The Importance of Being Earnest

256 thoughts on “The Importance of Being Earnest”

1. Bush may not be the best guy to lead us to victory in
   Iraq
   . But he’s the guy we have. And victory is the what we need.
   As was said in the Princess Bride: “Get used to disappointment.”

2. Tim, you do realize the consequences of that “disappointment,” don’t you?

3. first of all, the formatting of this post is really messed-up – the word “Iraq” is always on its own line.
   Incompetence, failure, mistake: these may be damnable offenses, but they are not failures of will.
   of course they are. it’s a failure of political will to send enough troops to do the job in a reasonable time. put a thousand troops on that road: voila, secure road. not enough troops to do that? well why didn’t Bush send more ? you know the answer.
   Indeed, many did conclude that Kerry was weaker and more wobbly on the war than Bush. It was not mass hysteria that led millions of voters to conclude as much. Nor was it stupidity. These voters listened to the facts, and thought it out.
   i doubt your mad mass mind reading skillz.

4. von: the main claim I wanted to make in my post was purely negative: there are certain sorts of mistakes you do not make when you really care about something; the Bush administration and those who voted for him because of the war made those mistakes; therefore, whatever their motives, a real commitment to succeeding in Iraq could not have been the primary one. It was not about what their motives actually were, nor (as far as I can tell) does it rely on any positive claim about their motives.
   Specifically: I did not mean to say that the administration was either stupid or black-hearted. (In fact, one way to see my argument is: consider the level of stupidity that would be required to make their mistakes if they did really and truly care about success in Iraq. No one is that stupid. An accountant would not forget to add up the numbers on a project he cared about. An airline designer would not forget to factor in gravity if the love of his life would be traveling on the plane. Ergo, etc.)
   What I did mean to say was that whatever their level of intelligence, and whatever their motives, they made mistakes that they would not have made had they really cared about success in Iraq. I did not say what I thought Bush was motivated by; only that the quotes I cited — the first about his wanting to have a war, the second about his being off in search of the next big thing — did not suggest that that motive, whatever it was, was a real desire to succeed in Iraq.
   And the point about the tantrums was not meant to say e.g. that Iraq was just one big tantrum. It was to say: there are people whose view of their relation to the world is just all screwed up. If someone’s view was all screwed up in one specific way — not realizing that thinking really hard about something is normally essential to realizing complicated goals — they might “care” as much as possible and still not think. The tantrums were there just because it’s hard to see how someone would (in childhood) fail to notice the connection between figuring out how to get stuff they wanted and actually getting it, absent some other way of getting stuff; and since things don’t normally come on command, imagining that people brought those things on command seemed more plausible.
   (This may be the influence of Rousseau speaking.)
   About the supporters: again, I did not want to make any positive claim about what motivated them. I just wanted to say: Bush’s incompetence at prosecuting this war was quite clear by the time the election rolled around. Moreover, there was no likelihood at all that he would change. But this did not deter them from voting for him.
   Stupidity would be one explanation here; but it is, as before, opposed to the one I offer. Mine is, basically, carelessness. And, again, carelessness is a negative: the absence of sufficient care. What positive motivation accounts for that absence, I really don’t think I say; at any rate, I don’t mean to.
   (About Kerry: I think that the idea that we should not have gotten into the war in Iraq is totally distinct from the claim that we should not fight to win once we’re there. And the surmise that he might be beholden to some wing of the Democratic party is a pretty weak reed stacked up against Bush’s obvious and actual incompetence.
   Note that the crucial question here is not: was he feckless or was he stubborn? If what you care about is winning, it ought to be: will he win or will he not? The explanation of Bush’s incompetence isn’t the issue here; it’s the fact of it.)
   Blah blah. Too long already. Thanks.

5. I didn’t get a chance to post on hilzoy’s post, so I will do so here, with a look at your cooments as well.
   I think hilzoy’s post was excellent, but, I must admit, for the most part, your comments are a refreshing rejoinder. Refreshing in the sense that you present a reasoned, non-demonizing response.
   There are really two components to both posts. The first is to look at Bush, and those who voted for him. The second is about the current state of affairs in Iraq and what to do going fowrd.
   I think hilzoy was wrong in bringing up the “temper tantrum” issue about our leader. In truht, I think Bush is the product of an environment where accountability was never required. No matter what mistakes he made, and they were legion, he never had to accept responsibility or consequences. He was always rescued.
   This includes his prior drinking behaviors, low grades, and definitely almost all of the businesses he attempted to run. Not only did he not have to accept negative consequences, but he also, in a few incidents, reaped financial rewards.
   This type of situation does not promote a sense of humility, of recognizing that it is always best to look outside oneself.
   If you want to look at his elections as Governor and President, he won, not due to some tremendous admiration for the man, although there were those that did, but as much, if not more, by the demonizing of his opponents. My biggest criticism of Kerry was that he was working form the assumption that the majority of the electorate would actually vote based upon the realities of the world.
   He did not realize, although he probably does now, that most people vote based upon a visceral, emotional response to things.
   Bush, and particularly Rove, did understand that, and campaigned accordingly.
   Actually, in terms of Iraq, I believe that Bush has gotten exactly what he wants from the war: re-election.
   Hilzoy, I do believe Bush cared about Iraq, just not about the Iraqi people. He also, I believe, continues to labor under the illusion that he is incapable of making mistakes.
   I terms of what we do now, I just don’t know. Personally, I have come to believe an orderly withdrawal makes sense, primarily because our current leadership is incapable of doing anythign right there.
   Kerry did not call for a withdrawal, and I think he had enough credibility world-wide to make positive changes. And I think he would have used our military in a far smarter way.
   I don’t think Iraq will become a failed state, although it will not be stable for a while. But then it isn’t now anyway. I do think that the small number of foreign terrorists would quickly be shown the door if we left.
   The fact is, there have been no signals from this administration that we actually do plan on leaving eventually. They keep using the argument that to do so would just tell the insurgents that they can just hold out. There is a basic fallacy to that argument.
   If the insurgents really felt that if Iraq was stable we would leave, then all they would have to do is quiet down for a while. They haven’t because they really don’t believe that we ever plan on leaving.

6. I have to agree with cleek here. Most voters didn’t have much a chance to hear the facts – they heard lies and manipulations, aided and abetted by a press whose major players are a lot more interested in protecting their access than giving us information that might upset their sources. (The case of Wen Ho Lee is particularly illuminating here, for me, but it’s simply the same old thing writ large.) And the election itself included results that would be taken by international monitoring bodies as justification for a full investigation to vote tampering if they occurred in a country that requested or was required to submit to outside observers.
   (I’m phrasing that carefully. I don’t, right here, want to make the flat-out assertion that the election was tampered with enough to alter the voters’ real intent, even though I think it was. I just want to point out that had there been the discrepencies we got in a country we were helping monitor an election for, well-established protocol would call for a lot of scrutiny, recounting, and possibly even revoting. The general public never got that datum or an explanation of why the US should be allowed a degree of statistical improbability and announced bias in vote-taking that other countries wouldn’t.)
   And I have to come back to a key point here: from 9/11/2001 up until quite recently, Bush had an entirely free hand. What he asked for, he got. (And he took quite a lot without asking anyone.) He didn’t have to fight a powerful opposition in Congress or a hostile and skeptical public. He was a free agent in a way few presidents are, and for longer than most of those few are. Was he compelled to dismiss the plans others had made for post-war occupation and development, to oversee a system that would make Communist techniques of mind control standard practice and then lie about it, to under-fund armor for soldiers and treatment for the injured, to do so little to increase recruitment and retention? (Where was the call to arms in 2001 and 2002, and the bond drive?) He was not. Which means that if it didn’t happen, it was because neither he nor anyone advising him cared enough to notice the need and request anything be done about it.
   Everyone makes some mistakes. I would never set up perfection as a standard. But when it happens again and again, I do think it makes most sense to say “Bush and his advisors don’t care enough about building a better Iraq to get good people and give them good resources”.

7. Murtha suggests the simplist formulation: if you want a war, tell the nation that you are willing to draft for it if necessary. If you can’t say that, you don’t get your war, no matter how sad that makes you. If you won’t say that, you aren’t serious about the war as such.
   Even without the war, you guys can still write essays about how “There’s No ‘I’ In Team” or “We Have To Give 110%,” you know.

8. von,
   You and hilzoy seem to be talking past each other. No one doubts that deciding to go to war with Iraq shows stubbornness on the President’s part. However, hilzoy’s point, which I nowhere see you respond to, is that once the decision was made, failing to take the obvious and necessary steps to do it correctly, and to adjust course once mistakes became apparent, shows gross incompetence, to the extent of wishing any potential problems away.
   I am not sure that this shows a failure of will on the part of the President’s to think about what going to war really means and how, once the decision was made, to do it competently. However, any other explanation that I can think of is equally damning:
   a. he and all of his advisors are sufficiently and foolishly optimistic that they could not think anything could possibly go wrong, and those who felt otherwise and wanted to plan for contigencies were shunted aside. While there is some evidence for this, I am not sure it is sufficient to explain the continued unwillingness to rethink our course, and to remove those responsible for the initial failures.
   b. he believed that since his cause was objectively right, it would naturally work out for the best (possibly through divine intervention).
   c. that his primary goal was not to win the war in Iraq, and therefore it did not matter whether he did or did not.
   If there is another explanation for the level of incompetence we have seen, and the willing tolerance of the Administration to permit it to continue unchecked, I cannot think of it. I would listen to other theories, though.

9. What are your consequences?
   IMHO, this war and the way Bush has fought it has guaranteed terrorist attacks against the U.S., not prevented any. Think Russia and Chechenya, and contemplate that we now have blood feuds with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. My only consolation is that when they get organized, they may have a preference for payback against Republicans.
   If you’re worried about the U.S. looking like a loser to the rest of the Middle East, I suspect that ship has sailed.
   More to the point, you disagree with the entire hilzoy post. As shown in the leading quote, half of the point is that stubborness <> will. Put more simply, if everything action Bush does is a mistake, then it’s reasonable to assume that he really doesn’t care one way or another. Indeed, it’s come out over the weekend that he’s planning on withdrawing troops for the 2006 election, simply because it is to his advantage, so most of this discussion is probably moot.

10. Von,
    Thank you for trying to elucidate your position. I, sitting on the other side of the table, have been completely unable to understand why anyone continues to support Bush. I have a greater appreciation for your reasoning.
    I think you still miss Hilzoy’s main point – that anyone who truly took WINNING a war seriously would have carefully examined not only all the alternaitves, but all outcomes. Bush appears to have done neither. From his lack of planning, the arguement is inescapable that he never took winning seriously. He fooled himself with easy lies and false assumptions. Oh, yes, he wanted to win. No one doubts that. But, what’s that old saw, you can want in one hand and shit in the other, and see which one fills up first? Well, we know without a doubt which one fills up first.
    I will tell you what I think victory means in this context. Victory means a true democracy in a united Iraq, one where American troops, if present at all, are looking OUT of Iraq, not in.
    What are the odds of that happening in any finite time frame, given where we are, and more importantly, given who lead us? Even with inspired leadership, the odds are long against victory. With Bush, victory is impossible. The only chance Bush has at “victory” in Iraq lies in the Iraqi people themselves. They must choose to make a country, we cannot make it for them. Truly, it’s the only way a country CAN be made. All inspired American leadership could bring to the table is able assistance – and we have offered none of that. Instead, we have corruption, torture, dead children, and we keep retaking Fallujah. How many times must we retake that one town?
    Tell me, Von, the path we must take to acheive democracy in Iraq. Convince me that ANY plan is doable, and then convince me that Bush can put that plan into effect.
    Until then, I will continue to think that Bush’s supporters are deluded and intentionally avoiding critical thinking.
    Jake
    PS – all that still begs the question of why we are even IN Iraq.

11. first of all, the formatting of this post is really messed-up – the word “Iraq” is always on its own line.
    I was figuring that was poetic license.

12. Von, I think it’s to your credit that you admit that the Admin mistakes. Your views on this subject are not shared by everyone on your side, and I haven’t heard from either the Pres or SecDef ‘I screwed up.’ At most, it’s ‘mistakes were made’ and then ‘but you other guys are worse.’
    Could Kerry have done better? We’ll never know. We don’t know who would’ve been SecDef, we don’t know how other countries in the region and NATO would’ve reacted to a rejection by the public of the current direction.
    My own view is that Kerry’s announced policy wasn’t much different from Bush’s unannounced policy (see Novak’s pre-election writings), and that Kerry would’ve been a lot less beholden to the throw-good-money-after-bad school of thought.
    Your fears about being beholden to the base are not totally irrational, but represent a fundamental misunderstanding of Democratic politics. Dems govern by triangulation. Constantly running against the base. The wisdom of this consistent policy is the biggest debate on the Dem side, followed closely by ‘should we be as mean as they are.’ I think it far more likely that Kerry would have worked harder at victory than Bush is doing, to forestall the ‘who lost Iraq’ debate that would inevitably follow.
    On the main point, I can’t believe that you so thoroughly reject the line Hilzoy draws between wanting something and taking the steps to get it. You can say that you want X, but if your efforts to get X are incompetent and insufficient, surely someone can say ‘you don’t want X enough to do what it takes to get it.’
    I think, by the way, that this describes the general public wrt the war plans we’ve frequently seen from Mr. Bird and Mr. Trevino. It may be that the all-out effort in SA, Pakistan etc that they have oftentimes suggested would “work.” And it is indeed true that our armed forces prevailed over the Philippine insurgency early in the 20th century, and over the Native Americans in the 19th. We are not those people any more. We do not want victory badly enough to have Wounded Knees. Or Washitas.
    Does this mean we don’t have the “will” to win? If winning required this sort of thing, the answer would be yes. The thing is, as Weinberger and Powell emphasized, you have to build this into your decision making before going to war. People are willing to go to war under certain circumstances. Those circumstances did not really exist in 2002/03, but the Admin did it’s best to get people to think they did.
    There are plenty of times when you or I might want to see a use of force that does not comply with the Powell Doctrine. And maybe we’d be right on some kind of objecdtive moral scale. Maybe we’d even get lucky enough to get away with it. But when one gambles on a war without meeting the PD and loses, the result is what we’re seeing, and worse.
    That’s a little long, but I think it can fairly be said that anyone serious about remaking the ME through force of arms would have worked up a plan that complies with the Powell Doctrine.

13. All:
    Thanks for your comments. Because I’m currently on a short vacation and my internet connection is not-so-excellent (and I haven’t yet figured out how to blog from a Blackberry), I won’t be able to respond to each in the manner that I’d like. But I have and will read each one.
    von

14. Whatever the actual consequences of a US pull-out, I doubt many Americans will be paying much attention to predictions of consequences (or spooky dark hints) coming from those who pushed so hard to get the US into Iraq in the first place.
    Think of it as one consequence of being so wrong, for so long.

15. FYI: The not-so-excellent internet connection is why my post is wierdly formatted. I think I’ve (mostly) corrected it, but my apologies for any problems you may experience.
    Hilzoy, I understand that you primarily intended to make “negative” points but, in the course of doing so, you must see that you also made several positive assertions — which are addressed in my post.

16. von — have a great vacation. (And check your email.)

17. Bush may not be the best guy to lead us to victory in Iraq. But he’s the guy we have.
    Bush proved himself too incompetent to lead the US to victory in Iraq long before 2004, a fact you yourself recognized. He did not gain any competence by winning the 2004 election: indeed, if we were to judge him by his public comments, it would appear that he thinks winning the 2004 election proves he was right all along and has fresh “political capital” to spend.
    And victory is the what we need.
    Why, yes. But needing isn’t getting. The US needs to win in Iraq: but Bush isn’t the President to do it. So, the US is headed for defeat: it’s only a question of how much the US will lose before 2008, not if. That was settled in November 2004.

18. I now see that in what used to be the Murtha post, Mr. Bird has come around to my way of thinking. We’re winning, and can draw down. We’ll never kill all opponents of the Iraqi government, or even those willing to use force against it. We are not going to see a failed state, though. Nothing worse than maybe a couple of failed provinces.

