The Iraq Study Group was assembled in March 2006.
The Washington Monthly, September 2006
A Higher Power
James Baker puts Bush's Iraq policy into rehab.
By Robert Dreyfuss
Amid the highly charged political infighting in Washington over what to do in Iraq, you might be excused for not noticing that a bipartisan commission quietly started work last spring with a mandate to help the Bush administration rethink its policy toward the war. Of course, anything labeled "bipartisan commission" seems almost guaranteed to be ignored by a highly partisan White House that is notoriously hostile to outside advice and famously devoted to "staying the course." But what makes this particular commission hard to dismiss is that it is led by perhaps the one man who might be able to break through the tight phalanx of senior officials who advise the president and filter his information. That person is the former secretary of state, Republican insider, and consigliere of the Bush family, James A. Baker III
(Emphasis mine).
Looks like Poppy & Bar have siezed the FP reigns & are twisting W's ears. Jr's legacy is on the line, & the neocon putz's have been relieved of their dicking around.
PERRspectives
April 24, 2006
James Baker: Bush's Mr. Fix It Goes to Iraq
As surely as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, James Baker III reliably appears whenever George W. Bush finds himself in trouble. As the New York Times reports, the growing Iraq quagmire is no exception. Baker, the Secretary of State under the President's father, will lead a congressionally mandated team to generate new ideas for salvaging the American adventure in Iraq and with it, extricate George W. Bush from another fine mess.
A fine mess, indeed. Possibly the biggest mess of W's entire life, if you don't count the economy, the war on working Americans, Katrina, etc, etc. He's killed & maimed hundreds of thousands of people, united our enemies, divided our friends & fomented another American civil war!
Go fix it, Jimbo!
Wonkette, 8/28/06
James Baker III Removed From Cryogenic Suspension
Whenever the Bush Family faces a serious crisis, technicians carefully remove family-fixer James Baker III from his cryogenic chamber deep beneath the U.S. Naval Observatory and begin the painstaking process of thawing him back to "life."
Whether managing Poppy Bush's campaigns, actually running the Reagan White House or even ensuring a Florida victory for Junior, Baker is the man for the job. This time, his mission is to "fix" the Iraq Occupation in time to protect the White House from an assault by a Democrat-controlled Congress.
Well, at least there's some Diplomacy going on.
A guest on Will & Willie this morning had a lot of poop on the shake & bake Baker is cooking up. Rumsfeld is out of the recipe & Cheney is toast. Condi is pissed that Baker is the de facto SOS. He's made numerous trips to the ME, met w/the big boys & is hammering out a Diplomatic solution. He is all business. Pushing dealios. Iran & all.
As much as JBIII gives me the heebie jeebies, he assembled a bipartisan group of FP/Diplomatic experts, & if they pull us back from the eve of destruction, I'm for it.
We have plenty to fight the Rethugs on. The Cheney/Rummy/BushCo crop will still come out skunky.
Maybe JBIII will redeem his own & Poppy's legacies. W & his neocons...mebbe not so much.