SFRC Hearing on Iraq
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a hearing on “Where We Are – A Current Assessment of Iraq and the Region”.
JK will be speaking shortly. The hearing is on now on C-Span3
Witnesses will include:
—Dr. Phebe Marr, senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace and author of “The Modern History of Iraq”
—Dr. Michael (Moke) O’Hanlon, senior fellow of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution
—Mr. Yahia Said, Director, Iraq Revenue Watch, London, England
—Dr. Paul Pillar, former national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia, and Visiting Professor, Security Studies Program at Georgetown University
List compiled from SFRC site and washingtonpost.com
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The swiftboating of Kennedy started today with G. Carlson on Fox calling him an enemy within our borders. Her below the belt jab was even too much for Dan Bartlett who declined to concur. As Fox approaches self-parody, even the White House feels it must distance itself or face the ire of the lefties (as in the case of Reid saying he might support the surge).
Kerry, Kennedy, and Murtha are four square with the mindset of the electorate, but the DLC warmongers are undercutting them. Pelosi and Reid need to stop pussyfooting around and get on board. As Bush’s numbers continue to drop, the Dems must act boldly and decisively. Too many Dems are still under the spell of Karl Rove.
Sen. Kerry anticiapted this kind of name calling in his April speech on Dissent at Faneuil Hall in Boston. Fox News is, once again, doing a disservice to the nation by trying to shut off healthy debate on the subject of Iraq.
We need more talk about Iraq and more brave actions like the one Sen. Kennedy took in filing this bill and other Senators like Sen. Kerry took in co-sponsoring it. The simplistic notion that this has anything to do with disrespecting or not providing for the real needs of our troops is just wrong.
It is not Sen. Kennedy who sent troops to Iraq without a plan for what to do once the fighting (temporarily) stopped. It was not Sen. Kennedy who didn’t send enough body armor to protect our troops and it is not Sen. Kennedy who is putting a strain on our military with these endless deployments to Iraq. Of course, expecting Fox News to acknowledge this is useless. They are the propaganda arm of the Republican Party and this Administration and I expect nothing more from them than just towing the Republican Party line.
Thank God for real patriots like Sens Kennedy and Kerry and their desire to stand up for what is moral and right in Iraq and for having the courage to confront this Administation and their partisan media hacks on this issue.
TayTay,
I think you have covered my every thought on Fox News and every other Republican that dares to insinuate that Senator Kennedy and the other senators who support this measure somehow do not support our troops. You called them out on their talking points beautifully. The abuse of our troops by the Bush administration has not been emphasized enough, IMO.
Watching the news after watching the SFRC is like being in an alternative universe. On the cable news shows, it is all about politics - how does this impact Republican Senators in 2008 and how does it impact the Presidential race.
At the hearings, the magnitude of the problem was discussed seriously - even by most of the Republicans. The scariest spectre raised was when Senator Kerry questioned what happens when you do go after the militia. That is what Bush is saying must be done, presumably by Maliki. but it is really hard to believe that if they are seriously threatened they won’t strike back at us.
What was striking about the whole thing is that no one seemed to think that the escalation makes any sense. Senator Kerry’s comment that General Abizaid had asked all the division commanders and none thought it was a good idea. So, like Shinsecki before him, Abezaid is out. As usual, Senator Kerry was awesome in covering more and better than any one else. Wouldn’t it be nice if the voters watched Kerry, Biden, Dodd, and Obama (was he even there) on this committee and Clinton on the Armed Services Committee? One of these people was head and shoulders better than the rest.
Run, John, RUN!!
I just wish that ANY of this was covered on Olberman or Hardball. Too bad it wasn’t a new slogan or the political horse race.