19. Von, I wish you would have read my previous response to your comment on the subject, because you run into the same mistake.
    “Incompetence, failure, mistake: these may be damnable offenses, but they are not failures of will.”
    I suggest the problem in Iraq is not a failure of will, but a failure of any realistic understanding of how efforts are linked to outcomes.
    “If you think the current state of events is bad, wait until you see worse.”
    This seems to be the core point of your argument. We have to win, because failure sucks, and so we have to stay, because its the only way to win.
    Well, there’s two assumptions, both WRONG, in the logic.
    1) That staying is any more likely to accomplish success than leaving.
    2) That the “failure” that will be occasioned with us leaving is not the best case scenario.
    The first point is easy enough to elucidate, since John Murtha did my heavy lifting over the last two days. I should only point out that, far from what Charles has painted him, he’s an optomist.
    The second is derived from the first, but maybe I can use an analogy.
    You’ve lost 10,000 at a Roulette table in Vegas, and then you learn the game is rigged. Your wife is gonna KILL you when she finds out. She’s standing right over there (hey, wave), and so as soon as you leave the roulette table, you’re toast: unless you win back the 10,000.
    Of course, because the game is rigged, the chance of you putting you money down on black and it coming up on black is 0%. But you’ve got 10,000 left (it’s your child’s college fund).
    No end but victory right? Don’t you have to plop the $10,000 down on black in the rigged game?

20. Thank you von for this post. i was hoping that you would respond to hilzoy because I was hoping a dialog could develop. It is important to be reminded that people on all sides (and this isn’t a two sided debate) are, for the most part people of good will. One gets the impression from rightwing blogs and statements by Republicans on the House floor, that one cannot criticize without being unpatriotic. In that atmosphere it is easy to get sucked into the negativity. Not that Hilzoy did, in my opnion. I am writing about myself.
    I don’t think the “get out now ” wing of the Democrats has much political influence on the leadership of the Democrats. That’s why Murtha’s statement was so striking. I just got one of those Hilary Clinton mailings requesting my opinions on the issues she deems important. The Iraq War isn’t even on the list of issues. The Democrats in influential positions within the party for a long time simply didn’t talk about the war. When they did begin to speak out it was nearly always in terms of some kind of organized departure, based on conditions in Iraq or a time schedule worked out with the Iraqis. Since the Bush administration itself is now looking into the option of a partial withdrawal after the election, I don’t see how this kind of discussion can be considered defeatist. (not that von used the word ‘defeatist”).
    I think that Bush is poised to betray those Americans who sincerely believe that we need to sustain a commitment to Iraq until some set of circumstances which could be called success has been achieved. I think he is all rhetoric and very lacking in will. My expectation is that he will use the elections as the excuse for a withdrawal, and spin the withdrawal as a step in a long term commitment. Then he will stand pat until our elections inspire him to make another withdrawal, also spun as part of our long term commitment. My assumption is that he is unwiling or unable to distinguish policy from spin and that his actions are far more oriented toward increasing the power of the Republcan party than toward any other goal. After all, if he was serious about a longterm commitment he would also be serious about a tax increase and some way to draft or recruit more troops. Those are tough issues and he shows no sign of being willing to face either one.

21. I should probably say, for the record, that when I wrote my post, I had von explicitly in mind as someone who did care about winning, and (partially) as a result did not vote for Bush. It’s the people who support the war and did not draw that conclusion who puzzle me.
    I don’t say this because I think it affects von’s points one way or the other; and I’m writing it less for von than for everyone else.

22. I think the clue to “what ails us” is in Von’s post:
    I am a war supporter who, out of disgust with the Administration, voted for John Kerry in the last election, a man who did and still does strike me as a total boob
    That seems a very rational reponse to the situation.
    Having sat on my side of the fence and watched those who, unlike Von or Sullivan etc., still voted for Bush was totally incomprehensible. Totally. Why on earth would you vote for more of the same catastrophic incompetence? Why? Why? Why?
    If you had the ability to see that incompetence for what it was, then one would assume you’d make a similarly rational choice in the election. Those who didn’t make that rational choice left me dumbfounded, and so, looking for some explanation for such madness, I concluded, that they either were “testosterone-fueled nincompoops” or they simply were not paying any attention.
    I see there’s a third choice. They believed in the mission Bush spelled out and (what?) hoped he’d get his act together? Again, Why, why, why?
    Why would you expect him to do any better in a second term?
    But then, perhaps suggesting his vote wasn’t that rational, Von argues that there’s no evidence to suggest Kerry would have fought the war better…
    I return to my metaphor of the president driving the car over the cliff…perhaps the person next to him isn’t universally considered a good driver, but so long as after throwing the President out of the car, he stomps on the breaks and then looks for a rational alternative to a Thelma and Louise style ending, he is the better choice.
    late for a meeting…I’ll be thinking about this and get back…
    good debate though!

23. I think hilzoy’s post was excellent, but, I must admit, for the most part, your comments are a refreshing rejoinder. Refreshing in the sense that you present a reasoned, non-demonizing response.
    I concur.

24. I concur.
    Me too.
    I don’t agree with Von: but I think this is the best possible response to Hilzoy’s post.

25. You seem to have utterly missed the point of Hilzoy’s argument. Utterly. This is not better demonstrated by the bizarre statement:
    “Hilzoy has absolutely no idea what actually motivates the folks on the “other side” of this debate.”
    Nowhere in Hilzoy’s post is any understanding of motivations claimed. Her premise, which apparently needs to be state a little more clearly for you — fundamental mistakes of action are made when those taking such action fail to think, which demonstrates a lacking of care or interest — leads her to the conclusion, via observation of the obvious debacle in Iraq and the disinterest in planning for that debacle, that Bush and his administration didn’t care about the putative achievement of “winning.” No claim about motivations was present nor would it be germane. You’re arguing points that were never made and are not relevant.
    Read it again!

26. I see there’s a third choice
    i see a fourth choice: the Iraq war wasn’t their highest priority. no matter what language they use to describe the war now, they lumped all of Bush’s platform together and weighed it against all of Kerry’s.
    in other words: i believe their current strident militaristic rhetoric about “will” and the evils of “dissent” and how the war is of the very utmost importance to everyone for all eternity is a bit hollow.

27. Discussing “will” in the context of the Bush administration is a misnomer, inflicted on Hilzoy by the need to respond to Charles’s bizarre arguments.
    Can’t remember where I saw The Great Gatsby quoted as summation of this White House, but it’s the best explanation I’ve seen:
    It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy–they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.
    Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld in a nutshell. They just don’t care. They wouldn’t know what “care” meant, outside the most obvious interpersonal level, if it bit them on the ass.

28. in other words: i believe their current strident militaristic rhetoric about “will” and the evils of “dissent” and how the war is of the very utmost importance to everyone for all eternity is a bit hollow.
    Speaking of motivations, I’m a little curious as to the number of people who claim(ed) that Iraq was of paramount importance, but voted for Bush because of potential SCOTUS appointments. I wouldn’t ordinarily be so cynical — no, really! — except that the reaction to Harriet Myers (both her nomination and ultimate withdrawal) seemed a little too… personal, if you know what I mean, to be accounted for by allegations of mere cronyism.
    And include me amongst those who think that von more or less missed hilzoy‘s point here. Likewise, amongst those who thank von for his reasoned (if, IMO, wrong) disagreement.

29. I think that an additional option is being overlooked, Edward. There are people who Believed in the mission, believed Bush was the man to accomplish it, and believe that we are, in fact, winning and that the negative stories coming back to us are part of the media’s attempt to sell newspapers or attack the President.
    It’s a perfectly self-reinforcing worldview, but I find quite a few people who have it.

30. Is there some reason the font size keeps jumping back and forth in Von’s piece? It’s very distracting to trying to read it.

31. Cleek,
    I wish to commend you on your kindness, your post about other priorities was nicely done. I would likely have said something totally nonproduction about those who voted based on the notion that avoiding gay marriage is far more important that winning in Iraq or against terrorism.

32. 1) The point has been made already in various ways: but if I understand well that I need to register in order to vote, yet do not register, it becomes harder to make the case that I really passionately sincerely wanted to vote.
    2) Thus it is very difficult for me to understand von’s argument that the administration really really wanted to secure the airport road (or provide electricity and water) but failed due to incompetence. Securing the airport road was not an insurmountably difficult task to accomplish in 2 1/2 years. These tasks were very important in terms of Iraqi morale, cooperation, pro-democracy sentiment. Sadr rules in part because of these failures.
    3) However, contra hilzoy, it might be that the administration or Centcom sincerely believed the airport road could be best secured by killing the insurgents in Tikrit and Anbar province.
    4) There was an item on metrics recently, that units were judged by the number of detainees/insurgents interrogated. A unit who came out of a neighborhood with no captures had failed. Guess the consequences of the policy.
    No promotions or medals for successful sentry duty on the airport road. This army blows stuff up good, and does not do nation building or police work.
    In other words, the will might have been there, but the strategy mistaken, and the tools available inadequate, even tho numerous.
    We still do not have a military with a force structure and culture to do COH.

33. “Withdrawing from Iraq will leave a power vacuum that will make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like Singapore’s stricter cousin. ”
    Okay, so: what’s the scenario under which this will happen?
    You seem to feel this is obvious; it’s not obvious to me. Please describe the scenario, if you’d like to get started on convincing at least me that this is what will happen if… and that’s the other part — if what is or isn’t done?

34. “Can’t remember where I saw The Great Gatsby quoted as summation of this White House”
    Wasn’t it mandatory for every blog and commenter in creation to mention it at least once by December, 2004? Not that this was a bad law.

35. von #1:” Because I’m currently on a short vacation and my internet connection is not-so-excellent (and I haven’t yet figured out how to blog from a Blackberry)… von #2: FYI: The not-so-excellent internet connection is why my post is wierdly formatted. I think I’ve (mostly) corrected it, but my apologies for any problems you may experience.”
    GF: “Is there some reason the font size keeps jumping back and forth in Von’s piece? It’s very distracting to trying to read it.”
    Probably some kind of a reading glitch.

36. “Is there some reason the font size keeps jumping back and forth in Von’s piece?”
    Eventually explained in comments, I see. Okay. Enjoy vacation, Von.

37. “Probably some kind of a reading glitch.”
    Well, no, it was a not-seeing-into-the-future-glitch.
    Not understanding the plain words of a single post — which is an error we can all make at times, and likely do — and not knowing the future, are actually different things.

38. GF: The “future” to which you refer appears to have long ago passed. ; )

39. The war has gone EXACTLY as the neo (nazis) cons planned it. Business had other interests (like owning Iraq’s national resources and treasury…oh wait they already did that).
    But the neo cons wanted to destabilize the Middle East so its sacred cow Israel could do whatever it wants.
    Apparently the plan is and has been to establish a permanent military presence. The disappearance of American jobs except those offered by WalMart leaves little choice to the average American young adult today; starve on the streets or join up.
    Also, the neocons are dangerous idealogues with no real world experience, no curiosity and no ability to relate to other people. They all grew up playing Risk and nurturing masturbatory fantasies of world domination instead of dating.
    Ameurrika uber alles. This is the Fourth Reich.
    god help us.

40. Marblex: stop it with the Nazi stuff. It violates the posting rules. Consider this your first and only warning.

41. von,
    If you want to win in Iraq, you’ll have to call for Bush and Cheney to step down.
    That’s all there is to it. If you don’t call for that, you lack the will to do what has to be done.
    Because we all know Bush and Cheney lack the will. They won’t even budget for the damn war.

42. I think that an additional option is being overlooked, Edward. There are people who Believed in the mission, believed Bush was the man to accomplish it, and believe that we are, in fact, winning and that the negative stories coming back to us are part of the media’s attempt to sell newspapers or attack the President.
    It’s a perfectly self-reinforcing worldview, but I find quite a few people who have it.
    You’ve got me pegged, Jeff.
    I’m not of the Bush-can-do-no-wrong variety, but of a Bush-is-stubborn-enough-and-perhaps-stupid-enough to carry on, type. I’ll never vote for him again.
    Thanks von!

43. Anarch: “And include me amongst those who think that von more or less missed hilzoy’s point here.”
    I think this may be 1% me-Anarch disagreement territory here – I disagree with hilzoy‘s claim that there exists no combination of arrogance, incompetence, and ignorance capable of the Iraq mess while caring. (I’d also throw in “awareness that accomplishing the task, given its theoretical grounding in a worldview rather alien to the anti-nation-building mainstream, requires a degree of public support inconsistent with flexible reactions.) I think the claim doesn’t make any sense, and is simply refuted by the universally acknowledged fact of the admin’s fervent desire to crush its domestic enemies and seize eternal glory. I think even Bush was aware that a failed policy would lead to him being a laughingstock of the sort his father (who is still respected by liberals like me who thought he did plenty of awful things) never was.

44. “Tim, you do realize the consequences of that “disappointment,” don’t you?”
    Do you, von? Does Bush realize the consequences of his disappointing performance?

45. seize eternal glory
    If I ever became nonpseudoanonymous and did a blog, I think I would use that as a title.

46. DaveC, you’re welcome to it – I’ll waive the license fee this time.

47. SomeCallMeTim: Murtha suggests the simplist formulation: if you want a war, tell the nation that you are willing to draft for it if necessary. If you can’t say that, you don’t get your war, no matter how sad that makes you. If you won’t say that, you aren’t serious about the war as such.
    Or even the simpler: if you want a war, tell the nation you’re willing to pay at least some of the cash for it. Forego some tax cuts. Don’t charge it on the kids’ and grandkids’ credit cards.

48. Here’s what I don’t understand.
    Why do the “no end but victory” people maintain such a laissez-faire stance with regards to the Bush administration?

49. Let me endorse the point others have made. Having the will to win means doing what is needed, even if that is unattractive.
    Having the will to run a marathon doesn’t mean talking often and loudly about how determined you are. It means doing the hard training needed, and giving up things that interfere with it.
    In one sense, having the will to accomplish something means short-term sacrifice for long-term gain. In these terms I do not think there is a credible argument that Bush has demonstrated the will to achieve victory in IRaq.

50. Having the will to run a marathon doesn’t mean talking often and loudly about how determined you are. It means doing the hard training needed, and giving up things that interfere with it.
    now that’s a good metaphor for this “will” stuff.

51. “now that’s a good metaphor for this “will” stuff.”
    Or maybe it’s like declaring a determination to lose weight, fasting for a weekend, then going back to your regular diet.
    After which, you go around for two years bragging about your progress and asking people “do I look fat?” then screaming at them if they say “yes, you do”.

52. “Hilzoy’s basic presumption seems to be that the Bush Administration is stupid and black hearted and that the Bush Administration’s supporters are testosterone-fueled nincompoops, easily misled by the latest shiny thing.”
    Sounds good enough for me.

53. Von:

    Bush also “does [not] really care about Iraq per se,” only for his legacy as a big thinker. What a monstrous thing to believe with more than 2000 American soldiers dead in the desert.

    It is indeed a monstrous thing to believe. That I am less than sure about the part of his only caring about his legacy makes it no less monstrous.

54. “Indeed, many did conclude that Kerry was weaker and more wobbly on the war than Bush.”
    I think you could even hold that position without invalidating the thesis that a vote for Kerry was necessary for success in Iraq.
    Kerry was an unknown as a war leader. Bush was a *known failure*. As so many have pointed out above, his failures were such that the only reasonable conclusion is that little thought was put into the war or its aftermath. Not just mistakes, but casually thoughtless mistakes.
    There is IMO no way one could look at Bush’s track record and predict success. One might look very doubtfully at Kerry’s track record, but even with that (perhaps unwarrented) skepticism, I think you’d still be forced to accept the *possibility* that Kerry could lead us successfully.
    Wu

55. Mark me down as believing that the administration’s failures have less to do with a lack of care or alternate priorities and more to do with the fact that Bush II sincerely and fervently believe that all they must do in any matter is remain faithful to God and/or Neoconservatism and the world will realign itself according to their lead, either by structural or by divine means. He reads his own stubbornness as faithfulness and every setback as a test of faith.
    I think this is sheer folly, but a lot of evangelicals see this as a necessary first step towards restoring their country to favor with God. I have no idea how to bridge this particular gap. I can only hope that enough Bush supporters begin to see this as a fault rather than a merit and start demanding competent planning in addition to erstwhile faithfulness.

56. Withdrawing now may be a better way to victory than continuing to sweep the streets for innocent bystanders and bombing out buildings. We really do fight and kill well and insofar as we capture and hold territory and have secure supply lines we are already 100% victorious. Making a people into democrats and a nation into one of laws and not of personality is about winning hearts and minds. This is the contest that Bush has no taste for and one that Kerry is better equipped to wage.
    Von’s claim that Kerry is more beholding to the cut and run Democrats is nonsense. It shows he has a faulty filter for Republican talking points. Kerry’s strength as Senator was always in heading investigative committees and getting at the truth. In short, he knows how to do the work necessary to get a good result. He’s more likely to hold people accountable for bad results and to change course when things are working out well. He’s less likely to make ideology a prerequisite for working to rebuild Iraq. Limited he may be but his strengths are limitless when compared to Bush’s.

