The coming Petreaus report

[Lanya]

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[page 2]
Despite Bush's repeated statements that the report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, administration officials said it would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government.

And though Petraeus and Crocker will present their recommendations on Capitol Hill, legislation passed by Congress leaves it to the president to decide how to interpret the report's data.

The senior administration official said the process had created "uncomfortable positions" for the White House because of debates over what constitutes "satisfactory progress."

During internal White House discussion of a July interim report, some officials urged the administration to claim progress in policy areas such as legislation to divvy up Iraq's oil revenue, even though no final agreement had been reached. Others argued that such assertions would be disingenuous.

"There were some in the drafting of the report that said, 'Well, we can claim progress,' " the administration official said. "There were others who said: 'Wait a second. Sure we can claim progress, but it's not credible to . . . just neglect the fact that it's had no effect on the ground.' "

The Defense official skeptical of the troop buildup said he expected Petraeus to emphasize military accomplishments, including improving security in Baghdad neighborhoods and a slight reduction in the number of suicide bomb attacks. But the official said he did not believe such security improvements would translate into political progress or improvements in the daily lives of most Iraqis.

"Who cares how many neighborhoods of Baghdad are secured?" the official said. "Let's talk about the rest of the country: How come they have electricity twice a day, how come there is no running water?"

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pullback15aug15,0,4840766.story?page=2&coll=la-home-center

[Michael Tee]

Bill Maher on Larry King Live last night said words to the effect that he really didn't expect the General's report to say, "It's not working and we really should get out and I'm voting for Dennis Kucinich."    I think the point was, we all know already what the "report" is going to say.  Solid progress, need more time.  With enough token concessions to the difficulties and disappointments to give it that look of sheer honesty and probity.  Oh, it'll be well-made, no doubt about that.  Really, really slick.  Four more months.  Six more months. 

Luckily for the war-mongers, they don't have much to fear from the Democratic "opposition."  Too bad for the American people, not that they are a bunch of morons, but that there are enough morons, a kind of critical mass of morons, who can tip the scales of any election so long as the Republicans can sabotage the black vote.  It's a winning formula, as long as they can hold onto their base religious fanatics.

[Lanya]

I'm getting pretty impatient with people who say "ain't it awful" but don't vote.  I talked to a lady like that yesterday.  We happened to be right outsie the Board of Elections office, and she agreed that we needed Medical Security as much as Social Security.  "So you need to register to vote."  "Oh I will someday."  "Do it now so you don't forget, and bring 10 of them for your friends so you can all go vote together, and then go to McDonald's."   So she went in and got the papers, lol.   
It's like pulling teeth only harder.    Very ornery people.