The Surge Report

I will now grade the report and the hearings on the report:

General Patraeus: A
Ambasador Crocker: B
Their Report: D
House: C
Senate: B+

Democrats: C
Republicans: D
MoveOn.ORG: F

Detail:
Basically the report is designed to put a pretty mask on an ugly face. The general did a great job in this. However if I read between the penta-speak he seems to be trying to let everyone down as gently as he can. Remember that David Patraeus was a disenter as was Crocker, and neither were listened to in the early days of the war. Only now after years of straw-grasping has the White House decided to dump their shit in the laps of two guys who basically were, in 2003, wincing in anticipation of the crap storm to come.

To try and hang these guys as White House stooges is not only unproductive but wrong, and stupid. These, gulp, are the good guys. Of all the ideologues trotted out by Bush-co since the war began these two guys are the most realistic.

This is why I gave MoveOn.org an F. There ad, I guess, is designed to shoot the only people, who might figure a way out of this, in the head. MoveOn should shut up. These guys we can work with. Remember they are not mush loved in the White House either. Neither was part of the making of this mess and both warned of the potential for catastrophe. They need our help in ending this not stupid and insulting adds. MoveOn.org is proving their detractors right in thinking that they are only a bunch of political hacks that want to damage a political rival not help the nation.

Congressional response to the report is really dualistic. The House of Reps was all over the map and rather unhelpful themselves, not having a coherrent response. The Senate was a lot tougher and more coherrent crowd. Obama really was da-man when he came right to the point in asking how much longer.

Crocker was correct in day one, mimicking my own thoughts a bit, when he said that Iraq is not going to go away. Pulling out, staying, doing this or that, will not make the movie end. It is ironic and pathetic that the White House is now using the same arguments that the anti-war crowd used in 2002-3 in opposing the war, as reason we now have to stay.

As for moving forward leadership still seems to be scrambling on the hill and in the White House. Brian Bard, a democrat, wants to raises taxes to pay for the war and draft people into service until this thing is done. Some republicans want to pull the plug now. But most want to have their cake and eat it too. Nobody wants to have "war loser" put around their necks. So they will not do anything. This is why it is sooooooooooooooo important to be nice with Patraeus and Croker. To demonize them now is 100% counterproductive. Since they will most likely be the ones working on Iraq when the next President moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. And simply dumping them on that day is shortsighted and offensively dilusional since who do we think we can put in there to get us out with the least amount of disaster.

And that is really what we are talking about, even the good general and ambassador. Basically trying to get out with the least amount of disaster.