57. God, this is familiar. Where have I heard this before? Oh yes, with my son, last week:
    Me: Son, you don’t get your birthday toys until your room is clean. I’ve told you that!
    Son: But I want to play with them!
    Me: Then clean your room.
    Son: But I want to play with my new toys.
    Me: Obviously not.
    Son: (starting to cry) I DO TOO!
    Me: Not enough to clean your room. We’re done here. We all know what you have to do to get your new toys. Either do it or don’t, but I’m not listening to another word on it.
    It’s like that. Only instead of with an overly dramatic eight year old, it’s with otherwise reasonable adults.
    You want to win in Iraq? Institute a draft. It’s the only way to get the troops to do it. You know it. I know it. Everyone in the US knows it.
    Either support the draft, or STFU. All this “Will to victory” BS is just cover so you can blame your “enemies” for your own failures.
    You don’t get to start a war, refuse to commit the resources necessary to win it, then blame everyone ELSE when you fail. You fail because of the choice you made. Own up to it, or STFU.

58. I think this may be 1% me-Anarch disagreement territory here – I disagree with hilzoy’s claim that there exists no combination of arrogance, incompetence, and ignorance capable of the Iraq mess while caring.
    Caring in an abstract sense, sure. Caring in a meaningful sense? I don’t see how that can be possible, for precisely the reasons hilzoy outlined (and which were well analogized by Bernard): I cannot fathom how someone who meaningfully cared about success in Iraq could have failed to plan, and plan seriously, for the aftermath of the invasion even if for some ungodly reason they believed that we’d be greeted with only flowers and candy and sunshine and ponies. Incompetence would be to create plans that didn’t work or were poorly executed; what we’re seeing is the end result of the more or less complete lack of a plan (certainly the absence of a serious plan or even AFAICT serious governmental effort towards developing a serious plan), and that’s another matter entirely.
    [I suppose you could make the argument that the Bush Administration had such a quasi-religious belief about the way the world worked that their “faith”, loosely defined, trumped all rational real-world considerations a la The Children’s Crusade, but I’m not convinced that’s a route any of us want to go down.]
    And yes, von, I agree that that’s monstrous. As near as I can tell, it’s also correct. To comment on the former while completely omitting the latter is to commit the ever-popular sin of critiquing the etiquette while ignoring substantive abuses, and it’s something we need to expunge from the conversation ASAP. If we cannot call liars “liars”, if we cannot call torture “torture”, if we cannot call monstrous acts “monstrous”, we lose our most essential defense to our way of life: the truth.

59. No one, in regard to the 2004 elections, has mentioned the fear factor. The Bush campaign used this very effectively, and people were still pretty shaken up at having been attacked. Remember all the threats of “mushroom clouds,” should we elect Kerry? Remember the changing threat levels (that have remained absolutely stable since the election)? Remember the tying together of Saddam and al Quaeda? Remember all the “I believe if we fight them over there, we will not have to fight them here?” What frustrated me at the time, and still does, was that a lot of the people voting did not think deeply at all. They merely heard the talking points, bought them for whatever reason, and voted accordingly. This has been a trend for sometime in elections here, but I think that Bush/Rove, et al, used it to great advantage….and Kerry did not. I firmly believe that a lot of people voted for Bush because his stubborness was read as strength and, thus, he gave them a sense of security.
    As to Iraq, looking at the difficulty that we have today in trying to figure out what to do about it, and looking back to where we were at the time of the election, I think it was only the people willing to think deeply (like Von) who would alter their vote for Bush based upon it. That it is a massive failure is starting to hit people in the face now, and they are finally starting to question. How unfortunate that it took them so long.

60. They had a plan: it was Ahmed Chalabi.

61. Thank you, von, for writing this. I don’t know how many times this past election I was thankful, for once, that I lived in Indiana, where my vote didn’t matter. And it was still agony. Hilzoy: So, people who voted for Bush weren’t stupid, just displaying a lack of care. That’s not a whole lot better. How about this: the democrats failed to nominate a canidate who could be perceived to do better in Iraq or indeed the war on terror than a known idiot. For those not ready to completely write off their fellow countrymen, that seems a reasonable take that avoids aspersions of stupidity or carelessness.

62. For those not ready to completely write off their fellow countrymen, that seems a reasonable take that avoids aspersions of stupidity or carelessness.

    No, I think “My Party Right or Wrong” covers it.
    The Democrats are known for infighting — we’re famous for shooting down those inside our party. But the GOP? They’ve supplanted God, Jesus, and America in the eyes of too many of their voters. Charles there is a good example — he’ll excuse ANYTHING in an attempt to shield the party. Screw America. Screw morality. Screw ideals. The GOP trumps them all.
    I vote Democratic — straight ticket lately — because the slavish devotion to the GOP of it’s followers. I’ll take my chances with the infighting, bickering, and generally disarray of the Democrats. To many members of the GOP seem to belong more to a cult than a political party.

63. Liberals in this country could have given more money to the effort to defeat Bush in ’04, but we didn’t care.

64. Remember all the threats of “mushroom clouds,” should we elect Kerry?

    Scary, scary wolves.

65. rilkefan: speak for yourself.
    (I was halfway tempted to look myself up on open secrets and link to it, but thought better of it.)

66. I don’t want to make this a snarky observation, but I am again a bit puzzled by the reference in the title. The Wilde farce hinges on two men who concoct a story in order to convince women to marry them and then, as a ‘douce’ ex machina, it turns out that the lie they told was true and everything is alright. If I were to deconstruct your essay (and btw, it is precisely what we needed here, so for that I thank you), I’d have to make reference that the premise that somehow, intentions don’t matter and that lies that subsequently turn out to be true aren’t really lies. Yet would the American people have voted for war had not the cherry picking and pattern of anonymous leaks not occurred? It seems awfully blithe to suggest that these lies turned out to be ‘true’ because now we can’t withdraw from Iraq.
    You also wrote:
    Indeed, Hilzoy’s attack is on war supporters is not even useful as a point of rhetoric; for who on the other side will be persuaded by a post that requires them to admit that, yes, they are just as evil and/or stupid as Hilzoy paints them?
    At a (mercifully) few points in my life, I was doing something that was absolutely wrong-headed and stupid and was convinced that this was what I was supposed to be doing. (as a rule, these generally involved women) My friends were the ones who said, geez, you are being an idiot, is this really what you want? In the same way, the debate has gone far past the point where one wants to keep the other sides good will, as the demonization that has gone on attests. It is now that someone says hey, you have been stupid and you need to stop. I’m not sure why, at this point in time, Hilzoy has some imperative to make sure that war supporters don’t feel stupid and evil. (cue Stuart Smalley ‘You are not stupid, you are not evil. You were just misguided.’)
    Perhaps the only way to convince people is to have a herd of scapegoats slaughtered in the media for the next month or two (per Edward’s suggestion in his post) and after that, we can convince ourselves that we are good guys. This is probably the way it will work, and everyone will think that they were anti-war, but this sort of myopia is precisely why, after 9-11, far too many commentators and non-Americans took the attitude of hey, you guys had it coming (and just for the record, I think that is a monstrous thought).
    While not holding Japanese cultural behavior up as a model, I would point out that the most powerful apology is not where one provides an excuse for what something happened, but when one offers no excuse at all. ‘I have no excuse’ and one bows to the point where their forehead touches the floor during a kneeling bow. No look how much we’ve helped the world, no we are the shining city on the hill. This is the Pottery Barn rule biting every administration supporter, past and present, on the ass. It should also bite people like me, who felt that the President couldn’t be embarking on this wonderful adventure without some assurances of the threat (Cue the ‘But he didn’t say imminent!’ chorus)
    Kerry’s famouse Vietnam point about asking the last man to die for a mistake is now answered by the notion that if you keep claiming that it is not a mistake, it will cease to be one. Fine for ‘A trivial comedy for serious people’, but not good enough for 2000+ dead and countless billions wasted.

67. It is unfair to characterize Bush as having lacked the will to win in Iraq because he and his administration planned poorly for the invasion and resulting occupation. You can have the best of intentions and still completely mess something up. We typically label those people “inept.”
    No sane leader, and I believe Bush to be sane, willing sends men and women into harms way with the full understanding that those lives are being recklessly sacrificed for an unobtainable cause. I do believe that the administration displayed a startling (in hindsight) lack of judgment that has lead to the loss of many lives. But that lack of judgment does not impugn Bush’s will.
    Hilzoy said: …… It’s the people who support the war and did not draw that conclusion who puzzle me.
    I am one of the people that felt that the US must finish what we’ve started. I was also pretty sure that Kerry’s plan for Iraq was probably no better than the current administration’s. And while Kerry may not have been “more of the same” the results of something different would probably have been similar to what Bush has accomplished thus far. I admit that this is something I cannot prove. And since Kerry did not win my opinion is strictly speculation.
    So I voted based on other issues.
    The way I see it, the only way to get the military out of the ditch we have currently dug for them is to stop digging. I recognize it is not a popular position to hold. But we find our military caught between a rock and a hard spot. Someone (the President) needs to make a tough decision on which is the better sacrifice for the US – our the well being of our Military, or Civil War in Iraq.

68. Did you sell the jade brooch your grandmother gave you? Did you trade your Camry in for a Tercel? Did you move into a studio apt? Did you quit your job changing the world one person at a time and go get a hefty salary shilling for Big Pharma in ’02 so you could give more to the D candidate? Did you have the will to do what it took to beat Bush? I sure didn’t – but then again, I anyway think the universe is empty of value and all actions are meaningless, predetermined, and pointless.

69. Bush has steely resolve…just like Winston Churchill!
    This whole war in Iraq is just like WW2, why can’t anyone see this?
    My dreams do not lie!

70. On wanting to scream.

71. I should probably say, clearly: my post was not directed at “war supporters”. I did not support getting into the war, but I do think that the consequences of not doing it right are disastrous, and therefore I am to this day not convinced that we ought to leave, even though I think that the consequences of our staying are also horrible.
    It was directed at the administration, and secondarily at people who supported that administration on the basis of Iraq.
    And I did not say that either the administration or those supporters were stupid or evil. As I said earlier, my explanation for why they did what they did is an alternative to stupidity; it doesn’t presuppose it. (It’s compatible with either stupidity or its absence.) As for evil: that depends on what you take evil to be. If it means ‘full of malign intent’, again, my post is an alternative to that. It posits a lack of any clear intention at all, not the presence of an evil one.
    On the other hand, you might use “evil” to mean any character trait that a responsible person would not have, since having it predictably leads you astray. Example: some of the obedient people in Stanley Milgram’s experiments on obedience. (The experiments in which people were told that they were testing someone else, and that they had to shock him when he made mistakes, increasing the level each time, and lots of people delivered all the available shocks, despite screams, and in some versions apparent heart failure.)
    My take on this has always been that the reason some of these people delivered all the shocks was not that they didn’t see the moral problem, or had e.g. hitherto untapped veins of sadism, or that they actually believed that obeying the experimenter’s orders was more important than not seriously harming another person; but just that when confronted with a situation in which they did not want to deliver the shocks and also did not want to disobey the experimenter to his face, they didn’t try to figure out which reason was more important, but instead sort of froze, unable to make any decision at all. And since they were already in the experiment, absent a decision to leave it, they kept doing what they were doing.
    Suppose I’m right. Is this evil? Not in the ‘malign intent, preferably with horns’ sense. But it might be in a different sense: to be the sort of person who just freezes in this sort of situation, even when you are shocking someone into apparent heart failure, is to have an awful character trait, and one that can (and in this case did) get people into serious moral trouble.
    In this (extended) sense of evil, I guess I was saying that Bush was evil. I certainly agree with von that to send people off to die without really doing whatever you can to make sure that you’ve planned well, and that it’s really necessary to send them, is awful. I can’t see how one can maintain that Bush and his administration did make those efforts, though, so the ‘awful’ part I take as given.

72. “Bush has steely resolve…just like Winston Churchill!”
    They had to take Gallipoli away from Churchill. Too much steely resolve.

73. I’m a Churchill booster on Gallipoli. You want an example where some “will” was needed, that’s a good case. The damn admiral should’ve remembered his mission instead of fretting over some obsolete battlewagons.
    Of course, that was one day. Charles is more like someone arguing that we should just carry on at Verdun/Somme/Passchendaele another 3 months, and surely the French/Germans/Brits will break.

74. Good response to hilzoy, von, but the problem I have with both your response and CB’s is that when actually discussing what’s happening in Iraq, your argument comes down to this:
    The bottom line is that, whatever got us to this point in Iraq, we can’t simply withdraw. Bush may be a fool; Cheney may be the devil’s ill-dressed stepchild. It doesn’t matter. Withdrawing from Iraq will leave a power vacuum that will make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like Singapore’s stricter cousin. If you think the current state of events is bad, wait until you see worse.
    There’s a hole in the argument – your assertion that Iraq is winnable at this stage. Until you can establish Iraq can be won (with, maybe, some real-life examples – CB’s last post is at least in the right direction here) the consequences of losing are irrelevant.

75. I have to agree with Morat. It’s rather surreal to hear Von write about the “will to win” wrt a war “we simply cannot afford to lose” while he is on vacation.
    Rock on, Von!

76. “(I was halfway tempted to look myself up on open secrets and link to it, but thought better of it.)”
    I stopped counting after it went past $10,000.

77. (I hadn’t noticed the total at the top until I was done.)
    Oh, and as a Coloradan, particular thanks for the Stan Matsunaka donations. That was a long shot, but I’m pretty damn happy with the 2004 Colorado election results, and with the trends for the future. The Republicans have suceeded into putting Colorado well on the way to being a fairly solidly blue state, particularly if we disregard part of Colorado Springs. (Gaining control of both State houses for the first time in decades, gaining a Senate seat, and being extremely likely to recapture the governorship next year.) And the failure of TABOR demonstrated, at least to those who aren’t True Believers, the, ah, limitations of that notion.

78. Liberals in this country could have given more money to the effort to defeat Bush in ’04, but we didn’t care.
    If you’d written “care enough”, I’d probably agree with your sentiment. As it is, though, I think you’ve somewhat missed the point and that this error is illustrative. For example, if the Bush Administration had planned for A, B and C (all high probability outcomes), but unfortunately outcome D (a low probability outcome) was what had happened, I might charge them with being incompetent but certainly not with carelessness, malice or anything of the sort. When it’s clear that they not only failed to plan for A, B, C or D, but in fact made their plans predicated on Z happening (so unlikely as to beggar the imagination), that looks a lot less like ineptitude and a lot more like carelessness or something worse.
    It’d be like, I dunno, forgetting to check that your air tank was full before you went scuba-diving — or worse, seeing that your air tank was half-empty and deciding that it was OK since you simply weren’t going to breathe that much. [You can totally swim full-speed without breathing, right?] These are mistakes that even a casual acquaintance with the subject, let alone actual competence, simply cannot admit. Pretty much the only conclusion, absent actual malice or stupidity, is that you didn’t care enough to get even a casual acquaintance with the subject — only enough to get yourself into serious trouble.
    Of course, the real comparison here would not be to you going scuba-diving, but in sending others to dive for you and declaring their half-empty tanks sufficient for the task at hand. Then you, like Bush, would have possessed just enough knowledge and just little enough caring to get other people into serious trouble… or, well, dead.

79. “No, it wasn’t any of that. I had trouble finishing Hilzoy’s piece because its assumptions regarding the Bush Administration and its supporters are almost impossible to me to understand”
    What I think you don’t understand, apart from what hilzoy was actually saying about Bush & his supporters, is the difference between an “assumption” and a “conclusion supported by a careful argument.”
    An “assumption” is something you start with and don’t actually back up with evidence or argument. Like the idea that if something is monstrous, it is therefore not true.

80. [IrrelevantNitpick] If you are planning on swimming full-speed whilst scuba diving, you are going to have problems entirely unrelated to how much air is in your tank.[/IrrelevantNitpick]
    (There are also circumstances under which it’s perfectly fine to go back into the water on a tank you’ve partly used up already, but that’s even more irrelevant.)

81. If the Bush Administration had planned for A, B and C (all high probability outcomes), but unfortunately outcome D (a low probability outcome) was what had happened, I might charge them with being incompetent but certainly not with carelessness, malice or anything of the sort.

    So here’s the nub, I guess – I think they believed they had planned for the likely scenarios – they hadn’t planned for a stampede of paisley unicorns, they hadn’t planned for having been hornswoggled by Chalabi. Plans go awry all the time in ways that make even smart careful caring people go “D’oh!”
    (p.s., hilzoy, no offense intended about the brooch etc.)

82. rilkefan: none taken. I only responded at all because, as Gary found out, given my personal history, it made me laugh out loud.
    (I mean: during 2004 I gave well over 10% of my annual income away in political donations, not counting advocacy groups and the like. It was madness, and I knew it, but, well, you know.)

