Via TPM, 105 seconds of Joe Biden being awesome. This is what you want out of your VP running mate.
There must be a joke to be made here about the difference between a pit bull and a small-town mayor …
Saturday, September 27, 2008
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2 comments:
Actually seeing as he brought it up, I've been meaning to ask: what's the deal with The Surge?
I'm guessing that there has been some reduction in violence in Iraq, but how is this correlated to The Surge? (Coincidence not equaling causality and all that...)
This seems to be another GOP talking point, namely that Obama was wrong about The Surge: "see, it DID work!"
But it can't be as simple as that, surely?
I'm not sure whether you're just asking rhetorical questions or not, Alastair, but in case not, the short answer is, yes, it is exactly as simple as you suggest -- McCain (and the GOP in general, back when Iraq was still in the news) have lately been pumping The Surge as "a success." As you also note, they're attributing the reduction in violence solely to The Surge, while ignoring at least three realities:
1. The violence was already dying down on its own, thanks to prior ethnic cleansing of neighborhoods, the Anbar Awakening, and possibly other factors.
2. Much of the continued reduction in violence is likely due to the bribes that the US has been paying to various Sunni groups. These are about to come to an end. Who knows what will happen when they do?
3. The Surge was meant as a means to a much larger set of strategic ends, just about all of which have not been met. Details summarized neatly here.
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