[goldstategop]

Mark Steyn nailed Washington's senior dotages and their inane 79 point guesswork of a strategy. America should sue for terminal exhaustion. Its hard to tell if this country is a superpower or a third-rate basket case. How very apopros!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[goldstategop]

Best Mark Steyn Tag Of 2006:

Surrender Grandpas!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Van Jenerette]

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. - 1 Corinthians 1:19

(Note: I don't 'quote' often, but this seems to be a perfect fit for the situation...)

[Uncle Ike]

" James Baker has achieved the perfect reductio ad absurdum of diplomatic self-adulation: he's less rational than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "

Yet another "The Emperor has no clothes!" moment from Mr. Steyn.

Has anybody noticed, by the bye, that Mr. Baker is serving a somewhat serendipitous function in this aftermath of the ISG Report -- he's shielding Lee Hamilton from the loud, long, and public scorn he so rightly deserves.

[MNJohnnie]

Only in Washington DC would you form a Congressional Commission and include not a single retired military officer with Counter Insurgency expereince or any Arab-Persian Political/Cultural Regional Expert on the panel.

Some where the ghost of LBJ is laughing his butt off watching another bunch of DC policy geeks and Beltway insiders trying to micromanage a war from 9,000 miles away

[patj]

Wonderfully accurate. What concessions has Syria demanded?

[Lurker]

And, incidentally, how did that phrase -- "the right of return" -- get so carelessly inserted into a document signed by two former secretaries of state, two former senators, a former attorney general, Supreme Court judge, defense secretary, congressman, etc.

Dear Mr. Steyn,

Here's how it happened. The Saudi royals wrote some really, really big checks to Mr. Bakers law firm.

Love your work,

L

[Ninian Dryhope]

"A diverse quintet, representing many distinctive approaches to international affairs from stylish hauteur to polonium-210."

Priceless!

[ByteMercenary]

ISG = islamic Surrender Guidelines

[ThreePuttinDude]

and the funniest part of the whole thing, they
are called a "Blue Ribbon Panel"

When are the beltway numbskulls going to get a clue.
OH, wait they think they have a monopoly of "clues"

Never mind, I must need another cup of coffee.

[Smokin' Joe]

If they're lucky, this document will be tossed in the trash and these men and women will be the laughingstocks of posterity.

At least this is a great compilation of how not to deal with the situation.

Steyn nails it again...

[savedbygrace]

James Baker has achieved the perfect reductio ad absurdum of diplomatic self-adulation: he's less rational than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Bwahahahahahaha.

[mkjessup]

It disturbs me to consider the possibility, but consider it I must, that at some point there will be (or perhaps has already been) a not so subtle nudge to President Bush from James Baker that were it not for his efforts in November/December 2000, that it could be President Al Gore finishing up his second term.

Not that I believe it was all due to Baker's assistance in Florida that the non-stop recount nonsense was finally ended, but in Baker's egomaniac mind, he may actually believe that the President 'owes' him.

Hence, the 'Surrender Gran'Pas' want THEIRS!

And when do they want it?

NOW!

[PghBaldy]

The tragic thing is this report gets credence in the media and the Congress (and the WH- the President was respectful to it, when we knew what was coming even before it was released). Great article. The tragedy is the US (State Dept blah blah blah) will strongly suggest Israel give up more peace. Bush is the best friend of Israel compared to other Presidents, but Condi says some disturbing things. I wish someone other than Olmert were in charge in Israel.

[SMM48]

I'm confused! Are there 79 points to this report or is 79 the average age of the group that produced the report?

[T-Bird45]

ISG = Inane Self-Gratification = Mental Masturbation

[RonDog]

See also, from pookie18's Today's Toons 12/4/06:

[samtheman]

So there you have it: an Iraq "Support Group" that brings together the Arab League, the European Union, Iran, Russia, China and the U.N. And with support like that who needs lack of support?

How can it possibly fail? The "Support Group" thus constituted would have two distinct classes of members: a) those with a history of committing mass murder and b) those with a history of enabling, apologizing for or turning a blind eye towards mass murder.

Who wouldn't want to be supported by a group like that?

[samtheman]

I'm not one of those who assumes that just because much of James Baker's post-government career has been so lavishly endowed by the Saudis that he must necessarily be a wholly owned subsidiary of King Abdullah, but it's striking how this document frames all the issues within the pathologies of the enemy.

I assume it, and have for a long time. Baker is a bought-and-sold Saudi agent (though he's probably too brick-stupid to be able to face that fact to himself). I don't know what motivates the other senility-prone nitwits in the "group", other than plain garden-variety treason-for-the-sake-of-trendiness, but I have a very strong opinion that Bush I and his cadaver clique have long been motivated by their strong links to the House of Saud.

[prairiebreeze]

I'm not one of those who assumes that just because much of James Baker's post-government career has been so lavishly endowed by the Saudis that he must necessarily be a wholly owned subsidiary of King Abdullah,

I am.

but it's striking how this document frames all the issues within the pathologies of the enemy.

Spot on. Baker is a coward, among other things.

[armymarinemom]

The more one reads the recommendations the worse it gets.

RECOMMENDATION 26: Constitution review. Review of the constitution is essential to national reconciliation and should be pursued on an urgent basis. The United Nations has expertise in this field, and should play a role in this process.

Doesn't this just make you want to start pulling your hair out?