83. It seems to me that Hilzoy has absolutely no idea what actually motivates the folks on the “other side” of this debate.
    Her point wasn’t what motivates thinkers like you, but solely what motivated the Bushies. I seriously doubt that the thinking of the Bushies is similar to the thinking of a large majority of the pro-war folks, who engage in projection of their own beliefs onto Bush as if he must be thinking along the same lines.
    A lot of war-supporters are sincere, but it is false to think that their sincere thinking is in any way similar to the decision-making process of the Bushies.
    There is too much of a record of deceit and bad behavior by the Bushies to conclude that they are sincere thinkers. They are the reason we have not had meaningful policy debate — they demonize anyone who even tries to be critical. This is not the mark of someone who is a sincere thinker.
    Incompetence, failure, mistake: these may be damnable offenses, but they are not failures of will. Hilzoy strings together an impressive series of thinly-sourced impressions of Bush’s fecklessness to prove her case to the contrary.
    Thinly-sourced? The record regarding his administration’s behavior is already about as ugly as it can get, and getting worse every month. Realize that huge amounts of bad behavior remain covered up because there has not been any investigation of it — the ongoing coverups is itself powerful evidence of intentional bad behavior.
    So what is the cause for so much bad behavior? — your thesis is “stubborness.”
    So what causes the stubbornness? And the sourcing for this?
    When you operate by deceit, you get locked into positions because to be flexible becomes a partial admission of deceit. Its not stubbornness that causes such intractability, though they may look the same — its the necessity to stay loyal to the story and spin no matter what. Which is why Bush cares only about loyalty and pays no attention to policy discussion. He could care less about facts — he is not motivated by them.
    Bush falls into that legal categorization of intent known as “reckless” which the law ends up defining as wilful bad behavior anyway — I know you are familiar with the concept. Its because when you repeatedly act in defiance of the facts in your face, it is fair to presume that you “willfully” intend the bad consequences of your behavior. You may not willfully intend to act badly, but you are so indifferent to proper behavior, that it is fair to say that your intent is intentionally bad.
    And that is on his good days — there is too much evidence of deliberate lying about rather serious matters to attribute his failings to “stubbornness.”
    and that victory cannot be achieved if we “preemptively declare defeat.”
    Here’s where you go South in your argument.
    The quoted language is your link to Fineman’s article about the impact of Murtha’s position.
    It is crap to label it “preemptively declaring defeat” — I have yet to see any Republican cogently argue the facts of Murtha’s military points rather than relying on demonization — a sad trend that you continue. And Murtha probably knows as much or more as anyone about what is happening and how to assess it.
    For the record, Murtha is not decalring defeat nor is he calling for immediate wwithdrawal — despite the best efforts fo the GOP to lie about this.

84. Re Von: Thanks! I enjoyed your argument, particularly the excellent comment that “Bush realized early on that the status quo with Saddam could not be maintained.” Indeed. From Kuwait on American policy makers realized that Saddam would not stay in his box. But a question is why and to what end? What was the status quo all about?
    Re John Miller (“Actually, in terms of Iraq, I believe that Bush has gotten exactly what he wants from the war: re-election.”): You all may be interested in Frances Fox Piven’s recent book, “The War at Home: The Domestic Costs of Bush’s Militarism,” where she discusses the war in terms of the exigencies of domestic policy, as opposed to the foreign policy issues that typically dominate the debate. I heard her give a lecture on the subject last month and her thesis seemed sound to me.
    Re Jake’s comment (“I think you still miss Hilzoy’s main point – that anyone who truly took WINNING a war seriously would have carefully examined not only all the alternatives, but all outcomes”) and Justin’s (“This seems to be the core point of your argument. We have to win, because failure sucks, and so we have to stay, because its the only way to win.”): Great points. Why do we assume that winning is important? Is it possible to want war for its own sake? Why does the language of the GWOT constantly inform us of a war without end? For my money, the closer the association one makes between the GWOT and a continuation of the CW, the more the whole dynamic makes sense. Why do we assume the Bush admin wants victory in Iraq, at least in the way it is most often defined as establishing a democratic government there? Why does the US need to win in Iraq? For a good understanding of what winning means to the admin, read how the Iraqi economic laws were rewritten while the CPA was in charge.
    What I find difficult to understand is how folks can see through so many of the statements by the admin on Iraq (WMD’s, connection with 9/11, decreasing terrorism, etc.), yet accept the “spread democracy” premise at face value, as if this was a legitimate casus belli – just because the admin says this is the reason does not make it so. Where is the evidence for this rationale? I see no interest for democracy in Iraq that extends beyond rhetoric; stability yes, but democracy no. For example, if this is about democracy, how do we explain Ahmed Chalabi, the neo-con’s man, and his post-CPA positions as Minister of Oil and now as Deputy Prime Minister?
    In re the comments by nous_athanatos: Perhaps a big part of the equation. Think American apocalyptic discourse, Fukuyama’s “The End of History and the Last Man” (the end of the dialectic), and then read the introduction to “The National Security Strategy of the United States of America” put out in Sep 2002. What’s going on here?
    Re the Dems v. the Reps on the war in Iraq: Can someone please demonstrate how these two parties differ strategically or operationally on Iraq? I see tactical differences only.
    I don’t understand Hilzoy’s thinking here: “I did not support getting into the war, but I do think that the consequences of not doing it right are disastrous, and therefore I am to this day not convinced that we ought to leave, even though I think that the consequences of our staying are also horrible.” My friend wants to rob a bank. I advise him that it is a bad idea. He plans to do it anyway. My response is, “Well, then you’d better do it right and here’s my advice on how to proceed”? If the war was a bad idea, how can it be done right?

85. The upside is that this is a somewhat better level of debate than Charles managed. The downside is that there remain a whole bunch of serious problems here:
    The Credibility Gap
    A whole spectrum of commentary and commentators have been digging a deep hole in their credibility since before the war began, and most of those who have persisted can provide little in the way of concrete reasons to trust their judgment now except to glower darkly about what might happen if America doesn’t “stay the course” as they understand it. von is now apparently making an appeal for the opinions of these people to be treated as being equally rational and carefully-considered as those of non-war-supporters — and that’s awfully difficult to justify at this stage of the game, even if we restrict our focus to those few figures who don’t treat demonization, histrionics and outright revisionism and dishonesty as tactics of first resort.
    Sometimes, you don’t get to act and speak foolishly and then take other people to task for actually regarding your choices as foolish. This is one of those times.
    Specific Analytical Problems
    The main factor that reinforces the Credibility Gap is the apparent unwillingness of warbloggers to directly confront troubling issues that are central to their case for open-ended war in Iraq.
    For instance, a great deal of hope is hung on the leadership potential of a White House which has shown staggering incompetence at basic governance tasks on its own soil, let alone in Iraq. Administration metrics on “progress” in Iraq have proven suspiciously malleable and misleading (the latest supposed “turning point” was a vote on an incomplete and divisive constitution that was bedevilled by large-scale ballot fraud), yet the rest of us are continually lectured about our failure to acknowledge this so-called “progress.” Various outrages, from corruption to torture (directly and by proxy) to the use of white phosphorus, are brushed aside with increasingly-tenuous presumption that Saddam Was Worse (or rationalizations that the outrage in question really isn’t all that important). A dire focus is maintained on the possible consequences of “cutting and running” while little or no serious attention is paid to the possibility (not claimed only by Murtha) that the American presence fuels much of the violence. A positively creepy obsession with generating a kind of “stabbed-in-the-back” narrative about the media and dissenters on the home front remains front and centre. The daunting reality that the insurgency seems to have managed to almost completely freeze out American intel — which is the only plausible explanation for how it’s able to now operate largely through IEDs — merits nary a mention that I’ve seen. And blogs like NEBV proceed from the assumption that the way they’d like to conduct the war, justifiable or not, is in any way relevant to how the White House will conduct the war.
    None of it makes for impressive reading. None of it convinces me that the Credibility Gap is anything but completely deserved. And it’s telling that even what passes for a decently-informed warblogger can mount little in the way of response when challenged on an issue of substance; cf. Tacitus’ recent exchange with dr. ngo on this blog.
    Inattention to the State of the Debate
    The NEBV position — which I understand von to be defending here — is further undermined by an apparent inattention to the actual state of the debate. American commanders on the ground have been quite frank for some time about the diminishing returns of remaining in-theatre (aside from being the first Dem since Dean to actually grow some ‘nads on the war issue, Murtha was really only distinguished in calling for an immediate withdrawal plan). The NEBVers don’t appear to be able to give any solid reasons why Americans should reject that logic and support an indefinite occupation (presumably supported by a draft). Iraqis certainly show no signs of wanting an open-ended occupation, and Bush’s base in America — for all its bluster about treason and lack of patriotism and “loser-defeatism” — shows little sign of wanting to bleed and die for a goal supposedly comparable in importance and nobility to WWII.
    All of these things are signs that in many ways, events have left the NEBVers behind. And they appear to have no response to this beyond outdated pro-war boilerplate.
    Do I think that people who continue to support Bush in spite of his missteps are idiotic, misled or simply evil? Based on what I’ve seen, it’s hard to avoid the impression that some combination of the first two is widely true (I’d like to think that “misled” predominates) — and the fact that warbloggers continue to appear much more obsessed with avoiding such charges than with mounting a solid case tends to support that impression. I don’t care for throwing the term “evil” around myself (I’d much rather reserve it for people who have actually committed, ordered or perpetrated war crimes), but the bulk of war boosterism at this point is hard to see as morally edifying in any way, and there’s no point in pussy-footing around that.

86. hilzoy: “over 10%”
    Well, my point stands, I think. At some point one says, “I hate what Bush is doing to my country but I’m not going to sell my Bach cds or dip into the funds I set aside to send my kids to Harvard (they can go to Berkeley)”. Christ didn’t say, “Go thy way, sell 10% of whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor”.

87. In my last paragraph above, I just wrote: committed, ordered or perpetrated war crimes
    Which is a dispatch from the Department of Redundancy Department. Hopefully the meaning is clear.

88. I should also make clear that the Specific Analytical Problems I alluded to above are not all present in von’s post specifically — I regard them as generally present in pro-war discourse, is all.

89. Slightly off-topic but with regards to the Milgram experiment:
    “My take on this has always been that the reason some of these people delivered all the shocks was not that they didn’t see the moral problem, or had e.g. hitherto untapped veins of sadism, or that they actually believed that obeying the experimenter’s orders was more important than not seriously harming another person; but just that when confronted with a situation in which they did not want to deliver the shocks and also did not want to disobey the experimenter to his face, they didn’t try to figure out which reason was more important, but instead sort of froze, unable to make any decision at all. And since they were already in the experiment, absent a decision to leave it, they kept doing what they were doing.”
    Thank you Hilzoy! That explanation rings very true to me, but I never managed to verbalize it that way before.

90. Otto: “My friend wants to rob a bank. I advise him that it is a bad idea. He plans to do it anyway. My response is, “Well, then you’d better do it right and here’s my advice on how to proceed”? If the war was a bad idea, how can it be done right?”
    The analogy I tend to use: I decide to kidnap you and remove one of your kidneys to sell on the black market. I have you strapped to the table, and I have opened you up and have the kidney halfway removed, when suddenly it occurs to me that what I am doing is wrong.
    Should I: (a) drop my scalpel and say, “oh no, I cannot participate in this evil act any more”, and leave you to bleed to death? Or (b): do my best to stop the bleeding, stitch you up, and make what amends I can?
    Bonus question: if someone else is doing this, and I am a doctor tied up in a corner, (and let’s assume I have tried to talk the person out of doing this before he started), should I: (a) decline to give advice on how to do this w/o killing the patient, on the grounds that since it’s wrong, there’s no point, or (b) offer such advice?

91. I have to agree with Morat. It’s rather surreal to hear Von write about the “will to win” wrt a war “we simply cannot afford to lose” while he is on vacation.
    We shall fight them on the beaches, and in the air, and on the forums, and in the comment threads, and at the casinos, and at the seedy little tiki bars at least thirty years past their heyday, and…

92. “The analogy I tend to use: I decide to kidnap you and remove one of your kidneys to sell on the black market. I have you strapped to the table, and I have opened you up and have the kidney halfway removed, when suddenly it occurs to me that what I am doing is wrong.”
    Unfortunately, the GOP’s Iraq War would be like this, only with the perpetrator neglecting to acquire a scalpel, and so using a rusty nail instead, and failing to consider the necessity of controlling bleeding and thus not doing so.
    Now, let’s say the doctor bound in the corner somehow breaks free in mid-operation.
    Can the patient be saved? Probably not. The patient probably bled out quite quickly.

93. Hey von, would you go skydiving if Bush packed your parachute?

94. Hilzoy: The analogy I tend to use: I decide to kidnap you and remove one of your kidneys to sell on the black market. I have you strapped to the table, and I have opened you up and have the kidney halfway removed, when suddenly it occurs to me that what I am doing is wrong.
    To continue the analogy with Iraq, your choices are: should you (a) kill me in the process of attempting to stop the bleeding, stitch up the corpse to make it look tidier, and assure my grieving relatives that you’re terribly sorry, then move on to the next still-living victim to kill them by half-removing their liver, while feeling good about yourself because you felt sorry and stopped halfway through; or (b) be arrested and put on trial for murder?

95. Von- Thank you. Your post juxtaposed with Charles’ most recent 2 posts gave me the most amusement I have had in months.
    Watching Charles do a complete rhetorical 180 from; begining redeployment within 6 months is the position of a loser-defeatist to “American forces should withdraw in six months.” Followed by Von saying roughly: ‘you must not question Republican’s sincerity you simply must not.’
    Just too precious for words.

96. “Can the patient be saved? Probably not. The patient probably bled out quite quickly.”
    However one wishes to characterize present-day Iraq, there seems to be quite a lot of thrashing involved, and few signs of having come remotely close to having yet bled out.
    Breaking out of the analogy, one also must note that useful as it is, like all analogies, it has limits; Iraq may go into something resembling full civil war, or Lebanon of a quarter century ago, or be split up (or none of those things may happen), but it’s actually never going to fully “bleed out.”
    How much influence we can have is another question. It generally can’t be over-stated how much more important it is to focus on “what can we realistically accomplish at the price we’re willing to pay?” than on “what is the outcome we desire?”

97. “However one wishes to characterize present-day Iraq, there seems to be quite a lot of thrashing involved, and few signs of having come remotely close to having yet bled out.”
    Wellll, okay, but in that case consider that the “patient” is not Iraq itself, but our odds of achieving a meaningful victory (ie, Iraq under a regime meaningfully better than Saddam, Al Qaeda unable to operate overtly or covertly, etc.).
    Dear lord, it’s just become clear. This is all just the Terri Schiavo thing all over again.

98. sorry: that was just the part of the analogy designed to answer the question: does the fact that invading was wrong mean that we should get out now? To which the answer is: it depends on whether there’s ongoing damage that you can prevent by staying.
    The question whether to stay now, in analogy terms, is: OK, you have realized that you should not have started the operation, but you did, and here you are. Now you realize a further thing: you are drunk, and so you might just be making things worse. Here I think the question whether or not you should continue depends on how likely you are to make things worse rather than better.
    It goes without saying (I hope) that whatever the answer to that last question is, the answer to the question ‘can you be the doctor in this story and not be deeply ashamed of your conduct?’ is obvious. At least, for anyone capable of shame.

99. i’m having a bad case of cognitive dissonance reconciling this “Earnest” post, the “Six Months” post and the “Loser-Defeatist” post.
    basically, i get the sense that the conservative defenders of the war think that disengagement is appropriate but don’t want to hear it from the anti-war posters.
    hunh?
    well, if the Republican party needs cover from the Democrats to justify a withdrawal, I’m willing to provide it. Yes, I fully recognize that in 20 years the next generation of bloodthirsty neo-cons will blame the anti-war movement for stabbing the war fighters in the back. I’m sure that this war will be seen as being just a winnable as Vietnam is now seen to be. (just a little more funding and ARVN, i mean the national iraqi army, will be able to stand on its own, really.)
    but that is a price i’m willing to pay if it stops this madness.

100. basically, i get the sense that the conservative defenders of the war think that disengagement is appropriate but don’t want to hear it from the anti-war posters.
     We are there for another election cycle. That is 4 years at least.

101. i’m having a bad case of cognitive dissonance reconciling this “Earnest” post, the “Six Months” post and the “Loser-Defeatist” post.

     This one is by von, and the other two by Charles, so I’m unclear why one would expect to be able to reconcile the views of two different people.

102. …basically, i get the sense that the conservative defenders of the war think that disengagement is appropriate but don’t want to hear it from the anti-war posters.
     hunh?

