Dick Cheney -vs- Reality in Iraq (w/ Updates)
The Vice President of the United States continues to be “reality challenged”. As he departed the Green Zone Bar and Grille yesterday, Dick Cheney noted great progress in both security and governance in the country. Meanwhile, dozens died in violence around the country.
Yesterday, Dick Cheney did a drive-by (or fly-in, as the case may be…) of Baghdad’s Green Zone Bar and Grille to celebrate the five year anniversary of the biggest foreign policy and military blunder of America’s relatively short history. As the veep slithered back out of the city after taking tea with Nouri al-Maliki, he said:
“I come away with a sense that there’s been significant progress in the 10 months since I was last here, that we’ve made progress not only on the security front, but that they’ve made progress in governing, as well.”
Oh, really, Dick? Over this past weekend, provisional GOP presidential nominee John McCain also did a quick in-and-out of Iraq. If you recall, last year, McCain “toured” a market near the Green Zone, with a cadre of soldiers and air support, wearing a flack jacket. This year, McCain wasn’t allowed to go back to the market to purchase another rug, because security conditions had markedly deteriorated (and the market is now under the control of the Mahdi Army militia).
Security? Tell that to these folks:
A female suicide bomber struck Shiite worshippers in the holy city of Karbala yesterday, killing at least 43 people and leaving pools of blood near one of Iraq’s most revered mosques.
The blast was the deadliest in a series of attacks that left at least 72 Iraqis dead, including six youths killed when mortar rounds hit a Baghdad soccer field. Two U.S. soldiers also were killed yesterday…
Want a little dose of Iraq reality? Take five minutes, and watch this great video from the U.K. Guardian. Or read this latest dispatch from Dahr Jamail.
Dick Cheney -vs- Reality in Iraq : Reality wins. Again.
Update: Oh - and the financial crisis that I wrote about earlier today? You better believe that the U.S. involvement in Iraq, and pouring good money after bad into the quagmire, is having a tremendously negative impact on the U.S. economy.
Update 2: Cheney’s remarks on making progress on governance? Hmmm. Perhaps he should have checked in with the Iraqis themselves prior to making such a statement:
Major Sunni and Shiite political blocs Tuesday boycotted a national conference aimed at reconciling Iraq’s rival communities — underscoring the deep divisions tearing at the country…
Bush and Chaney may be winning their war in Iraq. The problem is that the American people will never be told what war they are fighting and why. If the American people knew the truth, they would hang them up by their thumbs and beat them with a stick, so much for national security.
Was McCain politicing for the Iraqi vote in this November’s election?
Or maybe he figures he’s got the election sewed up and was just putting in a preliminary appearance as the “successor suckbutt.”
Ya’ s’pose dickie was over there telling all his friends to duck and cover on such-and-such a date when we start blasting the piss out of Iran?