It Isn't "Hypothetical" Any More

Wow, it’s difficult to digest (at least for me, anyway) the fact that the Iraq government missed all of its benchmarks in anticipation of some kind of a handoff between our forces and what passes for leadership in that war-ravaged country (as well as ours).

I’m not sure it is possible for Bushco to continue to prop up this idiotic façade of something approximating success in Iraq any more as the congressional leadership of his own party continues to quite rightly disown him on the war (an escapade that has exacted a huge financial cost in addition to the toll on human life, as noted here). Of course, our ruling cabal will continue trying to do that, but events are overtaking their rhetoric in more dramatic ways by the day, including the massing of a huge Turkish military force on Iraq’s border in response to attacks by separatist rebels from Iraq into that country (and if anyone thinks Turkey would invade Iraq to go after the terrorists and then quietly leave without setting up some kind of a presence, they’re as naïve as Dubya).

This stunning failure of Iraq’s government made me recall this article in the Washington Post last October written by Thomas E. Ricks and Walter Pincus (don't know if registration is required) in which President 29 Percent Mandate “stacked the deck” rhetorically when it came to Iraq meeting its benchmarks, dismissing the consequences of failure to do so as “hypothetical.”

By that time, our country had long since become utterly fed up with this pointless war. Yesterday’s dismal benchmark news was merely an exclamation point of sorts.

But of course, that still gave partisans such as Repug Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, who steadfastly supports our horror in Iraq and opposes either extending habeas corpus rights to those held at Guantanamo or shutting down the facility altogether, a chance to spew more freeper nonsense.

Well, as far as setting a deadline to “walk off the battlefield” in Iraq, as Kyl put it when the Dems sent the war funding bill with timelines to Dubya earlier this year prior to the inevitable veto, this Think Progress link notes that, while Kyl opposes setting a deadline for withdrawal of our forces under Dubya, he had no problem doing that twice under President Clinton (and do I really have to note whether or not Kyl served?).

Also, mcjoan at The Daily Kos notes here that the benchmark news makes the bill from Senate Dem Ken Salazar and Repug Lamar Alexander that would bring us “Iraq Study Group II – The Sequel” look even more ridiculous (approved also by Sideshow Bob Casey, who hasn’t covered himself in glory at all on the war between that and opposing the Reid-Feingold amendment here).