congress, as “surrender monkeys.” Republican moderates clung to the...

Preview and Analysis of the Weekend Talk Shows for December 9 and 10, 2006The Iraq Survey Group has delivered their tablets from the mountain and it is time for all of us to accept the fact that we have been defeated in Iraq and to stop worshipping the false god of democracy and freedom!  It's just too hard!  Instead we must accept Realpolitik and turn over all of the Middle East to the Islamists because we want to keep the oil flowing.  Those annoying Jews will just have to get over that whole Israel thing.  They should go back to...

"National Priorities:When a secretary of defense gets confirmed 95-2 apparently because he says we are not winning a war, you know Uncle Sam must have a sign on his back that says "kick me." We've come a long way from that day in April 1986 when President Ronald Reagan ordered Operation El Dorado Canyon, an air strike on Libya by two dozen F-111F fighter bombers in retaliation for a terrorist blast at a West Berlin disco that injured 200 people, including 63 U.S. soldiers, killing two. Back then we took the fight to our enemies.".....

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryDecember 9, 2006 President's Radio Address       Audio      In Focus: Renewal in Iraq      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, I held important meetings at the White House about the situation in Iraq. On Monday, I met in the Oval Office with one of Iraq's most influential Shia leaders, His Eminence Abdul Aziz al Hakim. We discussed the desire of the Iraqi people to see their unity government succeed, and how the United States can help them achieve that goal. On Thursday, I had breakfast with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. We discussed...

The widely touted Iraqi Study Group has been revealed to be a disappointing hodgepodge of suggestions which, in part or as a whole, do not constitute a coherent strategy or serve to promote American long-term interests. In a case of life imitating art, waiting for Godot was much more meaningful than the arrival. When the ISG “recommendations” that have been tried or have currently been implemented are removed, we are left with several mediocre ideas that are overwhelmed by the preponderance of a few that are patently absurd. The myopic suggestion of conjoining stability in Iraq to Israeli “land for...

WASHINGTON (AP) - 1208dv-bush-iraq Quickening his search for a new war strategy, President Bush sought ideas from lawmakers on Friday and lined up three days of urgent talks with military brass, diplomats and outside experts on how to stop Iraq's slide toward anarchy. Bush is expected to settle on a new course and present it to the nation in a speech before Christmas, the debate and his new efforts framed by the Iraq Study Group's stinging rebuke this week of U.S. policy. In the meantime, Americans' dissatisfaction with his handling of Iraq has climbed to an all-time high of 71...

Sure, the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group might be largely useless. But hey, check out all the wonderful consensus - and cue another chorus of Kumbaya! That, in a nutshell, is the message of the Boston Globe's editorial of this morning, Presidential Ingratitude.Excerpts: "Whatever might be questioned in any particular recommendation of the report, the bipartisan spirit and consensus-building purpose of the Iraq Study Group deserve grateful praise from the president, not a defensive rejection.""The Iraq Study Group may not have come up with all the right answers; in their pursuit of unanimity, they may have settled for split-the-difference...

Recommendation 16 of the Iraq Study Group's report calls upon Syria to agree to a peace deal with Israel in return for the Golan Heights. It further suggests that Syria be persuaded to end its interference in Lebanon, cease aiding Hezbollah, convince Hamas to recognize Israel's right to exist Continues...============================================================= Group seen cutting trees to make excellent bird cage lining Vernon Jordan got caught trying to land Monica Lewinsky a plum gig at Revlon to keep her mouth shut; Chuck Robb had a sex scandal with former Miss Virginia Tai Collins and hung out at cocaine parties and listened in...

According to leading Islamists, the Iraq Study Group’s (ISG) recommendation for a Jewish withdrawal from Palestine, an American surrender in Iraq, and acquiescence in Iranian and Syrian hegemony in the region provides a blueprint for the final push toward Mohammed’s dream of universal Islam. “A small group of mujahedeen has brought the so-called superpower to its knees,” said bin Laden lieutenant, Ayman al Zawahiri. “It should be clear that Allah is supreme. The unbelievers can surrender peacefully, as the Iraq Study Group advises. Or they can die painfully as we sever their heads from their bodies.” Abu Nasser, of the...

Mr Barzani was the first Iraqi leader to criticised the ISG report The leader of Iraq's Kurdish region says the US Iraq Study Group report is "unrealistic and inappropriate". Massoud Barzani was sceptical of plans to involve Iraq's neighbours in peace efforts, and for any weakening down of the Kurds' effective autonomy. His comments were then echoed by Iraq's Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, who said he agreed with Mr Barzani.

