The Blue State

Hagel: No military solution in Iraq

In an op-ed this morning in the Des Moines Register, Senator Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) took issue with the Administration's blurry reality of who we are fighting in Iraq:

We must start by understanding what's really happening in Iraq.According to the National Intelligence Estimate released in February,the conflict has become a "self-sustaining inter-sectarian strugglebetween Shia and Sunnis" and also includes "extensive Shia-on-Shiaviolence." This means that Iraq is being consumed by sectarian warfare,much of it driven by Shiite or Sunni militias - not al-Qaidaterrorists. Yes, there are admirers of Osama bin Laden in the country,including a full-blown al-Qaida branch. But terrorists are not the coreproblem; Sunni-Shiite violence is. The Bush administration's rhetorichas not been nearly clear enough on this key point.

American occupation cannot stop a civil war in Iraq. Our military,superb as it is, can only do so much. The only lasting answer to Iraq'sanguish will come from a political resolution. There will be nomilitary solution in Iraq.

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This pretty much erases the notion that we are fighting the terrorists in Iraq so we don't fight them here.  We are talking about a sectarian civil war.  They are fighting one another and anyone else that occupies their land.  They have lived there for a millennium.  Does the Administration really think that these locals will just drop everything and travel to the U.S. to harm us?

Either the Administration is in a state of denial or, more likely, they are in a state of active deception.

Dems showing signs of caving in on Iraq

According to sources, the Democrats are expected to draft a brand new Iraq bill after Bush vetoes the one that contains a withdrawal date:

Democratic leaders said they hoped to have a new Bill ready by June 1.Several Democratic officials have said the withdrawal timetable islikely to be jettisoned but it may include consequences if the Iraqigovernment does not meet benchmarks such as expanding democraticparticipation and allocating oil resources.

John Edwards is calling on Congress to stand their ground, and point out the fact that Bush is vetoing funding for the troops:

"If the president vetoes that bill, it is George Bush not supportingthe troops, not the Congress," said Edwards, who has apologized for hisvote to authorize the war in 2002.

John Edwards is one of the first Democrats to point out that Bush is about to veto funding for the troops.  Why are so many Democrats afraid to say that?

Editorial: Very disturbing comment from Rice

Earlier this morning on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice implied that the public will have to wait until she writes a book before learning the truth about the war:

"Look, not everything went right," Rice said. "This is a very difficultcircumstance. There were some things that went right and some thingsthat went wrong. And you know what? We will have a chance to look atthat in history. And I will have a chance to reflect on that when Ihave a chance to write my book."

Why do you have to wait until you write a book and make a profit before reflecting on what happened?  You are the Secretary of State.  You should be reflecting on the truth each and every day -- unlike on August 6, 2001 when you basically ignored the memo "Bin laden Determined to Strike in US."

Lastly, Rice claimed that "some things" have gone well in Iraq.  If so, what are they?  I can't thing of one single aspect of this war that has aided our long-term national security interests.  Not even the oil has benefited us.

Democratic Radio Address

By Retired Lieutenant General William Odom

I thought we were supposed to listen to the military people.  Oh wait -- only the ones Bush appoints, of course.

(Video) Military wife tells off Kristol

This video has already been posted on Think Progress and Crooks and Liars.  But it does such a powerful job of bringing to life the rift between military families and the Bush hawks that I could not resist posting the video here as well.

Last week on a C-Span morning call-in show, a military wife took issue with William Kristol's disconnect from the personal strains that these soldiers go through.  Kristol was almost speechless:

CALLER: I’m sure when your head hits the pillow you have a luxury of dreamingabout anything that your mind will allow you to dream about… I sleepwith the phone under the pillow. My kids — if someone rings thedoorbell, instead of normal kids they freeze. And they’re in elementaryschool. You all don’t understand. We are military people but we arepeople, too. And the stress that we are under is tremendous.

And what was his response?  You cannot respond to something like that.  Kristol has no idea what it is like for most military families -- and neither does Bush nor Cheney.

Blue Radar

As I post each morning, here are some of the political stories thatmight not be worthy of their own posts, but are nonetheless newsworthy:

• Donald Trump has donated $10,000 to Arnold Schwarzenegger to help the California Governor pay off his 2006 campaign debts.
• Alberto Gonzales was heckled by students as he attended his 25-year Harvard Law School reunion.
• Hundreds of protesters lined the streets before President Bush gave a commencement speech at Kendell Miami-Dade College in Florida.  A number of people held up pro-impeachment signs.  Bush spoke mostly about immigration issues.
• John McCain promises if he is elected president he would appoint a Democrat to his cabinet.  (This should not be considered as some amazing offer.  There have been many bipartisan cabinets in the past.  Even Clinton's Defense Secretary was a Republican.)
• Let's put the spotlight on Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel.  Someone put together a 6-minute montage of all his answers.  Here is the Gravel video.  He definitely thinks outside the box.  But if you were a Republican strategist, you could use a lot of those quotes in campaign commercials.
• In George Tenet's new book At the Center of the Storm, he warned President Bush about anarchy in Iraq if the U.S. invaded.
• Advocates of copyright reform are pressing hard to make sure every televised presidential debate is made available for everyone to download.  This started as back and forth rants between blog owners, such as myself, and this morning the story made it into the New York Times.
• John McCain and Mitt Romney are at each other's throats.  Earlier this week, Romney downplayed the importance of spending a lot of money to catch Osama bin Laden.  McCain shot back: "It takes a degree of naivete to think he’s [bin Laden] not an element in the struggle against radical Islam."
• Obama has scored a big catch in the area of political consulting.  The Obama Campaign announced this weekend the hiring of Jim Margolis, one of the top Democratic consultants.

If we left anything out, feel free to add any new stories in the commentbox.

Top-5 Political Clips of the Week

As we post each Sunday morning, here are the top-five political clips of the week.  let's begin the countdown at number five:

5) Bush says Gonzales was candid during his testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  (Can you say, "State of Denial?")

4) U.S. soldiers says Iraq war cannot be won.

3) DeLay says Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are close to treason.

2) Olbermann's Special Comment on Giuliani's fear-mongering.

1) Powerful Video Poem about 'Mission Accomplished' in Iraq.  This clip definitely deserves the top-nod.

More clips later today and tomorrow.  Enjoy the Sunday news shows everybody.

Sunday News Shows

Here are the guests that will appear on the Sunday news shows later this morning:

ABC’s “This Week” — Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice; Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Sam Brownback,R-Kan.; actress Natalie Portman.

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Rice; Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., presidential candidate.

CNN’s “Late Edition” — Rice; Reps. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., and JaneHarman, D-Calif.; Hoshyar Zebari, Iraqi foreign minister; EuropeanCommission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

“Fox News Sunday” — Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and wife Cindy McCain.

This is a make-or-break opportunity for Joe Biden.  He has to prove that he wants to be more than just Hillary's running mate.

Natalie Portman will be on ABC to talk about her new documentary on the financing issues that women face in third world countries.  This is one sharp individual (and I'm not just complimenting her like this because she's incredibly good looking.  And she is!).  She has always been politically involved.  Even though Portman was a well-known actress at a very young age, she still stayed focused enough to attend a top Ivy League school.  I really hope she considers running for office someday.  We really need focused people like her in leadership positions.

Lastly, John McCain will appear on Fox News.  Over the last three weeks, the Arizona Senator has had a painful habit of sticking his foot in his mouth.  Let's see if McCain can use this national television opportunity to think before he talks.

Bush officials overstated success of 7 Iraq reconstruction projects

Awhile back, the Administration claimed that eight specific reconstruction projects in Iraq were successes.  An oversight group has found that U.S. officials overstated the facts on seven of them:

Inspectors for a federal oversight agency have found that seven ofeight reconstruction projects in Iraq that the United States haddeclared successes were no longer operating as designed, The New YorkTimes reported in Sunday editions.

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Executive oversight is crucial in order to give people in positions ofpower every incentive to tell the truth.  And if the truth is nottold, then those responsible get outed.  Or, as in the case with Iraq, the leaders get outed over and over again and it becomes a broken record.

Nine more U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq

Yes, this reporting is getting repetitive.  Regardless, it is the most pressing issue that our country is facing.

Today, the military announced the deaths of nine U.S. soldiers -- three of which lost their lives on Saturday in a roadside bombing outside Baghdad.

Meanwhile, earlier this morning in Karbala, a bomb went off outside one of the holiest Shiite shrines in the Middle East.  That blast killed 55 people:

The explosion took place in a crowded commercial area near the ImamHussein shrine in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, officials said.At least 55 people were killed and 70 wounded, said Salim Kazim, thehead of the Karbala health department.

A car bomb exploded in the same area on April 14, killing 47 and wounding 224.

There were a number of other security incidents today in Iraq, as bodies turned up all over the place:

BAGHDAD - Seventeen bodies were found across Baghdad in the past 24 hours, police said.

BAQUBA - A total of 27 bodies were found around Baquba, 65 km (40miles) north of Baghdad, police said. Fifteen decomposing bodies werefound in a field. All were handcuffed and had gunshot wounds. Another12 bodies with gunshot wounds and showing signs of torture were foundin different areas.

BAIJI - Gunmen abducted an oil facilitysecurity official and his driver in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north ofBaghdad, police said.

Back in the states, retired general William Odom demanded that President Bush sign the withdrawal plan that the House and Senate passed this week.