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By Mark Kilmer Posted in Special Features — Comments (15) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Sunday, September 9, 2007.

On MTP, retired General James Jones of the Iraqi Security Forces Independent Assessment Commission pointed out to host Tim Russert that it might take four to five years to get the Iraqi army ready to defend Iraq without the assistance of the United States, but that this, contrary to Russert's insistence, doesn't mean that we'll need to keep constant troop levels for that time. It will evolve, he said, into a situation similar to the ongoing operation in Kosovo. General Jones also pointed out that U.S. interests are too great to allow for us to simply pick up and leave.

Next on MTP, candidate Joe Biden posited that General David Petraeus was "dead, flat wrong," but credited him with acknowledging that the surge had failed. Joe Biden spent most of his time pushing Leslie Gelb's confederacy plan for Iraq, on which his Presidential aspirations hang.

On FNS, Lindsey Graham described himself to host Chris Wallace as "upset" by those Democrats who would insist that General David Petraeus is a fraud. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, on the other hand, sneered that she doesn't think General Petraeus "is an independent evaluator."

Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend was the next guest on FNS, where she declared that it was OBL on the latest vid. She reminded Wallace that no terrorists' events have ever been triggered by a terrorist tape.

On TW, John McCain compared General Westmoreland was like Don Rumsfeld. He said that the surge is working, and he added a bit about the deleteriousness of a defeated army. Next up, John Kerry said that people who say we are making progress in Iraq have not spent real time in Iraq. He said that what is happening in Al Anbar is meaningless and cannot be replicated elsewhere. He said that Iran now controls Basra. He said that the Gelb/Biden soft partition plan had already been implemented because lots of Shi'a have moved to Baghdad. He praised General James Jones for, he thinks, coming out in favor of redeploying to an "overwatch" strategy; he also said that General Jones had no idea what he was talking about. Kerry's community is based on "reality," but not as we know it.

Next on TW, Alan Alda praised the genius of Marcus Aurelius for understanding that "now" is five seconds long.

On FTN, Teddy Kennedy insisted that we abandon the Iraqis in order to pressure their government to succeed. He said also that he does not believe that the Iraqi government can succeed no matter what we do. Teddy Kennedy is thus admitting that he insists on unconditional surrender.

Next on FTN, General Brent Scowcroft, USAF (retired), accused Democrats of looking at Iraq as if it were in a vacuum. It cannot be examined, he said, without considering its neighbors and U.S. interests in the region.

On LE, host Wolf Blitzer agreed with Mo Dowd that we should drop everything and concentrate on getting revenge on Osama bin Laden. Townsend countered that while this was symbolically important, there were other things equally as important, such as preventing future terrorist attacks.

Next on LE, Blitzer preached doom-and-gloom, and Iraqi National Security Advisor Dr. Mowaffak Al-Rubaie promised that the Iraqi government was working really, really hard.

You know, I can work with this.

Read on for the show-by-show notes:

ISFIAC ON MTP. On NBC, Meet the Press host Tim Russert spoke with retired General James Jones and form DC police chief Chuck Ramsey about the report of their Iraqi Security Forces Independent Assessment Commission. General Jones estimated that there are, at present, 152,000 soldiers in the Iraqi military and 194,000 in the police forces, but they will be unable to fulfill their duties independent of the United States for the next twelve-to-eighteen months. He added that it will be a three to four year project, getting all the Iraqi forces to "stand up" on their own and for the army to bring internal security to the country. Russert was thinking along the lines of the status quo for umpteen years, but General Jones assured him that the levels and intensities would change with the situation.

Chief Ramsey allowed that the Iraq police "have a lot of serious issues." Russert wanted there to be among those issues, "hit squads" and "goon squads" which carry out sectarian murders. Ramsey replied: "We really don't know that." It might have been one of Russert's favorite concoctions. But Ramsey did allow that the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior was "highly dysfunctional and sectarian." This seemed to a common plaint.

Ramsey suggested disbanding the national police and reforming them with a different function, a different mission. He is very impressed with the folks we have over their training the police. General Jones reiterated that the next four to five years would not require the same number of troops as we currently have in the theater, just as it has been with the Balkans.

General Jones emphasized that our "strategic interests" in success in Iraq are great, and that the Iraqis "seem to want" to succeed.

JOE BIDEN ON MTP. Joe Biden, back from Iraq, campaigned on the theme that the plan which he had CFR emeritus Leslie Gelb draw up for his campaign, an Iraqi confederation, was the only thing which would save Iraq.

Joe Biden dismissed the success in al Anbar as being achieved against al Qaeda, "not the real problem."

Russert quoted Joe Biden from a speech in Iowa on the 1st of September, asserting that if the Gelb/Biden plan were not instituted, we would have to feel Iraq in the same manner as we had Vietnam. Biden iterated that he does believe that.

Joe Biden, pitching that plan, insisted that the central government can achieve nothing in Iraq; rather, only the locals can do anything.