Leaving office, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld bade a sometimes emotional farewell Friday, saying the single worst day of his nearly six years there was when he learned of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse in Iraq. Rumsfeld choked up briefly while recalling a woman in Alaska giving him a bracelet last August as a reminder of the sacrifices by soldiers of the Army's 172nd Stryker Brigade, whose yearlong tour in Iraq was extended by four months to help try to quell sectarian violence in Baghdad. Showing it still on his wrist, Rumsfeld recalled that he told the woman he would...

It seems that our Senators and Representatives are already looking toward November 4th, 2006. Excerpt from Senator Smith's address to the Senate: I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal . I cannot support that anymore . I believe we need to figure out how to fight the war on terror and to do it right. So either we clear and...

These are realists?By Mona CharenFriday, December 8, 2006 Recommendation 16 of the Iraq Study Group's report calls upon Syria to agree to a peace deal with Israel in return for the Golan Heights. It further suggests that Syria be persuaded to end its interference in Lebanon, cease aiding Hezbollah, convince Hamas to recognize Israel's right to exist, and intervene to obtain the release of two captured Israeli soldiers. Elsewhere the report declares that "Iran should stem the flow of arms and training to Iraq, respect Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and use its influence over Iraqi Shia groups to encourage...

Guest hosting this afternoon's Hardball, Mike Barnicle claimed to decry the politics surrounding the Iraq Study Group's report. But when it comes to political cheap shots, does it get much lower than this comment by Barnicle himself? "Since the report was issued, I think 19 Americans have been killed in Iraq. Does anybody really think about that at the top level here today in terms of the report? Is it all just the politics of it?" View video here.To his credit, John Harwood of the WSJ and CNBC didn't buy into Barnicle's cynical take: "No, no. I think people do...

If the ISG was designed to reach a bipartisan consensus, I'm just wondering were there any conservatives on the panel? Republican is one thing but that can mean Chuck Hagel or Rick Santorum republicans.Was there no one on the entire panel who recommended confronting Iran and Syria as terrorist states? Any one at all who thought more military action, not less, is needed in the region? Anybody who said wait, we can't accept Iranian nuke weapons or the Syrian/Iranian takeover of Lebanon?Because if those views weren't represented I sure as hell wasn't represented and I seem to run into a...

SENATOR JOHN KERRY 304 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 DEAR SENATOR KERRY: WE ARE STILL LAUGHING OVER HERE IN IRAQ AT YOUR JOKE ABOUT THE TROOPS BEING DUMB. WE DO RECOGNIZE THAT YOU ARE A LOT SMARTER THAN WE ARE BECAUSE YOU WERE ABLE TO GET OUT OF COMBAT IN THREE MONTHS. THIS IS WHY WE ARE SEEKING YOUR ADVICE. PLEASE GIVE US GUIDANCE. 1.) WHERE IS THE LEAST PAINFUL AREA ON THE BODY TO INFLICT A WOUND? 2.) DOES IT HAVE TO BLEED OR WILL A SCRATCH DO? 3.) WHERE DO YOU GET THE FORMS TO FILL...

President Bush vowed yesterday to come up with "a new strategy" in Iraq but expressed little enthusiasm for the central ideas of a bipartisan commission that advised him to ratchet back the U.S. military commitment in Iraq and launch an aggressive new diplomatic effort in the region. On the day after the congressionally chartered Iraq Study Group released its widely anticipated report, much of Washington maneuvered to pick out the parts they like and pick apart those they do not. The report's authors were greeted with skepticism on Capitol Hill, and Democratic leaders used the occasion to press Bush to...

NEW YORK At his daily briefing at the White House today, Press Secretary Tony Snow was – not surprisingly -- peppered with questions about the proposals and observations in the Iraq Study Group report. On what important matter, he was asked if the president, in light of the group’s description of a severely “grave” situation in Iraq, would now say that it would be hard to turn it around. Snow said that, actually, President Bush was “confident” that this would happen. But the whole kicked off with another classic meetup or smashup between Snow and NBC’s David Gregory. Snow accused...

HH: Pleased to welcome back to the Hugh Hewitt Show Robert Kaplan, author most recently of Imperial Grunts. It’s in paperback now, one of the must read books of 2006, and it’s on any serious student of the war’s shelf. Robert Kaplan, now teaching at the United States Naval Academy. Welcome back, Robert. Always good… RK: It’s my pleasure to be here, Hugh. HH: Well, you’re trying really hard to find the pony… RK: (laughing) HH: …and I read your Atlantic essay today, and I’m going to let you give, because everyone who’s lined up on this program, with the...