     I’m reasonably sure that a commonly shared view runs more along the lines that they think winding down American involvement is perfectly appropriate so long as it is done as the Iraqis step up to handle it, and not in a manner that ignores that requirement.
     Of course, among open questions are when are truly substantial numbers of Iraqi troops going to be able to replace American troops — one clue to that will come when we start seeing Iraqi troops being issued their own tanks, helicopters, artillery, armored personnel carriers, and being able to take care of their own logistics.
     I suggest that we’re not going to see a substantial proportion of the Iraqi forces so equipped and able in six months, but I could, of course, be wrong, given my paucity of seeriosity.
     Another question would be who are those Iraqi troops going to be taking orders from, and in so doing serving whose interests, exactly, the “Iraqi government” both now and after the elctions not apt to be a homogenous, unitary, body.
     And other relevant questions abound, of course.
     I’m not sure discerning various war-supporter viewpoints is terribly difficult, though, if one simply reads various opinions.

103. “We are there for another election cycle.”
     Define “there,” please. (I ask, because otherwise this is a nearly content-free statement; does “there” mean we have an ambassador, or 6 divisions?; and if the latter, stationed where, and on what mission?)

104. Define “there,” please. (I ask, because otherwise this is a nearly content-free statement; does “there” mean we have an ambassador, or 6 divisions?; and if the latter, stationed where, and on what mission?)
     I did mean a military presence, but can’t predict how much. I’d say we will have some way to get troops into Kurdistan quickly, at the very least.

105. Posted by: otto | November 21, 2005 at 07:00 PM
     Damn! Thanks for that analysis otto.

106. Hilzoy,
     Thanks for the comment; yours is a better analogy than mine. Your input is one of the reasons I enjoy reading this blog. However, the scenario you propose places the very life of the patient completely in the hands of the surgeon. Is this an accurate depiction of the relationship of the US to Iraq? If we think about the situation outside the context of American exceptionalism, or permit the actions of another, non-objectified protagonist, does the analogy change?
     -“Here I think the question whether or not you should continue depends on how likely you are to make things worse rather than better.”
     If Murtha’s contention about America’s exacerbating presence in Iraq is correct, how might staying in work out? The analogy assumes we can make things better, but if our mere presence is the crux of the problem then how do we proceed? (Are you familiar with William S. Burroughs’ Dr. Benway character: “Dr. Benway, ship’s doctor, drunkenly added two inches to a four-inch incision with one stroke of his scalpel. . . . He lifts the abdominal wall and searches along the incision, dropping ashes form his cigarette. ‘Nurse, get me a new scalpel. This one’s got no edge to it.’ . . . The patient slides off the operating table, spilling intestines across the floor. Dr. Benway sweeps instruments, cocaine and morphine into his satchel. ‘Sew ‘er up, nurse. I can’t be expected to work under such conditions!’”.)
     I really think that so much of this depends upon the assumption that our involvement is basically beneficent, or can be, to the Iraqis, and, from the Carter Doctrine to today, I just don’t see that such is the case (see cause and effect relationship between nations that attempt to nationalize markets and resources and American intervention). Perhaps the central conundrum we face in the debate on this whole thing – a debate which exposes our schizophrenia on the subject – is that we have a narrative that is at odds with the reality of our actions: the narrative is “the little colony that could” spreading freedom and democracy against all odds versus the national interests of an empire in an, arguably by some, unipolar world. This is what Niall Ferguson is on about in “Colossus”: “Hey, America. Hello. You’re an empire.” The disconnect that we see in the debate here probably is not going to be solved until we address this friction by coming up with a new narrative, or until we are no longer an empire. This is not at all to say that empires are fundamentally bad, but their actions and interests are not necessarily synonymous with freedom and democracy for their colonies. It is important not to conflate these two things. They may, in fact, be the new dialectic for post Cold War America.

107. otto: my basic take on Iraq is here. Basically, I think that the US occupation, for all the huge problems it’s causing, is also one of the things keeping what I take to be the current low-level civil war within some limits (e.g., keeping it from involving pitched battles between enemy forces, and the like), which also helps to minimize the possibility that other countries might overtly enter such a war, turning it into a regional conflict.
     I guess, just to drive a stake through the heart of this metaphor, my view is: the doctor is basically as Burroughs describes him, but something about the mix of alcohol and other chemicals gives his breath the mysterious ability to protect, to some extent, against an infection he himself has introduced to the patient, which stands a pretty good chance (but not 100%) of killing the patient otherwise. It’s a tossup whether this compensates for the obvious and horrible downsides of his presence, and this protective breath is also foul and malodorous and hated by all who encounter it.
     Like I said, the obvious part is that this hsould all never have gotten started.
     And I don’t mean to suggest that Iraqis are passive. I do think, though, that Iraq (the country) does not act with one will, and therefore that the ability of any given individual to affect what happens to it is not great.

108. Speaking of empire…
     “No need to run away from the label,” argues Max Boot, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York: “America’s destiny is to police the world.”
     But one should always be suspicious when military powers claim to be doing weaker states favours by occupying them.
     Is There an American Empire? by Michael Walzer (Dissent)
     The war in Iraq has given new urgency to the debate about “American imperialism.” In fact, there hasn’t been anywhere near enough of a debate; the term is used routinely by critics of the war and routinely rejected by its supporters-though some of the supporters seem to believe if not in imperialism exactly, then certainly in empire. So, is Washington the new Rome? Is there an American Empire? Was Iraq an imperialist war? It seems to me that we need a better understanding of America’s role in the world than this old terminology provides. Criticizing the uses of American power is now a central political task, so we had better recognize what is going on before our eyes.
     This EMPIRE Strikes Suspicion (Econonomic Strategy Institute)
     The American Empire: The very phrase sounds like a contradiction in terms. The land of the free tethered to the realms of Alexander, ancient Rome and redcoats on the march; the home of the brave bound to a word synonymous with a stranglehold on power.”>Illusions of Empire: Defining the New American Order by G. John Ikenberry (Foreign Affairs)
     Summary: From Washington to Baghdad, the debate over American empire is back. Five new books weigh in, some celebrating the imperial project as the last best hope of humankind, others attacking it as cause for worry. What they all fail to understand is that U.S. power is neither as great as most claim nor as dangerous as others fear.
     The EMPIRE strikes suspicion (Econonomic Strategy Institute)
     The American Empire: The very phrase sounds like a contradiction in terms. The land of the free tethered to the realms of Alexander, ancient Rome and redcoats on the march; the home of the brave bound to a word synonymous with a stranglehold on power.
     Manifest Destiny Warmed Up? (The Economist)
     WHAT is the shelf-life of an idea? Just a few short months ago, the talk—and not just in Washington, DC—was of empire, America’s that is. Even before the invasion of Iraq, pundits of all stripes were casting aside their coyness to proclaim that America was the latest imperial power to bestride the world. Today, with tribulations besetting the new Romans in both Afghanistan and Iraq, their most recent conquests, the chorus has died down, but the idea is far from dead. Too many people have invested too much in it.
     For several years, after all, commentators have been announcing the discovery of an American empire. Books and articles have poured forth, professors and pundits have pondered the implications— and a surprising number have welcomed the new role. “No need to run away from the label,” argues Max Boot, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York: “America’s destiny is to police the world.”

109. Gary,

     For pedantry’s sake, the Iraqi army as of a few days ago has 77 T-72’s, an odd number of T-55’s, 36 BMP’s (with another 64 on the way), and 180 M-113’s to come in the next few months.

     So they’re starting to get some decent heavy equipment. It’s just that like everything being done with the New Iraqi Army, everything’s about a year behind where it ought to be.

110. Sorry.
     This EMPIRE Strikes Suspicion (Foreign Affairs)
     The American Empire: The very phrase sounds like a contradiction in terms. The land of the free tethered to the realms of Alexander, ancient Rome and redcoats on the march; the home of the brave bound to a word synonymous with a stranglehold on power.”>Illusions of Empire: Defining the New American Order by G. John Ikenberry (Foreign Affairs)

111. This whole debate will shift after the January elections.
     After all, At the Cairo reconciliation meeting the one thing that is agreed upon is that the US and British forces need to withdraw.
     And these are the leaders of Iraq.
     Given that, it’s simply a matter of how withdrawal is handled, and what the story is.
     The line that will probably be taken is that the mission is accomplished, and the rest is up to the Iraqis – with the US lending firepower and airpower when needed. Basically, the Charles Bird line.
     But this will come without an improvement in the situation on the ground in Iraq.
     The Fallows piece pointed to, and the NYTimes piece here detailing the continual unraveling of a civil structure are some data providing some evidence of what is in store in Iraq.

112. “For pedantry’s sake, the Iraqi army as of a few days ago has 77 T-72’s, an odd number of T-55’s, 36 BMP’s (with another 64 on the way),”
     So I’ve heard (buy pre-owned Eastern European wares, available cheap, or tow off the lot!), but how many are in full operational working order, and how many have trained crews, and how many are actually in the field today?
     Not that that speaks directly to the answer to those questions in six months, and a year from now, to be sure.
     On other topics, probably it’s just me who is utterly unclear what point NeoDude has in mind with his quotes. I assume it’s not that Max Boot’s, or Niall Ferguson’s, or whomever’s, views, or other discussions in the past half-decade and more (“new world order,” anyone?) of “American empire” are news. Perhaps you could clarify your point?

113. JC- Your statement: “The line that will probably be taken is that the mission is accomplished, and the rest is up to the Iraqis – with the US lending firepower and airpower when needed. Basically, the Charles Bird line.”
     Seems to me to be an error. Charles has only recently come to the loser-defeatist cause, Congressman Murtha deserves credit for whatever success his plan acheives.

114. Gary–

     ISTR that the T-72’s and BMP’s mentioned are now operational. It’ll be a bit before the M-113’s get delivered (a little over 100 IIRC). The armored division of the Iraqi army is apparently staffed by a large number of veterans from Hussein’s armored forces, and apparently they’ve been conducting training for a bit with their old T-55’s.

     OTOH, I don’t know that I feel entirely comforted in knowing that veterans of Hussein’s armored divisions are now taking up their old roles.

115. Sorry, Gary…They were articles that seem to echo otto’s point:
     Perhaps the central conundrum we face in the debate on this whole thing – a debate which exposes our schizophrenia on the subject – is that we have a narrative that is at odds with the reality of our actions: the narrative is “the little colony that could” spreading freedom and democracy against all odds versus the national interests of an empire in an, arguably by some, unipolar world. This is what Niall Ferguson is on about in “Colossus”: “Hey, America. Hello. You’re an empire.” The disconnect that we see in the debate here probably is not going to be solved until we address this friction by coming up with a new narrative, or until we are no longer an empire. This is not at all to say that empires are fundamentally bad, but their actions and interests are not necessarily synonymous with freedom and democracy for their colonies. It is important not to conflate these two things. They may, in fact, be the new dialectic for post Cold War America.
     Posted by: otto | November 21, 2005 at 11:02 PM

116. I was listening to a news show (KCRW’s To the Point, I think: Is America an Empire in Denial?)….where Niall Ferguson was discussing “empire” with an American soldier. The American soldier was so naïve, concerning military power and the spreading of democracy. The soldier really had the “the little colony that could” myth bad…the soldier went so far as to imply that the British just made to many mistakes and America would never act like Great Britain…no never…for you see…Americans are not imperialists!

117. And it is indeed true that our armed forces prevailed over the Philippine insurgency early in the 20th century, and over the Native Americans in the 19th. We are not those people any more.
     As the commentariat at Obsidian Wings demonstrates so well. A pity indeed.

118. As the commentariat at Obsidian Wings demonstrates so well. A pity indeed.
     It’s nice to see Tac forging boldly ahead of the curve and advocating democide (even if democide-by-accident). I’m sure it’ll keep him warm these lonely winter nights.

119. Phil: [IrrelevantNitpick] If you are planning on swimming full-speed whilst scuba diving, you are going to have problems entirely unrelated to how much air is in your tank.[/IrrelevantNitpick]…(There are also circumstances under which it’s perfectly fine to go back into the water on a tank you’ve partly used up already, but that’s even more irrelevant.)
     Quite true on both accounts (I’ve actually done both, although the former wasn’t particularly pleasant); I knew the metaphor had problems when I wrote it, but didn’t care enough to make the scenarios technically correct. Probably should have, in retrospect, but what’re you going to do?
     rilkefan: So here’s the nub, I guess – I think they believed they had planned for the likely scenarios – they hadn’t planned for a stampede of paisley unicorns, they hadn’t planned for having been hornswoggled by Chalabi.
     That’s true insofar as it goes but it again (to me) misses what I see as the nub. It’s not that (AFAICT) the Bush Administration merely failed to account for all the angles, which would render them culpable to charges of ineptitude or incompetence, viz. trusting Chalabi; it’s that they failed to do, well, anything substantive to prepare for the aftermath. Even if that lack of preparation arose purely as a result of trusting Chalabi, reliance upon that trust is itself symptomatic of a lack of caring about the issue: trust, sure, but also verify (since there was no impediment to the verification process) and make contingency plans for what happens if it all goes pear-shaped. Simple, essential steps whose necessity should be obvious with even the most cursory familiarity and that can’t somehow be overlooked given adequate preparation time (which the Bush Administration indeed had).
     That said, I suspect we’re pretty much at an impasse here so I’ll give you the last word unless I can find something new to add to the debate.

120. The sterner stuff we were made of back then.

121. tacitus: kill ’em all and let allah sort them out?
     just how long, precisely, do you believe you can persuade a majority of the American voting public to support stationing troops in iraq? (empire and democracy go so poorly together, don’t you think? tea, anyone?)
     gf: [first comment deleted]. occasionally it is possible in this world to ascribe a single point of view to more than one person. hence the development of political parties. a non-pedantic yet fair interpretation of my post would have ascribed a common view to two commenters who have frequently held common positions on the war.
     but thank you SO MUCH for clarifying that two different people are, in fact, two different people. i would never have known that without your assistance.

122. I’m sorry, LJ, but you’re under arrest for raping history. Kindly stop disseminating facts, quoting primary sources and for God’s sake step away from the keyboard before someone else — reason, semiotics, economic theory — gets hurt.

123. Anarch: right on. Especially since, as Andrea Dworkin would no doubt have written had she been either a historian or Josh, in our current social world, there is no such thing as genuinely consensual intercourse with data, facts, evidence, analysis, or primary sources. Any encounter with evidence is always rape, no matter how complaisant Clio might seem to be.

124. As the commentariat at Obsidian Wings demonstrates so well. A pity indeed.
     If the Indian Wars are the kind of no-nonse brutality of yesteryear that you think of as “will,” I can think of some more recent examples you could cite for inspiration.

125. Even if that lack of preparation arose purely as a result of trusting Chalabi, reliance upon that trust is itself symptomatic of a lack of caring about the issue: trust, sure, but also verify (since there was no impediment to the verification process) and make contingency plans for what happens if it all goes pear-shaped.
     What if Chalabi wins the election now? Still no reason to trust?

126. Any encounter with evidence is always rape, no matter how complaisant Clio might seem to be.
     Being a demonstrated simpleton, I have no idea what this means 🙂

127. A pity indeed.
     [Speechless silence]

128. Ah yes, Americans simply don’t have the kind of strength of character that enabled us to march Native Americans to their deaths over the. And you know what, oh liberals of Obsidian Wings? It’s all your fault, you will-less fops.

129. Ah yes, Americans simply don’t have the kind of strength of character that enabled us to march thousands of Native Americans to their deaths. And you know what, oh liberals of Obsidian Wings? It’s all your fault, you will-less fops.

130. Oh, OK. Um, well, that’s undignifed.

131. Good Lord, Tacitus, we’re at several layers of abstraction before we hit Lebensraum, aren’t we?

132. CharlieCarp:
     
     A pity indeed.
     [Speechless silence]
     When will you accept the teachings of bob? These are not our people, but some dyspeptic variant brewed elsewhere. But who cares? We always win this fight in the long run. We beat these guys in 1865, we beat them in 1965, and, if it comes to it, we’ll beat them again. We’re Americans; the good guys always win. In no small part thanks to people like you.

133. We beat these guys in 1865
     Well yeah, I guess you did assassinate Lincoln, which I suppose is one way to beat the Republicans.

134. Y’all invited the Old South to the seat a the modern national table. If their are heirs to Lincoln left, they are on our side. Own you party, DaveC.

135. DaveC; SCMT casn speak for himself, but I would have thought that ‘them’ referred to people like Tac, who is lamenting that we don’t have the strength of will to commit massacres, and not to Republicans as a whole. I could be wrong, though.
     Clio is the muse of history.

136. Andrew Reeves, thank you for those updates. You aren’t the only one a little unsure about how comforting this change is.
     Otto, that was impressive.
     Tacitus, that was not. “Delenda est” delenda est.

