I've been on the road almost all of the last two weeks --- the consulting position I've landed is great for the pocketbook, but poor for even remotely serious blogging --- so I'm running badly behind on current events. Missed the Condi Rice testimony to the 911 commission, but hope to read a transcript shortly and offer a few thoughts. Also, I did manage to catch "This Week" in my hotel room Sunday morning. Two things stuck out, one bad and one good.
- The Bad: Pressed on the current uprising in Iraq, Richard Perle repeatedly cited the opinions of Ahmed Chalabi (and his personal confidence in them) as evidence that things are not as bad as they seem. Ummmm... sorry here, but there's no subtle way to put this, "WHAT IS PERLE SMOKING?" The facts on the ground have consistently and overwhelmingly demonstrated that Chalabi sold the administration a pipe dream. As Fareed Zakaria says in Newsweek, Chalabi has the highest negative ratings of any public figure in Iraq and Perle still speaks of him as a source of insight? Stunning.
- The Good: For the first time in a long while, I heard an idea which was not only new, it was downright good, on the utter mess which has become our foreign policy. Senator Susan Collins of Maine suggested that we approach the UN and/or NATO and get them to take up some of our security responsibilities elsewhere in the world (she specifically mentioned Bosnia and Kosovo) in order to free-up additional US troops for the Iraqi occupation. It's an excellent idea, giving some cover to our allies (both the estranged and the non-estranged) to assist our efforts in the Middle East without having to risk troops on the ground. It's a far more realistic approach than the empty mantra --- endlessly mouthed by, among others, the Democratic presidential candidate --- about internationalizing the occupation, as if the world is filled with countries eager to embrace the tar-baby we have made of Iraq.
Of course, Collis' idea would also mean the White House would have to make nice with France, Germany, etc. so don't hold your breath.
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