All the backslapping over the Baker panel’s report ignores the fact that the Iraq Study Group didn’t say much. In Washington, sometimes it’s preferable to be wrong in a group than to be right alone. Nothing demonstrates the triumph of this truism better than the release Wednesday of the final Iraq Study Group report. The commission’s chairman, James A. Baker III, could not have been more obvious if he had used hand puppets to illustrate what he thought was most important about this supposedly momentous occasion: the fact that all the report’s authors actually agree with its contents. Their product,...

The Iraq Study Group report delivered to President Bush yesterday contains 79 separate recommendations - but not one that explains how American forces can defeat the terrorist insurgents, only ways to bring the troops home. Declaring the situation "grave and deteriorating," the high-powered commission proposed the United States talk directly to terror abettors Iran and Syria to get their cooperation, and commit to removing U.S. combat troops in early 2008.

Between prime-time Senate hearings and crowded press conferences today, elder statesman and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III was shown today's New York Post, which on the cover portrays him as a "surrender monkey." Beneath that wartime headline are two shaggy crouched monkeys with the faces of Mr. Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton. "Lovely," he said as he took the paper in his hands and reviewed it closely.

PETER BROOKES In the end, the report provided some good food for thought — and will add texture to the Iraq reviews that both the Joint Chiefs and National Security Council already have underway. All three will provide the president with a good point of departure for adjusting our strategy and tactics in Iraq. VICTOR DAVIS HANSON The present readjustments of putting more Americans within Iraqi units, changing the ratio of rear echelon to forward-based troops, and widening the parameters of offensive action could provide that window. I wish the Iraqi Study Group had suggested, George Marshall-like, that they were...

The Iraq Study Group says the private army of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr could be 60-thousand fighters strong. Al-Sadr's Mahdi army is one of the concerns highlighted in the Iraq Study Group's report, released yesterday. It's one of many factions undermining U-S efforts to help Iraq's democracy gain control. The study group says many of al-Sadr's followers are planted throughout the security forces that protect Iraqi government institutions. And more worrisome than their numbers, which stood at ten-thousand in 2005, is al-Sadr's organizational ability. One terrorism expert says cell phones, Internet communications and other technology gives the Mahdi army an...

Top 10 Iraq Study Group Solutions To Other Problems In The World: December 7, 2006 – 5:10 pm Emboldened by their success at solving all our problems in the Middle East, and anxious not to lose momentum, The Iraq Study Group announced that they secretly decided to devote an extra day to ten additional problems. They are listed below: 10. Smoking. ISG: “Quit.” 9. Spouse Abuse. ISG: “Get Out Now.” 8. Teenage Homelessness. ISG: “Run Back To Mommy.” 7. Drug Abuse ISG: “Just Say “No”.” 6. Grizzly Bear Attacks. ISG: “Lay Down and Play Dead .” 5. Litter in Public...

In my student days back at the University of Chicago, there was a campus comedy troupe modeled on Second City, their more well-known uptown uncle. The U of C group was pretty funny, if in a somewhat bookish way. (Who else does a comedy routine based on Oedipus Rex?) One of their funniest bits was a recurring skit about a superhero named Captain Obvious. In each scene, a character would face a mundane problem, only to be "saved" by the banal and utterly unhelpful advice offered by Captain Obvious. "I've locked my keys in my car. What am I going...

How do you know the Iraq Study Group's suggestion of reaching out to Iran and Syria is in trouble? When even a leading MSM light like Matt Lauer approvingly cites, of all people, leading neo-con Richard Perle to shoot down the idea.The Baker-Hamilton duo were making the TV rounds this morning, and it wasn't long into their chat with Matt that he hit them with this:"Let's talk about this idea of reaching out to the people in the neighborhood - Syria and Iran. Richard Perle said recently that 'talking to Iran about Iraq will be seen throughout the region as...

Israelis Wary of Baker's Report By Julie Stahl CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief December 06, 2006 Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - An influential bipartisan panel is due to present recommendations Wednesday on U.S. options in Iraq, but some Israelis worry that the report could have significant and harmful repercussions for their country. President Bush has reportedly assured Israeli leaders that the report by the Iraq Study Group, co-chaired by Republican James Baker III and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton, deals primarily with Iraq. But some experts here, citing Baker's background and approach, believe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will again be dragged into the fray....

By Melanie Hunter CNSNews.com Senior Editor December 06, 2006 Iraq Panelists Spent 'Limited Time' There, Group Says (CNSNews.com) - A conservative group said Wednesday the bipartisan Iraq Study Group had compiled its report on policy options for Iraq after spending a "limited time" in that country. "The principals of the group never once stepped foot in the one region in Iraq where things are actually going well - in the northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan," said Move America Forward chairwoman Melanie Morgan. "It is slipshod work to search for a path to success when you ignore those who have already...

