That September "report" from General Petraeus

[Theophylact]

that everyone's so eagerly awaiting? It's not coming from him. He (and Ambassador Crocker) will "have input", but the White House is going to write it:

Quote:

Administration and military officials acknowledge that the September report will not show any significant progress on the political benchmarks laid out by Congress. How to deal in the report with the lack of national reconciliation between Iraq's warring sects has created some tension within the White House.

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?"

[nickslick74]

Quote:

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.

This must be some kind of joke.

[MTAtech]

I'm shocked that this White House will write the September report, which will likely state how much a success the surge is. What shocks me is that I expected that it was already written by the time the surge began.

[Pexster]

Bottom line is if the point of the so-called "surge" is to provide a window for the Iraqi government to begin to resolve and reconcile the vast differences that divide the country, and they show no inclination to do so, it can never be called a "success."

I heard Bill Kristol on The Daily Show a day or so ago. The man represents the utterly delusional thinking of this administration. When, oh when will they give some credence to the idea that just maybe we are enabling the status quo, not improving it? That maybe telling the Iraqi government that we will be leaving them to ther own devices soon will prompt them to action? That maybe it is the only thing that will do so?

[MTAtech]

I saw that interview too. Kristol has been wrong about everything but still makes a living as a guest on newshows. I wish someone would ask, "why should we listen to you, you've been wrong from day one."

[MTAtech]

Harry Reid's view

[pickel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTAtech

Harry Reid's view

Reid: Administration Owes Congress, American People An Honest Report On Iraq in September

"Honest Report" ??????

More B.S. and lies.... from the master furor and his band of crooks. Have our coal
workers drill a hole and suck all the oil out of Iraq, then cut out. That's the only reason our boys are dying for. Hypocritical bastards

[Chuckiechan]

More Democrat and their Media outlets lying to America.

The law regarding Patereas report, drafted by the Democrat idiot congress says:

"The President shall deliver..."

http://blog.radioleft.com/blog/_arch...6/3163583.html

Quote:

the 2007 supplemental funding bill for the Iraq war requires that President Bush submit the report to Congress and that Petraeus "be made available to testify in open and closed sessions before the relevant committees of the Congress."

You Democrats and your commie pinko left wing rags are lying, and they know it.

The Democrat media spin machine is already trashing Patraeus's report, because your entire election stragety is based on America losing in the middle east and blaming it on Bush. A win in Iraq will have insufferable consequences for the "White Flag" Democrats, and the credibility of the whole Democrat party.

I wouldn't put it past the Democrats to arm the insurgents to keep the battle going until the election.

[Disley]

The only media outlets lying to the people, repeat word for word what this administration has told them, there is no independence in journalism anymore, they are the lackey's of the corporate empires who are the arms industry, which own the pentagon and administration, this is why so many retired military personnel are recruited by these companies.

Quote:

The man who ran CNN's news operation during the invasion of Iraq is now doing damage control in response to a new documentary's evidence that he kowtowed to the Pentagon on behalf of the cable network. His current denial says a lot about how "liberal media" outlets remain deeply embedded in the mindsets of pro-military conformity.

Quote:

CNN is among the news outlets at the core of the myth of "the liberal media" -- perpetuated, in part, by the fact that people are often overly impressed by the significance of rhetorical attacks on some media organizations by more conservative outlets. (Before his resignation from CNN in 2005, Eason Jordan was himself subjected to denunciations from the right -- for allegedly skewing news coverage to curry favor with the Baghdad government during Saddam's rule and, after the invasion, for reportedly stating that U.S. troops had targeted some journalists in Iraq.) But antipathy from right-wing pundits is hardly an indication of journalistic independence.

[MTAtech]

Wait a minute Chuck. The President has been crowing, "the surge is working... Don't jump to early conclusions... wait until Sept when the General gives his report." Now we learn that the General's report will be written by the White House who have concluded that the surge was successful before it even started.

In your mind that's a fair assessment? The people who have been pushing the surge get to decide whether it was successful.