137. DaveC: What if Chalabi wins the election now? Still no reason to trust?
     Given Chalabi’s track record, Dave, and his unpopularity in Iraq, if his party announced December 15th that they’d won the elections, I’d take that as a pretty fair indication that the elections were rigged.

138. Thanks, hilzoy for the Clio tip.
     Indian wars in general were pretty bad, but there were exceptions like nabbing Geronimo, who was pretty clearly a bad guy, a robber and a murderer.

139. Given Chalabi’s track record, Dave, and his unpopularity in Iraq, if his party announced December 15th that they’d won the elections, I’d take that as a pretty fair indication that the elections were rigged.
     vahal reports poll:
     Who do you prefer to be Iraq’s new Prime Minister?
     Adil Abdulmahdi: 5.88%
     Ahmad Chalabi 30.77%
     Ayad Allawi 39.77%
     Ibrahim al-Ja’fari 23.58%

140. In re Hilzoy’s comment (“Basically, I think that the US occupation, for all the huge problems it’s causing, is also one of the things keeping what I take to be the current low-level civil war within some limits . . .”) (BTW, thanks for the reworking of Dworkin. I’ll have to share that one): Does anyone have any thoughts on Christopher Hitchens’ article “Realpolitik: A Game Gone Tilt?”? Or, would civil war be so bad? Meaning, if a large part of the problem in the ME is the imprint left by Western powers in service of their policy objectives (e.g. a balance of power carving up of the Ottoman Empire; lumping Kurds, Shi’ites, and Sunnis together while cutting out Kuwait in the formation of Iraq; etc.) should the US continue to enforce this problematic structure? Would a short term disaster serve to create a long term solution? If part of the animosity toward the US is that Western powers are calling the shots in the ME, what might be the result of letting Iraqis, Iranians, etc. sort things out for themselves?
     In re Max Boot: A friend of mine, whose opinion on such matters I greatly respect, thinks Boot’s “Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power” is an excellent book and recently assigned it to his students in a military history class

141. I think that having ME countries that are not organized by tribe, race, religion is a worthy goal, maybe impractical, but give it a chance.

142. “When will you accept the teachings of bob? These are not our people”
     Darwin in American Life
     “Darwin” as first name, researched by John Emerson. Darwin at one point (maybe 1930ish) was more popular than Walker, Ezra, Julius, Maurice, Joaquin. Comments include a discussion of WJ Bryan as Christian Socialist with an interest in eugenics.
     Since I am RedState semi-rural to the core, it is a “we”, and I no longer understand who we are. And Dixie gave me Bourbon and the Blues, so at least there is some relief from the self-loathing.

143. nabbing Geronimo, who was pretty clearly a bad guy, a robber and a murderer.
     Geronimo was a medicine man until Mexicans killed first wife and three children, so appellations of ‘a bad guy’ etc. need to be modified accordingly. If you have trouble accepting that, just think of him as an ur-libertarian. Or, pace Tacitus, you can complain that we don’t have the courage and fortitude like that anymore, which is why we are losing.

144. DaveC: Adil Abdulmahdi: 5.88%
     Ahmad Chalabi 30.77%
     Ayad Allawi 39.77%
     Ibrahim al-Ja’fari 23.58%
     So, the two people currently in power are less popular even than Chalabi: but 69% of those polled would prefer someone else than Chalabi.
     Looks to me like being PM of Iraq is a poisoned chalice.
     However, going back to your original question: What if Chalabi wins the election now? Still no reason to trust?
     George W. Bush has (by official records) won four elections in the US, two for governor, two for President. He has given no one any reason to believe he is any more trustworthy now than he was then, when he was a failed businessman, successful drunkard, and borderline criminal. (Escaped charges of desertion and of insider trading, both times apparently due to who his father was: unquestionably convicted of DUI.)
     Ahmed Chalabi is a crook. He was convicted of embezzlement after fleeing Jordan in 1992. There is no more reason to trust Chalabi than there ever was to trust George W. Bush, and no, Dave: if Chalabi won the election, that would merely convince me that Iraq was going to be screwed over as badly as the US has been since George W. Bush became President.
     Well, except Chalabi would most likely not invent some random excuse for Iraq to invade a smaller and less powerful country which presented no threat to it, as Bush did, but that’s because Chalabi appears to be a purely practical and pragmatic crook.

145. “So, the two people currently in power are less popular even than Chalabi: but 69% of those polled would prefer someone else than Chalabi.”
     I should go to Swopa or LAT(?) and research it, but last I heard Chalabi’s constituency derived in large part from Muqtada Sadr’s. SCIRI and Da’wa seem to have little interest in the poor Shia of Baghdad, and a coalition of Sadr, some devout Sunnis, and perhaps some Kurds may arise. Sistani might even support it covertly.
     Hakim and the Iranian-leaning Shia may think they can gain control of Southern oilfields and screw the rest of Iraq, but they can’t hold them.

146. “Darwin” as first name, researched by John Emerson. Darwin at one point (maybe 1930ish) was more popular than Walker, Ezra, Julius, Maurice, Joaquin.
     Thanks for the link, I wish John Emerson hung out here. What disturbs me is that Eugene was a really popular name, which makes me wonder how many closet Leopold and Loebs were out there.

147. JeS – “George W. Bush has (by official records) won four elections in the US, two for governor, two for President. He has given no one any reason to believe he is any more trustworthy now than he was then, when he was a failed businessman, successful drunkard, and borderline criminal. (Escaped charges of desertion and of insider trading, both times apparently due to who his father was: unquestionably convicted of DUI.)”
     has won four elections = has given no one any reason to believe
     It’s not hate, I’ve never believed JeS is a hateful person. Some sort of straight gender authority figure thing? Only her closest friends might be able to harvest that from her soul. Purely political? I still doubt that JeS respects wayward Democrats any more than misguided Republicans. Both JeS and hilzoy sprinkle their articles with accusations they present as truths that may not be true, or just aren’t. They are both meticulous researchers and argue extremely well. So, are they rationalizing and lying to themselves – or intentional attempting to mislead us (us? them?); or worse yet, singing to their choir. Although this blog is informative and thought provoking, it is not moderate. Moderation requires thoughtful analysis of issues, a trait hardly found here.

148. bbm
     Nice to see you back, I guess, but I don’t understand your post at all. If you could be specific about the ‘accusations [Hil and Jes] present as truths that may not be true’, we could have a discussion about them.
     I also think it a bit strange to place Hilzoy, a ObWi Great Power, as it were, in the same category as JeS (and what is the deal with the capital S? If you have a problem with what she writes on her live journal, the obvious place to take it up with her is there, not here). No offense to Jes, but the difference in power in respect to this blog is huge.
     I’m also completely baffled by the ‘straight gender authority figure thing’, not knowing what a ‘straight gender’ is or how you mean ‘authority figure’. You clearly haven’t been commenting, I assume that you must have your reasons for coming now with this post, but I’m not sure what you have read and what you are disagreeing with.

149. Jes writes: “Well, except Chalabi would most likely not invent some random excuse for Iraq to invade a smaller and less powerful country which presented no threat to it, as Bush did, but that’s because Chalabi appears to be a purely practical and pragmatic crook.”
     Silly, he’d get the stooges at GOP and AEI to do it for him!
     “Ms. Mylroie,” he’d say, “lovely to see you again! As beautiful as ever! It has come to my attention that Kuwait has started serious programs in bioweapons and remote-controlled aircraft. And we have intercepted communications between Kuwait and Al Qaeda – here are some transcripts; they’re written on paper towels as a security measure. But then, I’m sure you knew that. Did I tell you your tinfoil hat looks just smashing?”

150. lj: I also think it a bit strange to place Hilzoy, a ObWi Great Power, as it were, in the same category as JeS (and what is the deal with the capital S?
     I realised early on that along with the advantages of a pseud like Jesurgislac, I had to take on the disadvantages, which includes acquiring a cheerfully thick skin about any spellings/mis-spellings/shortenings/contractions. In full, Jesurgislac is Je Surgis Lac, and Blogbudsman’s shortening it to JeS is actually quite appropriate. But I don’t have a problem with Jes, Jesu, Jesur, or any other variant, either.
     That said, Blogbuds, I am a mere nibbler and commenter here. To roll my name in with Hilzoy’s is so far from being flattering to Hilzoy that I can’t conclude you’re being complimentary to me, but rather think you’re trying to denigrate Hilzoy (I would hope unconsciously) by associating her lengthy, thoughtful, well-reasoned posts with my much shorter jabs and pokes in comments.
     Separate us out, please. Feel free to snap and snarl at me for my bites and snaps at Bush and his supporters: and, if you can, respond to Hilzoy’s intelligent condemnation with some kind of reasoned defense of the President you prefer.

151. The author of this post, and the NoEndButVictory snots (if they aren’t a propaganda outfit, I notice it is run from outside the country) carefully avoid defining victory.
     I don’t think they mean that there are less teachers teaching in many(most?all?) areas of Iraq than during Saddam’s regime, even if some of the classrooms have a new coat of paint (look, pretty colors!).
     This is quite similar to BushCo’s freedom refrain. Say it often enough, and I guess people will think you are talking about Freedom.
     They don’t plan to allow freedom in Iraq. Don’t be daft. They certainly won’t be free to nationalize their oil resources.
     So, what is this “victory?”
     Define it.
     Sissy boy Von sure as hell knows it DOESN’T LOOK LIKE THIS.
     Right, sissy boy?

152. Tacitus writes: “As the commentariat at Obsidian Wings demonstrates so well. A pity indeed.”
     Tacitus evidently thinks our problems in Iraq would be solved if only we’d decapitate Iraqis on video.

153. Geez, not only is calling someone a ‘sissy boy’ uncivil and a violation of site rules, it also makes you sound like an idiot. If you’re going to make comments whose substance I roughly agree with, could you stop making yourself look bad by being childishly rude?

154. But bbm, surely you can agree that winning elections does not establish trustworthiness. Bill Clinton won many more than GWB ever will — and I would guess that this has no effect on your view of the former’s trustworthiness.
     It certainly doesn’t affect my views.

155. JS Narins- Nice graph. That corresponds to my sense of things too, but it would be nice if you would show a link to where you got the information.
     (The posting rules do take some work to master, I’m still feeling my way around and I’ve been coming here for a couple of years now.)

156. The posting rules do take some work to master
     “Be reasonably civil.” (Or, to quote Dorothy L. Sayers, “A bland and deadly courtesy is infinitely more devastating, don’t you think?”)

157. Me, responding to Francis:

     i’m having a bad case of cognitive dissonance reconciling this “Earnest” post, the “Six Months” post and the “Loser-Defeatist” post.
     This one is by von, and the other two by Charles, so I’m unclear why one would expect to be able to reconcile the views of two different people.

     Francis:

     …a non-pedantic yet fair interpretation of my post would have ascribed a common view to two commenters who have frequently held common positions on the war.

     Perhaps I’m misunderstanding, but you seem to be responding to my saying that I’m “unclear why one would expect to be able to reconcile the views of two different people” by telling me that I, and all of us, should expect two entirely different people with two clearly different points of view to hold a “common view.”
     Perhaps this is more explanation than repetition, and I’m missing that, but it seems unlikely to be a point that rewards pursuit.

158. “Darwin” as first name, researched by John Emerson. Darwin at one point (maybe 1930ish) was more popular than Walker, Ezra, Julius, Maurice, Joaquin.
     Joaquin? Doesn’t sound like a terribly high bar.

159. Gary- I think Francis may have been responding to the same thing I saw: That Von’s post following Charles’ new post seemed striking. I thought it was anyway, Von saying don’t question Republican’s sincerity right after an unexplained volt face by Charles. Is that ironic?

160. Jes- As to bland and deadly courtesy, I haven’t been all that impressed with the results when I’ve tried it, but maybe I’m just not clever enough.

161. “Thanks, hilzoy for the Clio tip.”
     Offered purely in the spirit of friendship and helpfulness: DaveC, this is Google. You can use it to look up things you don’t know about. Google, this is DaveC: be nice to him. DaveC, be nice to Google, and it will enrich your life greatly, and save you the effort of asking a lot of questions you can find the answers for yourself in just five or six seconds.
     I hope you two have a long and happy life together.

162. Gary- I’m not sure how to broach this, having been sensitized to the fact that I often fall short in the courtesy department, but are you in a mood?
     I think your last couple of posts may have been remarkably unhelpfull.
     1 Asking about a matter that perhaps doesn’t confuse you at all.
     2 Supplying information that is doubtless already well known by your subject.

163. And Dixie gave me Bourbon and the Blues, so at least there is some relief from the self-loathing.
     Posted by: bob mcmanus | November 22, 2005 at 03:00 AM
     Classic.

164. “In full, Jesurgislac is Je Surgis Lac….”
     As we know, Bob, people tend to not read contractions as intended. As learned the folks who did the website for Pen Island, or Experts Exchange, or Therapist Finder dot com.
     “Sissy boy Von” “Right, sissy boy?”
     Gosh, I love it when people on “my side” act like rude children, as well as posting without bothering to lurk, as per standard netiquette, or read the posting rules. Yes, that truly wins debates for us, and gains votes. Thanks, JS Narins! Very persuasive reasoning.

165. “Be reasonably civil.” (Or, to quote Dorothy L. Sayers, “A bland and deadly courtesy is infinitely more devastating, don’t you think?”)
     Posted by: Jesurgislac | November 22, 2005 at 10:09 AM
     That is sooooo English (or is it soooo British?)

166. Gary- … are you in a mood?
     Sometimes Gary will issues a challenge like “answer this question and don’t use Google”, and then later say “Hey, haven’t you ever heard of Google?”. This is a roundabout way of proving a point about researching a subject before commenting on it.
     He’s a fact-checker, editor type, and sometimes a pedant, but never anonymous. He tries occasionally to establish a “no-bullshit allowed in comments section” policy. Well good luck!

167. Bland and deadly courtesy sometimes makes a mockery of posting rules. A sufficiently articulate person can be a real bastard, much worse than some drunk spouting obscenities, and not be aware of the fact because their insults are so cleverly worded.
     Bland and deadly courtesy should be aimed at ideas, not people. I make an exception for war criminals.
     My opinion anyway. Perhaps I’m just jealous because, like Frank, I’m not too good at bland and deadly courtesy.

168. True, hilzoy is the headliner. But my infatuation with ObSiWi lies more with the personalities of the frequent posters. hilzoy’s ability to build a case that seemingly backs her argument like an enchanting Siren often requires an Odysseus type escape. Luckily my attention deficit syndrome saves the day. Jes (I’ll drop the formal informality) takes her unwavering beliefs and fires her kill shots straight and true. Actually I thought I was supporting Von’s original argument in my own inimitable style.

169. And CharleyCarp, I agree with a lot of things. I don’t distrust Bill Clinton, although I wish ex-Presidents would recuse themselves from the revisionism of partisan politics. So does that mean you and I are now kindred spirits?

170. Thanks DaveC and Don. I have to say it seems strange that someone asking for charity would seem to go out of his way to encourage people to feel angry with him.

171. For the record, I didnt take offense. I said something like “What is the significance of XYZZY?” when of course I could have easily looked it up. That was a typical chastisement that was not personal, but was about maintaining standards in a comment section.

172. “…but are you in a mood?”
     Not at all. Nothing out of the norm, at the very least.
     I responded to considerable sarcasm directed at me by Francis with a perfectly polite reply (would it have been politer to ignore him?), and then offered some cheery and helpful advice to DaveC. Should I have deleted the “Offered purely in the spirit of friendship and helpfulness” part, or not tried to help him find answers to his questions?
     Isn’t it marvelous that humans come in so many varieties, and we can have so many different interpretations of the same things?

173. DaveC- And you are doubtless wise. I’m sure I’m overreacting.

174. Gary, Frank answers adequately for me.
     Mr. Narins, your blog and resume establishes you to be an educated and thoughtful person. Please try to avoid name-calling; it disparages you more than the recipient.
     the source of Mr. Narins’s graphic is the Brookings Institute. Their index, in pdf, is here.
     In addition to the steadily rising number of insurgent attacks, cited by Mr. Narins, i found page 9, which shows a substantial decline in car bombings and deaths of iraq police since july of this year, to be noteworthy.
     btw: what does “Surgis” mean?

175. “That is sooooo English (or is it soooo British?)”
     Ask the Scots.