Joe Biden said that in his report to Congress, General Petraeus will be "dead, flat wrong." He said that any security gains we've made and successes we've had have had "no impact."

Joe Biden called General Petraeus and "honorable guy." He backed away from MoveOn.org's childish advertisement set for the New York Times Monday, in which they snipe that General Petraeus has "betrayed us." (Tee-hee-hee, almost a rhyme, they're so clever, etc.) Joe Biden credited General Petraeus with acknowledging that the surge has failed.

DIANNE FEINSTEIN AND LINDSEY GRAHAM ON FNS. Host Chris Wallace of FOX News Sunday opened his show by talking to Lindsey Graham and Dianne Feinstein. Graham predicted reconciliation in the Iraqi government, asserting that the surge had worked and that Iraqi government officials were too "war weary" to continue fighting.

DiFi said that the surge was a failure because the Iraqi government is a failure and the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior is corrupt. The surge, she said, was not "sustainable."

Lindsey Graham argued against a "political redeployment," insisting that he would leave things up to General Petraeus.

Wallace confronted Feinstein with her insistence, on his show last June, that the Republicans were going to defect en masse to the GET OUT NOW! Camp by September. Why have the Dems changed their collective mind? Feinstein argued that there is a "constantly shifting theme." She was careful, though, to insist the following of his Senate Democratic colleagues: "We feel the way we feel," adding for emphasis: "I think that's been clearly established."

Graham offered that the troops believe they're winning.

Wallace pointed that the Senate Democrats insist that General David Petraeus is a fraud. Lindsey Graham described himself as "upset" by this, pointing out that Petraeus was offering the report because Congress had insisted that he do so. He admitted that he had stuck with the old strategy for too long, but expressed happiness that "finally, we're getting this right." He had been wrong to insist on the old strategy, he admitted, but added: "There is no shame in reevaluating your position," something which Durbin and Reid refuse politically to do.

Feinstein, on the other hand, continued to take shots at General Petraeus: "I don't think General Petraeus is an independent evaluator." The only folks whose word should be taken, she insisted, were those "many [retired] generals who say the surge isn't working."

FRAN TOWNSEND ON FNS. The President's Homeland Security Advisor, Fran Townsend, was host Wallace's next guest. She reported that the "intelligence community" thinks that the ageless character in the most recent vid is Osama bin Laden from a few months ago. Wallace asked her if the tape could be a trigger for some al Qaeda attack, and Townsend reminded that we've never seen a tape used as a trigger for anything.

Of bin Laden, Townsend said: "This is a man on the run, from a cave." On the tape, she added, there is "nothing more than threats. It's propaganda."

Al Qaeda is, of course, still dangerous, Townsend said, but they haven't been able to get their ops into the United States.

JOHN MCCAIN ON TW. Before bringing out the Senator, host George Stephanopoulos played a clip of General William C. Westmoreland addressing Congress about the war in Vietnam on April 28, 1967: "The strategy we are following at this time is the proper one." Steph glibly spat: "General Petraeus is expected to make a similar case for Iraq," but some poll shows that the American people do not believe a word of it.

McCain insisted that Westmoreland's strategy was that of Don Rumsfeld and General Casey. He said that General Creighton Abrams came along in the Vietnam area and changed the strategy, making "dramatic progress." He likened General Petraeus to Abrams, not Westmoreland.

McCain said that only 28% of Americans surveyed think that the surge is working because they are worn out by "four years of failure under Rumsfeld." The new strategy, he said, was still new.

Steph pointed out that both the President and McCain insisted that the surge was to create breathing space for the Iraqi government to come to some sort of political accommodation, and that hasn't worked out. McCain claimed success based on "security on the ground."

McCain frustrated with the Maliki government and the corrupt police.

Steph insisted that Iraq is moving toward a "soft partition," a la Leslie Gelb's plan, and McCain said that such a plan would not work and this is why they need more time. We cannot afford to fail in the region: chaos, genocide, more sacrifice.

McCain spoke of the deleteriousness of a defeated Army.

Steph talked about MoveOn.org's grade-school level insult ad in the NYT tomorrow. McCain said it makes him sad that General Petraeus could be attacked and slandered like this. "I lament the level of dialogue. I hope that my Democrat friends will not be divided by MoveOn.org." McCain said that General Petraeus will not allow politicization of his duties.

"President's don't lose wars, and political parties don't lose wars. Nations lose wars. And when nations lose wars, the nations suffer the consequences."

JOHN KERRY ON TW. John Kerry was next on TW, and he made an ass of himself again. He said that the troops have done all that they are capable of doing and we should get out now. Steph pointed out all the people pointing to progress in Iraq, and John Kerry said that these people have not spent real time in all of Iraq and have been sidetracked by meaningless displays like what is happening in Al Anbar. Al Anbar, Kerry lectured, is Sunni violence by al Qaeda and the Sunni sheiks took advantage of this moment only for the protection of Sunnis. Kerry said that it was impossible to get local leaders to concentrate on security issues in other portions of Iraq.

