The Mad Monk

Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable

--Mark Twain

The war in Iraq is really about peace
--GWB (2003)

Military power solves about 20% of your problem
in the region. The rest of it needs to be diplomatic,
economic, political
--General John Abizaid, former CENTCOM Commander (2007)
_________

Per General Abazaid's astute comment: Bringing your Secretary of State along when you do not intend to use her in the diplomatic-mediator function is a meaningless gesture. Ms. Rice is but a lapdog to GWB, and her shoes are too big right now.

In another page from the annals of the "Mission-accomplished" script, GWB went on an Iraqi junket today and proclaimed, from the safety of the secured and isolated desert Al-Asad Air Base in Anbar province, when you talk to the people on the ground here, you get a feeling for what Iraq could be.

Very nice, Mr. Bush, save for the fact you didn't speak with any of the people on the ground (Bush, Advisers Make Surprise Visit to Iraq.)

Perhaps the horizon looked very promising through a Texas oilman's eyes, which could envision that desert peopled with oil derricks, producing 24/7. I'm not sure any longer if Mr. Bush is actually a Know-Nothing or a Wobbly.

But lest you think this was just a shallow photo op, Press Secretary Dana Perino said the meeting gave GWB the chance "to look Prime Minister Maliki in the eye and talk with him about the progress that is starting to happen in Iraq." One wonders if Bush will divine Mr. al-Maliki's essense, in the same way he soul-gazed into Russian President Putin's eyes, in his Rasputin-esque way ("I looked the man in the eye. . .I was able to get a sense of his soul.")

GWB seems to have a built-in meter for soul-searching. Odd, coming from a man who does not demonstrably have one himself.

The trip follows on the heels of a bleak GAO report which concludes "at least 13 of the 18 benchmarks set to judge the Iraqi government's performance in the political and security arenas haven't been met."

"At the White House, officials argued that the GAO report, which was required by legislation President Bush signed last spring, was unrealistic because it assigned 'pass or fail' grades to each benchmark, rather than assessing whether the Iraqis have made progress toward reaching the benchmark goals (Pentagon Disputes Negative Iraq Report.)"

This is such a bean-counter process. Pass-fail should be a much lower bar, after all. That means they can be an A, B or C and still pass. But all the reports, speeches, benchmarks are only words. The proof is in the pudding -- the facts as they are on the ground. Words can be amended and reports can be polished, but the fact remains: Iraq is a turd in the punchbowl.

(Regarding the above imagery, attempts were made to dissuade Ranger from the scatological, but he was well-pleased with what he felt the appropriateness of the metaphor, and so could not be swayed. His Infantry pedigree is showing, and he will not be invited to a State dinner any time in the forseeable future.)

As Ranger continued, you can mold a turd, but it is still that. Would somebody please inform the administration of this fact?

--Jim and Lisa