176. Q points out that in some ways Google may give you the answer you want to hear
     Miserable failure

177. “I have to say it seems strange that someone asking for charity would seem to go out of his way to encourage people to feel angry with him.”
     Well, I don’t know why anyone would be angry with me save through mis-assuming and mis-interpreting, but while on the one hand I’m, of course, not in the least trying to encourage anyone to feel angry with me, on the other hand I’m baffled at the suggestion that I should somehow change my behavior to, I don’t know, present a false face and suck up to people, in order to gain some ulterior gain.
     That seems somewhat twisted to me, but I’m sure you didn’t mean it that way.
     But I’d hope I never feel a serious impulse to act differently so as to deceive people. And I’d hope that no one would think, or suggest, I was that sort of person, but that can’t be helped.
     Have you also applied this analysis and suggestion to, say, Andrew Sullivan, or Atrios, or Glenn Reynolds, or David Niewert, or any of the other thousands of bloggers who ask for donations, by the way?
     “btw: what does ‘Surgis’ mean?”
     Jes has said “Je Surgis Lac, shortened usually to Jes: means I rise from the
     lake, in French….”

178. Gary- Ok here is how it looks to me FWIW: Looking back at Francis’ post I can see what most (I think) would describe as sarcasm, but many of your posts in general have been described as sarcastic-seeming by others, though you later deny any such intent. Possibly, you may wish to be charitable in judging others sarcastic under the circumstances.
     It didn’t seem plausible to me that you could have had any great confusion either about Francis’ original post or his later clarification, given the common Republican habit of working from the same set of talking points, and the fact that this post is a defence of Republican’s sincerity with regard to at least some mention of the aformentioned talking points. I’m not sure though, maybe it is I who is confused.
     With regard to your “cheery advice” to DaveC I feel that you may be being disengenious, but in case you are not I have to say possibly you should see if you can find something to take for your memory. As a casual reader of this blog who often skims hundreds of posts quickly, and as someone who wasn’t involved in the conversations I know that DaveC has mentioned his awareness of Google to you at least a couple of times recently.
     I wasn’t aiming for sarcasm here but if it seems that I was I will have to plead that the unaccustomed work of trying to make myself clearly understood by you could be the reason.

179. Whereas Google (Babelfish) says it’s “I emerged lake.”
     Out of sight, out of mind.

180. Von, when 80% of the Iraqi people support an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops, as documented by the British military, and when the one thing that the Iraqi leadership can agree on is a demand for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from their country, as they did in Eqypt yesterday, isn’t it necessarily the case that an American “victory” is to be won by acceding to the wishes of the vast majority of Iraqis and their duly elected leaders and presenting a timetable for withdrawal? Can you provide a compelling explanation of how the United States can attain a victory by refusing to agree to the demands of the Iraqi people and elected government?

181. “Q points out that in some ways Google may give you the answer you want to hear”
     If you’re dumb enough to not know the difference between a personalized Google and not. But dumb people have no shortage of ways to find comforting and desired responses. Actually, smart people have no shortage, either, but they might be less obvious ways on the surface.
     Incidentally, before dropping the subject like a white-hot iron, I’ll note that while I’m touched at the concern people have for my intake of donations, out of the past four times Hilzoy has posted a “donate to Gary” post here, I’ve gotten a grand total of two donations (one on this occasion, and not counting Hilzoy herself donating), so if I were interested in fiendishly plotting to suck up to people, hoping they will never discover my True Inner Mean Mean Mean Self, I probably wouldn’t get very far, anyway. Needlessly to say, I’m utterly grateful, beyond able to even hint at a fraction of how grateful, for any and all kind donations to my insigificant endeavors and self. And now I say that I expect to not reply further on this topic.
     Say, isn’t it a beautiful day? Lovely weather we’re having hereabouts, anyway. Seen the latest lunacy?

182. For the record: Gary did not ask for charity, at least not on this blog. I asked people to donate. And you should: it’s a great blog.

183. “I’m baffled at the suggestion that I should somehow change my behavior to, I don’t know, present a false face and suck up to people, in order to gain some ulterior gain.
     That seems somewhat twisted to me, but I’m sure you didn’t mean it that way.”
     Horrors, no I would never suggest that anyone who wants to make money should employ sales, or marketing techniques!
     Well I and others know how you feel about this and thats perfectly ok. I don’t particularly think the worse of people who do, and as a general rule I assume people who are trying to make money do make an effort to appeal to customers.
     Also while many people are dishonest in doing so, some people seem to manage to appeal without compromising their essential selves.
     (The only one of those I read is Atrios and doesn’t irritate me. John Cole sometime does, but I am reluctant to get rid of conservative blogs I can tolerate, and often what I see as his pig-headedness amuses me for some reason.)
     Then again since my financial circumstances are only a little better than yours (I have a real fridge.) I am unlikely to donate no matter how much I like you, so even if you were willing, don’t change to please me.
     

184. Frank: “Also while many people are dishonest in doing so, some people seem to manage to appeal without compromising their essential selves.
     (The only one of those I read is Atrios and doesn’t irritate me.”
     Are we here at ObWi supposed to draw conclusions from this, plus the fact that you apparently read us? If so, do we get to be dishonest, unappealing, or irritating? 😉

185. Bush Talked of Bombing Al-Jazeera
     LONDON (AP) – A civil servant has been charged under Britain’s Official Secrets Act for allegedly leaking a government memo that a newspaper said Tuesday suggested that Prime Minister Tony Blair persuaded President Bush not to bomb the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera.

186. I think of ObWi as a friendly sort of place and that’s part of the reason I hang around here. Part of the spirit, it seems to me, is for us all to make allowances for each others’ particular styles and (dare I say it?) foibles.
     I have my reactions to things I read here just as I imagine others do. For example, my reaction to Gary and Francis was to wonder “well, just how different are ‘preemptively declare defeat’ (von) and ‘loser-defeatist’ (Charles).” Still, von and Charles are certainly two different people. Letting my frustration with Charles lap over into a reaction to von would be an error on my part.
     Usually when I start writing a post like this I just discard it rather than post. I offer this in the spirit of friendship. (“Say ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ back.” — You’ve Got Mail).

187. Hilzoy- I am embarrased to admit I did not know that Obsidian Wings was asking for donations.
     I would say I generally find OW appealing or I wouldn’t spend much time here.

188. Hey waitasec Gary, I’ve donated a Jackson, not in response to the last ObWi post. Give me a little credit!
     And the argument that:
     DaveC kicked into the amygladagf fund
     DaveC is a Fool
     Therefore, People who donate are fools
     Is disproven by hilzoy, and isnt logical anyway.
     Also, the conversation does in some ways illustrate what von was talking about(like making assumptions about people’s intelligence and motivations.)

189. “Je Surgis Lac, shortened usually to Jes: means I rise from the
     lake, in French….”
     So Jes is just some watery tart? Do you have a sideline in sword-throwing and the bestowing of supreme executive power in addition to blog commenting, Jes?

190. Frank: aha! I understood ‘appeal’ not in the sense of ‘appeal for funds’ (which we aren’t doing; it’s actually quite cheap, at least until you start including things like subscribing to the Economist), but ‘generally be appealing’, or something.
     Nevermind.

191. ral- Good advice. I’ve no doubt I should have followed. Since I know I am no match for either Hilzoy or Gary alone much less together, I believe I shall pre-emtively surrender and appologize for my uncouth ways. I will strive to do better.

192. “Part of the spirit, it seems to me, is for us all to make allowances for each others’ particular styles and (dare I say it?) foibles.”
     And I fail at this all the time, of course, which I regret, but I do actually try, when I don’t forget and write in over-hasty manner. Otherwise, well, the reasons for my failings are perhaps as numerous as the failings themselves. I make no excuses, but I do try, at least, to act in good faith.
     Would it help if instead of just ASCII, one could see and hear an avatar of me as a cute little animated bear, full of love and cuteness and cuteness and love, cheerfully making my smart-ass remarks, while offering a hug, a laugh, and a candy-cane? (I have the notion that some instead see me as some sort of foul pus-ridden demon in a pit, tossing out vicious bitter contempt, as I torture an unfortunate over the flames for my pleasure, and cackle; and that’s not fair! I don’t cackle!)
     I’m so cute and cuddly! Sweetums! Honeypie! Wuv me! Wuv me NOOOOOOWWW!

193. Gary, are you thinking of one of my favorite Fafblog posts? And it’s right next to the Terrorist Voting Guide, too!

194. Larv: So Jes is just some watery tart?
     I go on record: that is the first bloody time anyone picked up the Monty Python reference, and HOW long have I been using this pseud? (Answer; over three years.)
     Do you have a sideline in sword-throwing and the bestowing of supreme executive power in addition to blog commenting, Jes?
     Nope. I just like making obscure Python jokes and waiting for someone to get them. 😀

195. oops.

196. By the way — Mission Accomplished: Regarding the recent conference attended by current Iraqi leadership:
     Leaders of Iraq’s sharply divided Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis called Monday for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces in the country and said Iraq’s opposition had a “legitimate right” of resistance.
     The final communique, hammered out at the end of three days of negotiations at a preparatory reconciliation conference under the auspices of the Arab League, condemned terrorism, but was a clear acknowledgment of the Sunni position that insurgents should not be labeled as terrorists if their operations do not target innocent civilians or institutions designed to provide for the welfare of Iraqi citizens.
     * * *
     In Egypt, the final communique’s attempt to define terrorism omitted any reference to attacks against U.S. or Iraqi forces. Delegates from across the political and religious spectrum said the omission was intentional. They spoke anonymously, saying they feared retribution.
     “Though resistance is a legitimate right for all people, terrorism does not represent resistance. Therefore, we condemn terrorism and acts of violence, killing and kidnapping targeting Iraqi citizens and humanitarian, civil, government institutions, national resources and houses of worships,” the document said. (emphasis added)
     And for this, American’s are being asked to die. But since this is a “success,” they can now go home.

197. Well…in light of that communique, I think it’s fair to say NEBV has, within mere days, become obsolete. Reality overtakes. Once again.
     Let’s see if they adjust or carry on willfully.

198. “I go on record: that is the first bloody time anyone picked up the Monty Python reference, and HOW long have I been using this pseud?”
     Huh. I thought it was beyond too obvious to be worth mentioning, as would going in any number of Sir Thomas Malory or Le Morte d’Arthur directions. I suspect I’m not the only one who simply saw no reason to comment on something so obvious (no one’s ever gone “hey, your blog title is about the brain! I get it, yuk, yuk,” to me, either). I could be wrong, of course.

199. ITM:

     We heard a similar sort of talks prior to January elections and many parties held the slogan of ending “the occupation” but after the elected representatives sat to figure out what to do most of them found that asking the troops to leave would be in no one’s interest so they found themselves asking the UN to let the troops stay for another couple of years instead of asking them to leave.
     Again, this issue is a technical one and speeches mean almost nothing and I’m positive that whoever is to be elected next month will realize the complexity of the situation especially when it comes to building Iraqi forces capable of preserving security.

200. It wasn’t a “political speech”….it was a communique signed by the leaders of the major groups in Iraq.

201. DaveC: The impression I get from reading Iraqi blogs is that many Iraqis believed before the January election that the political parties standing for election weren’t just saying “End the occupation” as an empty meaningless slogan like “Moving America Forward”, or “Yes, America Can”, or “A Stronger, More Faithful America” or “steady leadership in times of change”: the Iraqis believed the parties they were voting for were going to end the occupation. The Iraqis were, among other things, voting to evict foreign troops from their country.
     The fact is, though, that there is no Iraqi force that can compel the US to leave, and the realpolitik situation is that regardless of in whose benefit the occupation of Iraq is continuing – and I doubt there are many Iraqis who believe that it’s all for their own good – the occupation will continue until the US government decides to end it.
     As has been discussed to death, no one knows when that will be, but a sensible person would give odds that it will happen to fit into the US electoral cycle: Bush could decide to declare victory and withdraw after the midterms, or he could decide he’s going to present the picture of a President who will “stay the course” and leave the problem in the hands of his successor. What is certain is that it will not happen on Iraqi terms or to a timescale that suits an Iraqi government.

202. DaveC, I trust that you realize that while it’s quite valuable and interesting to follow a variety of Iraqi bloggers, which I do, they display as wide a range of views as both Iraqis do, and as everyone else does?
     I weigh them all with interest, but see no reason to accept the views of any one as gospel, when they obviously are clearly not, but are merely speaking for the thread of Iraqis who are like-minded.
     And thus we see the earnest optimism of Iraq the Model, the searing bitterness of Riverbend referring to “the puppets,” the rantings against the criminal acts of the Americans from Raed, the individualistic puzzlings and complaints from Salem Pax, the now silence from Zeyad, and so on.
     I assume you wouldn’t respond to a sample quote from Raed or Riverbend with a variant of “oh, well, since an Iraqi thinks this about Iraq, it must be so”? Or am I wrong? (Really, I have great insight into America, and my views about it are clearly correct, because I, myself, am American.)

203. “The fact is, though, that there is no Iraqi force that can compel the US to leave,”
     Slart’s not been around for a couple of days, but I certainly was curious what he thought of Iraqi sovereignty after the raid the other day by American forces on an Iraqi Interior Ministry site, and the followup declaration that American forces intended to raid all such Ministry sites.
     “In an effort to combat malicious comment posting by scripts, I’ve enabled a feature that requires a weblog commenter to wait a short amount of time before being able to post again. Please try to post your comment again in a short while. Thanks for your patience.”
     Could someone please fix this? Thanks.

204. Gary- Could someone please fix this?
     I’ve never had that problem. I’m pretty sure no one else is getting it with the frequency you are. It does remind me a bit of my inability to comment on your blog though.

205. “It does remind me a bit of my inability to comment on your blog though.”
     Yes, well, all things are about me, aren’t they? If only more people undertood that!

206. Slart’s not been around for a couple of days, but I certainly was curious what he thought of Iraqi sovereignty after the raid the other day by American forces on an Iraqi Interior Ministry site, and the followup declaration that American forces intended to raid all such Ministry sites.

     I still think highly of Iraqi sovereignty, but I’m thinking that they’re perhaps less ready to exercise it than we’d like them to be. And of course we’d like to see ourselves setting a much better example as regards prisoner abuse. Maybe this will serve as a goad that there’s multiple reasons for us to treat prisoners with some modicum of respect. More likely, not, but hope springs eternal.
     Regarding your other issues, I’ll have a look around and see if there are any knobs that I can twist to get you some relief. I’d suggest commenting less frequently, but we don’t want to go that far, do we?

207. Jes:I go on record: that is the first bloody time anyone picked up the Monty Python reference, and HOW long have I been using this pseud?
     Woohoo! My decision in college to forgo classes in favor of repeated viewings of Monty Python and Mel Brooks movies finally bears fruit!
     Gary:Huh. I thought it was beyond too obvious to be worth mentioning, as would going in any number of Sir Thomas Malory or Le Morte d’Arthur directions. I suspect I’m not the only one who simply saw no reason to comment on something so obvious…
     Gary, I wuv you, really I do (in a completely heterosexual way, of course), but you might want to think on how comments like this might be taken as critical of other commenters (not that I took it as such), and how this might cause people to be a bit prickly in response to your comments. Just a suggestion, if you’re concerned about people misconstruing your intent. It detracts from the cuddlyness a bit.

208. I still think highly of Iraqi sovereignty, but I’m thinking that they’re perhaps less ready to exercise it than we’d like them to be.
     This is not aimed at you, Slart, since I find myself thinking the same thing quite often, but I wonder how to reconcile thoughts like this with all of the talk of democracy and freedom being on the march. All I can conclude is that no one is really talking about either freedom or democracy and that they really mean some form of underlying cultural transformation.
     I don’t see the former bringing about the latter in the short term. If this is war, it is more like the cold war than WWII — to be measured in decades and fought by threat and economics rather than militarily. I think de-escalation is in order. Bush I had it right and Bush II badly wrong.

209. I still think highly of Iraqi sovereignty, but I’m thinking that they’re perhaps less ready to exercise it than we’d like them to be.
     And I don’t mean offence, but the way this was phrased has “Great White Father” written all over it.

210. but the way this was phrased has “Great White Father” written all over it

     Perhaps, but in whose handwriting?

211. I might have typed Slart‘s sentence – what would be a preferable phrasing?

212. “Would it help if instead of just ASCII, one could see and hear an avatar of me as a cute little animated bear, full of love and cuteness and cuteness and love, cheerfully making my smart-ass remarks, while offering a hug, a laugh, and a candy-cane?”
     Gary, if you’d just admitted earlier that you are, in fact, Butterstick, I think your money problems would be solved.
     Not everyone was grabbing the tickets for themselves. Hours after the zoo announced that no more were left, some of the free tickets turned up on eBay, going for $75 and up.

213. “Hilzoy’s basic presumption seems to be that the Bush Administration is stupid and black hearted and that the Bush Administration’s supporters are testosterone-fueled nincompoops, easily misled by the latest shiny thing.”
     Actually, not nincompoops. Neoconpoops.