Today, President Bush met with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez at the White House. And Vice President Dick Cheney met with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. That’s about it. Enjoy your visit to-- Oh wait. Almost forgot … A group of self-centered, short-sighted fools led by James Baker and Lee Hamilton released their report on how we can surrender to our enemies. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

A call for President George W. Bush to reduce US support to Iraq if Baghdad fails to improve security drew a sour response from Iraqi politicians, who said Washington had an obligation to back their government. "The US calls itself an occupying force in Iraq and, according to the Geneva Conventions, if you are an occupier then you are responsible for the country," said parliamentarian Mahmud Othman, a Kurd. "They have no right to to do this. This is unfair." Bassim Ridha, a top advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said the White House has to support Baghdad "all the...

Isn’t the main problem with the Iraq Study Group that it’s just majorly lame? Almost anybody could crank out this kind of generalized boilerplate (“We were told by a general/a translator/my taxi driver/my Ukrainian hooker…”), and most of us could do it without a budget of gazillions of dollars and an Annie Leibovitz photo session. Of course, Syria “should” do this and Iran “should” do that and, if they were Sandra Day O’Connor, I’m sure they would. But they’re not. And the only specific strategic proposal is a linkage between Iraq and a “renewed and sustained commitment” to a “comprehensive...

James Baker's "Iraq Study Group" seems to have been cast on the same basis as Liza Minnelli's last wedding. A stellar lineup: Donna Summer, Mickey Rooney, the Doobie Brothers, Gina Lollobrigida, Michael Jackson, Mia Farrow, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Jill St. John. That's Liza's wedding, not the Baker Commission. But at both gatherings everyone who was anyone was there, no matter how long ago it was they were anyone. So the fabulous Baker boy was accompanied by Clinton officials Leon Panetta and Bill Perry, Clinton golfing buddy Vernon Jordan, Clinton's fellow sex fiend Chuck Robb, the quintessential ''moderate'' Republican...

In the frenzied final week of the Iraq Study Group's deliberations, co-chairmen James Baker and Lee Hamilton took time out to pose for a photo spread for a fashion magazine, Men's Vogue. This might seem a dubious decision given the gravity of the moment and their self-appointed roles as the nation's saviors. The "wise men" who counseled Lyndon Johnson during Vietnam and the members of the Kissinger Commission who tried to reshape Ronald Reagan's Central American policies did not sit for Annie Leibovitz in the middle of their endeavors. Nor did they hire a mega-public relations firm to sell their...

Iraq: A panel notable for its total absence of military expertise is set to recommend "redeploying" U.S. forces in Iraq. Someone ought to remind James Baker that George W. Bush is commander in chief and he isn't. 'According to people familiar with the panel's deliberations," reports the New York Times, the Iraq Study Group, composed of such great military minds as former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Clinton political operative Vernon Jordan, agreed Wednesday on recommending to President Bush a gradual pullout of the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq beginning next year. The ISG panel also...

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan commission has reached a consensus on new U.S. policies for Iraq and will announce its recommendations next week, the group's co-chairman said Wednesday. Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., declined to disclose any specifics about the Iraq Study Group's decisions. The report, much anticipated by the Bush administration and members of Congress, is coming out next Wednesday amid the spiraling violence in Iraq that has raised questions about the viability of the Iraqi government and U.S. policy for a deeply unpopular war "This afternoon, we reached a consensus ... and we will announce that on December 6,"...

In a secret end run around Cheney and Rumsfeld, the secretary of state pressed Bush to back the Iraq Study Group -- and change the course of the war. In late 2005, three Washington insiders with foreign policy expertise were summoned to a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- a little-known event that may end up changing the course of the war in Iraq. The three men were working to help Rep. Frank Wolf, who wanted to create an independent panel to overhaul the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq, after a recent trip there left the Virginia Republican...

In last week's Geopolitical Intelligence Report, we discussed the way in which the United States has opened up a window of opportunity for other powers. Iraq and Afghanistan have absorbed a large percentage of U.S. ground combat capability, limiting U.S. military options elsewhere. An internal political crisis has further limited the Bush administration's options. With the outcome of the November midterm elections uncertain, outside powers have a window of opportunity in which to take risks. This week, the North Koreans took advantage of that window of opportunity. At this moment, it is not clear what Pyongyang actually has achieved: We...