John Kerry said that talk of a soft partition was a waste of time because "there already is a soft partition." Sunnis have fled Baghdad, he offered as proof of his little theory, and Shi'ites have moved in. The level of violence is down, he said, because the Iraqis are being partitioned into ethnic conclaves.

He said that Iran now rules Basra.

Kerry insisted that General Jones wants to redeploy and move to an "overwatch strategy." Steph pointed out that Jones spoke strongly against Kerry's timeline for surrender. Kerry said that General Jones has no idea what he's talking about.

John Kerry is a part of the reality-based community, and he has fashioned his own, bizarre reality.

ALAN ALDA ON TW. Alan Alda was doing book tour stuff. Alan Alda professed excitement that Marcus Aurelius, about whom Bobby Byrd must speak now and again, had discovered that "now" was only five-seconds. Everything before "now" was memory or planning for the future.

Alan Alda was impressed.

TED KENNEDY ON FTN. Kennedy's cast his 15,000th vote in the U.S. Senator, thus he was a guest on CBS' Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer. He talked about soldiers being killed and injured and Iraqis "made homeless." He's going to fight to bring our troops home.

Ted Kennedy insisted that our troops "are being held hostage by Iraqi politicians." He called this "cockamamie." He said that the Iraqis will make the "tough decisions" only if we flee Iraq now. Schieffer pointed out that Teddy doesn't have the votes and asked if he'd use the filibuster to prevent the war resolutions from coming to a vote.

He accused the Bush Administration of "playing for delay," waiting for the next President to make the "ultimate judgment" while American soldiers "pay the price."

He said that Iraqis won't do anything until the United States begins to flee, to let the Iraqis know that we will not keep our word our or our commitments. Bob asked Ted what will happen to the region of the United States is seen as fleeing. Ted said we have to start taking "political initiatives and leadership." He complained that the Senate Armed Services Committee is not talking about anticipation of the Crocker Report, just the military aspect, the Petraeus Report.

Ted Kennedy said that he doubts the Iraqi government can succeed. Thus he's acknowledging that our abandoning the region will not make them succeed. His position is thus unconditional surrender.

BRENT SKOWCROFT ON FTN. Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor for President's Ford and GHW Bush, was Schieffer's nest FTN guest. Schieffer recalled Scowcroft's objections to the invasion of Iraq before the invasion was announced, his fears that the entire region would become a "cauldron." He added that Scowcroft has since come out against surrender.

Scowcroft complained that we are looking at Iraq "as if it were in a vacuum." We need to look at Iraq in the context of the entire region, and regardless of what has happened thus far, we cannot afford to make things worse. He thinks that, because of the various parties in the region, the entire region could look like Iraq does now.

His advice would be to continue to support and train the Iraqi army. They are getting better, he said. Any withdrawal should be based on the situation on the ground, not American politics. Scowcroft disagreed with Teddy Kennedy and that the Iraqis cannot come up with a working system. He said that they can have a functioning democracy, and he cited Turkey as an example. (Yes, the transformation took nine decades in that country.)

He expects a withdrawal, and he insisted that our military operations were improving the Iraqis' abilities to handle matters. He sees the U.S. as providing such things as intelligence and air support for some time, but he thinks the Iraqis can take over the security aspects.

He sees progress being made.

FRAN TOWNSEND ON LATE EDITION. Wolf Blitzer, host of CNN's Late Edition, opened his show by speaking with the President's Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend. She insists that it is OBL on the tape. OBL is a "man on the run, in a cave. It's propaganda."

She was skeptical of Blitzer's insistent that al Qaeda operates today like it did pre-2001.

Wolf agreed with Maureen Dowd that Osama bin Laden has to be stopped and we need to have this revenge. Fran Townsend pointed out that capturing OBL is not our only priority; event prevention was another aspect of their mission.

MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE on LE. Wolf next spoke to the Iraqi National Security Advisor, Dr. Mowaffak Al-Rubaie. He forecast a revenue sharing bill, hydrocarbons, etc. Wolf told him that there have been no tangible results on this, and he cited Iyad Allawi as having said so.

Wolf asked him how much more time Iraq needs to get moving on its own. Rubaie said that they've already made a lot of progress, and they are working with their new strategy. He doesn't want to go with a date certain for self-reliance, but he promises that they are "working very, very hard."

Wolf quoted the Jones Report as saying that the Iraqi Interior Ministry is sectarian and corrupt. Rubaie agreed that there is a problem with Interior, as with other ministries, but they have "managed to fire 19,000 employees from the Ministry of Interior over the past nine months."

Wolf played a clip of Charles Ramsey on MTP, calling it a "gloomy assessment." Ramsey had said that the Iraqi police force was problematic. (He's also said it should be disbanded and reformed.) Rubaie said that it should not be dissolved. He pointed out that they now have 500,000 people involved in their security forces, and of course they have problems, but they are working hard to resolve them.

Rubaie forecast that Crocker and Petraeus would be professional and that this would be for the benefit of Iraq.
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Another nice week. Have at it.