214. rilkefan:
     short version: $300 billion and THIS is how they treat us?
     long version: while we recognize the sovereignity of the Iraqi govt and will respect their wishes with all deliberate speed, we humbly suggest that our training of their military and police forces remains incomplete, that (due to our experience in Lebanon, Somalia, Haiti, Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland …) we believe that the forces of dissolution and destruction will overpower the silent majority’s desire for maintaining unification if we leave too soon, and that we believe that they should therefore reconsider.
     shortest version: oh well.

215. Interesting story on NPA, about how efforts to bring Sunnis into the political process have improved since the Sunnis boycotted the legislative election.
     One factor (according to the story) was that Sunnis now regret that decision. Another factor was that the US didn’t know which Sunni leaders to talk to, or that the people they thought were Sunni leaders turned out not to be.
     That sounds to me as if there was a change in Sunni leadership. As in: the Sunni leaders who advocated the boycott were discredited by that decision, and gave way to people more interested in participating in the political process.

216. Sorry: that should be NPR, not NPA.

217. I note with interest that Juan Cole, whom many on the left seem to take as some sort of guru on all things Middle East, continues to express the view that the U.S. needs to continue to stay involved in Iraq, and not withdraw precipitously:

     My only dissent is that I do believe that if the Americans aren’t very careful about how they do it, when they withdraw there will be a civil war and possibly a regional war. What Lebanon should have taught us is that when sectarian conflicts develop into guerrilla war, and when the central government and its army are for any reason paralyzed, a conventional war can easily ensue. As for a statute of limitations on “you broke it, you own it,” whatever it is it is surely longer than 2 years.

     Slart says:

     I’d suggest commenting less frequently, but we don’t want to go that far, do we?

     If it were merely preventing me posting, and giving that message, when I was posting a minute after another comment, that would be annoying, but another thing. What’s happening, as I’ve repeatedly mentioned, is that I get that message after I’ve not commented for twelve hours, or two days, or three hours. I also don’t get it plenty of times when I’ve just posted ten seconds ago.
     In other words, my point is that I get that response absolutely randomly, so far as I can tell. Somewhere around 1/3rd of the time, it feels like, though that guess may be quite off. But the frequency, combined with utter lack of applicability, is what makes me squeak.

218. “…but you might want to think on how comments like this might be taken as critical of other commenters (not that I took it as such), and how this might cause people to be a bit prickly in response to your comments.”
     I thought I was complimenting everyone on their presumed Monty Python familiarity.
     But I do thank you, sincerely, for the feedback.
     And now it’s time for the penguin on top of your monitor to explode.
     Recently: Cleese’s lemur. John Cleese shows his inner asshole. Roots of Python. One of many Spamalot posts.

219. Watching Charles do a complete rhetorical 180 from; begining redeployment within 6 months is the position of a loser-defeatist to “American forces should withdraw in six months.”
     In Murtha’s own words, Frank:

     I believe before the Iraqi elections, scheduled for mid-December, the Iraqi people and the emerging government must be put on notice: The United States will immediately redeploy — immediately redeploy.
     […]
     My plan calls for immediate redeployment of U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces to create a quick reaction force in the region, to create an over-the-horizon presence of Marines, and to diplomatically pursue security and stability in Iraq.
     […]
     I think that you get them out of there in six months. I think that we could do it — you have to do it in a very consistent way, but I think six months would be a reasonable time to get them out of there.

     AP pretty much confirmed the same thing. I don’t know about you, but I took Murtha at his word, and he made clear his congressional intent: American forces should withdraw immediately no matter what. In my “Six Months” post, there is actually a coherent military-political rationale for the reduction of American forces, i.e., tactical and strategic milestones were achieved. There couldn’t be a bigger difference between Murtha and myself.

220. “One factor (according to the story) was that Sunnis now regret that decision.”
     To possibly clarify or confirm, or possibly not, there have been about a billion jillion stories to that effect since the initial election. (Though usually with more specificity than “Sunnis,” but letting that pass.)

221. “AP pretty much confirmed the same thing.”
     Charles, these are the bills that, respectively, Murtha wrote, and the Republicans wrote.
     “I don’t know about you, but I took Murtha at his word, and he made clear his congressional intent: American forces should withdraw immediately no matter what.”
     Are you saying that “immediately” means “in six months”?

222. “There couldn’t be a bigger difference between Murtha and myself.”
     To be clear, though, I do see a clear difference between what I understand of Murtha’s position and yours, in that I do agree that Murtha’s position seems to be that we should move ahead with his proposed redeployment under more or less any likely future developments in Iraq, whereas you are more or less of the “we shall stand down as they stand up” view. Do I have that right, Charles?

223. “Somewhere around 1/3rd of the time, it feels like, though that guess may be quite off.”
     I’d suggest you log the incidence – I probably post here a little more than you and haven’t had that problem in recent memory, using firefox from both linux and XP. I wonder if your connection could be lossy and ObWi’s side intolerant.

224. Are you saying that “immediately” means “in six months”?
     It’s not what I’m saying, but what Murtha said, Gary.

225. …whereas you are more or less of the “we shall stand down as they stand up” view. Do I have that right, Charles?
     Yes. As Iraq progresses and more Iraqi troops are able to step in, American forces can step back. At some point, I foresee that American troop reductions will be negotiated diplomatically, and some agreement or agreements will be reached as to the extent of our presence.

226. “It’s not what I’m saying, but what Murtha said, Gary.”
     Let me try for a different direction: are we agreed that Murtha’s proposal, along with other conditions and declarations, is to redeploy within six months — just as you quote him — and “as soon as is practicable” — as the submitted resolution says — and no sooner?

227. I have no particular knowledge of things military, but “redeploy” and “withdraw” suggest different things to me. Am I wrong?

228. Charles-In my “Six Months” post, there is actually a coherent military-political rationale for the reduction of American forces, i.e., tactical and strategic milestones were achieved.
     Exactly how stupid am I supposed to be here? You don’t think Murtha’s concerns about the drawdown of vehicles, spare parts,
     ammunition, and trained personel, are military concerns, or the moral issues in both the military and general population are political? You are stacking up your experience and judgement with military matters against Murtha’s 37 years as a marine and however many on the House Armed Services committe, and saying you come out on top? Are you really the head of the JCS or do you think everyone reading you is an idiot?
     There couldn’t be a bigger difference between Murtha and myself.
     I don’t doubt you are right about this as a personal matter, but I don’t see any daylight between your positions on this.

229. oops forgot the e at the end of morale above.

230. Quoted without comment:
     Gary: Are you saying that “immediately” means “in six months”?
     Charles: It’s not what I’m saying, but what Murtha said, Gary.
     Murtha himself: I think that you get them out of there in six months.

231. Not sure, but I think there’s some point to the 6-month discussion – if the army said they could get out safely in 2 months, wouldn’t that satisfy Murtha?

232. What’s happening, as I’ve repeatedly mentioned, is that I get that message after I’ve not commented for twelve hours, or two days, or three hours.

     Gary, I appreciate your concern, but your annoyance doesn’t do anything at all to increase my ability to do anything about it, other than to notify Typepad of your annoyance. Also, I haven’t yet spoken with hilzoy about whether this is a feature she’d like to keep engaged to foil the dreaded spambots, or whether I can simply ask Typepad to turn it off. She never calls anymore, or even writes.
     And of course it could simply be your browser getting back at you for that thing you did to it last month.

     but “redeploy” and “withdraw” suggest different things to me

     They do. “Redeploy” has a rather more permanent meaning to it; kind of like the difference between leaving your house to visit relatives for a bit and packing up the household and moving to a different state.

233. rilkefan writes: “Not sure, but I think there’s some point to the 6-month discussion – if the army said they could get out safely in 2 months, wouldn’t that satisfy Murtha?”
     I’m guessing Murtha’s number is based to some extent on conversations with people in the military, not just something he pulled out of his butt.

234. ” “Redeploy” has a rather more permanent meaning to it; kind of like the difference between leaving your house to visit relatives for a bit and packing up the household and moving to a different state.”
     My impression is that “redeploy” means “taking them out but putting them to work elsewhere”.
     Sort of like when we redeployed forces from South Korea to Iraq.

235. They do. “Redeploy” has a rather more permanent meaning to it
     Funny, the understanding that some seem to have is that it is synonymous with ‘bug out’
     Incidentally, Murtha’s service record in the Marines is pretty impressive. He started out as a private and left as a full colonel. I’m sure that has been taken into account.
     This was also interesting
     On March 17, 2004, he called for a recorded vote on the “War in Iraq Anniversary resolution” then voted against it. The Republican sponsored resolution “affirms that the United States and the world have been made safer with the removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime from power in Iraq.” In May, he proclaimed the problems that the military had faced up to that point were due to a “lack of planning” by Pentagon chiefs and “the direction has got to be changed or it is unwinnable.”

236. “He started out as a private and left as a full colonel.”
     Point of trivia: the usual procedure, last I looked, is that if you are retiring honorably as an officer, without any black marks, you are usually bumped a grade for your retirement. Assuming this practice was followed, Col. Murtha’s last serving rank would have been Lt. Colonel, and that in the Reserves.
     Not that this makes his 37 years of Marine service, plus years in the House, less impressive. I’m just wearing my sticler-for-details hat. Stylish, innit?

237. Hell, I should have just quoted this:

     He learned about military service from the bottom up, beginning as a raw recruit when he left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marines out of a growing sense of obligation to his country during the Korean War. There he earned the American Spirit Honor Medal, awarded to fewer than one in 10,000 recruits. He rose through the ranks to become a drill instructor at Parris Island and was selected for Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. He then was assigned to the Second Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 1959, Captain Murtha took command of the 34th Special Infantry Company, Marine Corps Reserves, in Johnstown. He remained in the Reserves after his discharge from active duty until he volunteered for Vietnam in 1966-67, receiving the Bronze Star with Combat “V”, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. He remained in the Reserves until his retirement. This first-hand knowledge of military and defense issues has made him a trusted adviser to presidents of both parties and one of the most effective advocates for the national defense in Washington. At the request of Presidents and Speakers of the House, he served as chairman of delegations monitoring elections in the Philippines, El Salvador, Panama and Bosnia.
     He was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal by the Marine Corps Commandant when he retired from the Marines.

     A tad more than I’ve done, although I was a darn good Assistant Patrol Leader in the Boy Scouts, lemme tell ya. True leadership skills did I display as I honed my trusty wilderness skills in Brooklyn.
     (Okay, we really did make field trips to mountains and stuff. Really.)

238. Point of trivia: the usual procedure, last I looked, is that if you are retiring honorably as an officer, without any black marks, you are usually bumped a grade for your retirement.
     While I know nothing about this as a rule, I know at least one counterexample offhand (a friend who retired as a major after twenty years of service on active duty, without any such retirement bump.) I would surmise that the rule is either more complex than you’ve described, or not universally applied.

239. Mad skilz, that is. I have studied your native language!
     And it takes something to have done this: “until he volunteered for Vietnam in 1966-67….”

240. Nice research Gary.
     Since Murtha’s house resolution called for an “over the horizon” force to be kept ready to intervine in Iraq I’m pretty sure he wasn’t calling for forces to cut and run, (as Hunter did) or bug out, or even redeploy to South Korea.

241. What LizardBreath said — My father retired after 28 years of active duty as a CW3, and although he was on the CW4 list at the time of retirement, did not receive a bump. Granted the traditions and protocols may be different for Chief Warrant Officers, having not always been commissioned officers, but it’s another data point in any case.

242. And it takes something to have done this: “until he volunteered for Vietnam in 1966-67….”
     for the Marines, no less. I think it was in Halberstam’s book that he recounts a story about how at one weekly briefing, the Army’s casualty total was higher than the Marines, which embarassed the Marines to no end. Also, the fact that he was a drill instructor is also pretty amazing, cause my understanding is that this is pretty prestigious.
     On the other hand, our recent visitor alcibiades asserts that Murtha is a dove in wolf’s clothing. (ht to Gary for giving a link to her blog)
     Googling up Murtha is pretty embarassing as there seem to be a lot of people questioning his qualifications, grit, etc. etc.

243. “Also, the fact that he was a drill instructor is also pretty amazing, cause my understanding is that this is pretty prestigious.”
     It also lends grist to my imagination as to what he likely had to say in private about Jean Schmidt.

244. I have to say I have no idea about the bump in rank, but I do know quite a few retired Colonels. IIRC the armed forces in general have gotten a bit more top-heavy since Murtha was in service, which (if true) would make his O-6 mean a bit more than an O-6 today. I also have no idea of how rare the E-1 to O-6 path is (or was), but I have a friend who’s about my age and has moved from E-1 to O-4 in the Navy in about 20 years of service. It’s not completely out of the question for him to retire O-6.
     Murtha himself I haven’t addressed. His service should always be given due respect. Honorable service and courage in combat, though, aren’t an automatic pass on having one’s arguments questioned. Or, possibly, from being misunderstood.
     This, for instance, is confusing, and I’m pretty sure that I completely disagree with at least one point:

     I believe we must begin discussions for an immediate re-deployment of U.S. forces from Iraq. I believe it can be accomplished in as little as six months but it must be consistent with the safety of U.S. troops.

     I have doubts that full extraction in a six-months-from-now timeframe is in the realm of the possible. This, to me, embodies “success-oriented scheduling”.

245. “I have doubts that full extraction in a six-months-from-now timeframe is in the realm of the possible.”
     Well, it’s obviously possible. Perhaps you mean to suggest that the consequences would be unacceptable, or something to that effect, instead?

246. I feel that the war decision indicates an administration that didn’t want to hear and didn’t want the public to consider information it wasn’t comfortable with. The mocking of Shineski was an example, the firing of Lawrence Lindsay for saying it would cost a couple hindred billion was another, Fallows Blind Into Baghdad provides another list.
     http://www.epic-usa.org/Default.aspx?tabid=185
     The intelligence issue is another example.
     Now here is a BIG issue that worries me, there have been a large number of individuals in the military and defence who have been resigned and forced out. There is a shaping of the bureaucracy. It has been reported that the CIA is filled with politically correct Republicans who were staff in Congress, just as Bremer’s occupation was largely run by twenty somethings who sent resumes to the Heritage Foundation.
     So not simply reactively but “proactively” (if that’s really a word) how to we figure if there is a continung and dangerous distortion of the relevant institutions, something like Brownies reform of Fema?
     I believe there is accuracy to claims that many of these institutions were flawed and need reform, but change is not necesarily improvement.

247. Gary: quibble about “possible”
     “2. Capable of occurring or being done without offense to character, nature, or custom.”

248. Actually, I had something more Jenga-esque in mind, but I think both Gary and rilkefan have come close enough.

249. Murtha himself I haven’t addressed. His service should always be given due respect. Honorable service and courage in combat, though, aren’t an automatic pass on having one’s arguments questioned. Or, possibly, from being misunderstood.
     If you think he is/was misunderstood in that his taking a stand now was actually not a rebuke to the administration, I hope you could explain how. To dismiss Hunter’s introduction of ‘Murtha’s’ amendment, lightened up considerably, seems to suggest that the misunderstanding is on one side of the aisle. Gary noted earlier that this was simply politics and Ed shouldn’t get on a moral high horse about it (paraphrasing that of course), but what disturbs me is not the tactic per se, but that it is employed in such a deadly serious subject. It suggests a lack of seriousness on this subject and as such, deserving of moral high-horse-ry.

250. Hmm. Back from my travels and, as promised, read each comment on this thread. In answer to Morat’s charge that I shouldn’t be talking about the hard work to be done in Iraq while on vacation, I can offer only the following: be assured that, as I have done with every vacation during my working life, I managed to find an hour or more each vacation day to squeeze in a bit of non-vacation activity.
     Other than that, a typical ObWi comment thread: which is to say, occasionally brilliant and, from my perspective at least, depressingly one-sided. (A nod to the invaluable Gary Farber, however, for keeping the thread on line.)

251. Von, while you were out, we all got onto the same side.

252. Von, while you were out, we all got onto the same side.
     Comforting, I guess, in the sense that now I’m opposed to everyone. We shouldn’t be proposing withdrawal plans prior to the Iraqi election: such may be sound strategy for winning back the American polis, but it’s a disasterous turn of events for the Iraqi one. Ahh well. There still exists a hope that we’ll succeed despite ourselves. A fool’s hope, surely, but there you go.
     Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, CC.

253. von: I’m still on the fence: torn between the thought that in any normal world, we should not withdraw and the thought that our prosecution of the war to date has been so inept that while in principle we could do good, in practice we won’t.
     So: you still have some company.

254. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, CC.
     Yes, thank you. (Even though the Cowboys lost on Thursday and the Griz yesterday).

255. Happy belated Thanksgiving to you as well, Hilzoy.

256. (And sorry ’bout the ‘boys, CC.)
     (Not really.)
     (Heh. Colts = still undefeated.)

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