  Dave Gaubatz A former U.S. federal agent and counter-terrorism specialist deployed to Iraq before the war says he waged a three-year, unsuccessful battle to get officials to search four sites where he believes the former Saddam regime buried weapons of mass destruction. Dave Gaubatz, an Arabic linguist who now serves as chief investigator with the Dallas County Medical Examiner, told his story to Ryan Mauro of WorldThreats.com. Gaubatz said the suspected sites have never been searched by the Iraq Survey Group, the fact-finding mission dispatched by the U.S.-led multinational force. Two sites are within the city limits of Nasariyah,...

Sean Osborne, Associate Director and Senior Analyst at the Northeast Intelligence Network relays a stunning report on the frustrations of retired Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) agent Paul “Dave” Gaubatz. According to Gaubatz he has had a three year battle in trying to get the Iraqi Survey Group (ISG) or any other appropriate agency to investigate four sites in Iraq suspected of having biological and chemical weapons. Gaubitz, a 20 year active duty veteran, was also a specially trained US Federal counter-intelligence agent and Arabic linguist. In April of 2003 he was sent to Iraq and while there,...

What exactly was moved out of Iraq? Two weeks before the war started, Hans Blix presented a report called, Unresolved Disarmament Issues. For those who don't trust or believe the Bush Administration's claims about WMD, this report is a much better description of the alleged threat that Saddam's Regime posed. After the war, the Iraq Survey Group scoured the country looking to answer the Unresolved Disarmament Issues and to assess the threat of WMD posed by Saddam's regime. Combined, the before and after reports are a little under 1200 pages. The difference between the two-that is to say the Remaining...

Saddam's "Special Weapons" went by air to Syria, Belarus, and possibly Russia and Libya as well. They went by ground to Syria, and they went by sea to points unreported. The plan was called "Sarindar" ("Emergency Exit"), and it wasn't much different in general strategic terms from the American flight from South Vietnam. Just as U.S. embassy officials shredded and burned documents when Saigon fell, and again in Tehran, Kabul, and a dozen other fallen nations, the Russians and others did what they could to move, hide, and/or destroy their sensitive documents, equipment that they'd provided to Saddam's Regime, as...

The 1990-2003 War Against Saddam has millions of untold stories. Perhaps one of the most important happened at the onset of the invasion. On the evening of March 22 there are several reports that Russians were witness to an American airborne assault near the Syrian/Jordanian/Iraq border, on or near Highway 11, and in the vicinity of Akashat. Allegedly American airborne troops and/or Special Forces were trying to seize some of Saddam’s WMD on its way into Syria. They were detected by Iraqi forces, surrounded, and as many as 30 were killed or captured. Forces from Jordan were sent to provide...

In December 2002, Russia’s Middle East envoy, Yevgeny Primakov (former Russian Intelligence Chief), flew to Baghdad under the front of making one last chance for peace with the dictator. As soon as his plane landed, it was allegedly loaded with “sensitive materials” and flown directly to Belarus. People speculate as to whether or not it was WMD, WMD equipment, documents, people, or things the Russians didn’t want the US to get their hands on, but in any event…the plane was loaded with things the US wanted. There is no doubt that the Russians did send GPS jammers to confuse American...

In Search of Saddam Hussein’s WMD: Introducing Iraqi General Georges Sada Part 1 of a 5 World/Sam Pender April 3, 2006 Have you ever noticed that it’s always politicians, media types, and either washed up or disgruntled anonymous intelligence sources who claim that there never was any WMD in Iraq? On the other hand, nearly every single commander and deputy commander of CENTCOM says that Saddam did have WMD. So too do the inspectors with the closest knowledge of before and after inspections: Dr Butler, Dr Kay, Dr Duelfer, and most of the former UN inspectors (only Dr Blix and...

Iraq VP and Taliban representative meeting II "Both in One Trench" ISGP-2003-00014127 Ray: Sammi provides us with a follow up meeting between a Pakistani cleric and the Vice President of Iraq. The main topic is establishment of a secret relationship between the Taliban and Iraq through Iraqi Intelligence apparatus for the purpose of assisting each other against the United States. Context: before the Taliban took full control of Kandahar, there were several factions fighting to gain power. There is another document at the FMSO website in which Saddam and his ministers discuss Afghanistan and how the different factions are vying...

The proof has been right in front of you the entire time. Documents available on the internet, which pass the smell test and are probably genuine, show the link between Saddam and al Qaeda. On October 11th, 2004 an online news service called CNSnews published 42 documents that they claimed came from the Iraq Survey Group. The documents supposedly came from an ISG official who claimed they were captured in Iraq. CNSnews provided this information along with testimony from experts who authenticated the documents to the best of their ability. The story can be found here. I have no connection...