Back in March, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was received warmly in Baghdad.
The Bush White House tries to minimize the importance, saying that it focused on normalisation of relations after the 1980s war.
IN FACT, IRAN HAD BROKERED A TRUCE. THIS DEAL CONVERTED ALL OF THE SHIA MAJOR RELIGIOUS MILITIAS TO ALLIES OF THE AL-MALIKI GOVERNMENT.
A small number of criminal gangs continued to operate. The gangs had to be suppressed with military force.
THE SURGE was directed fully and completely to speeding this work.
BBC reporting of Coalition statement, plus hints of al-Maliki and Iranian thinking.
At no time did THE SURGE engage the main Shia religious militias, all of whom are connected back with either Sepahsalar Mosque or the Grand Mosalla.
No need.
The Americans do not speak Arabic, Farsi or other Persian languages. The leaders do not read.
After killing 1,000,000 Iraqis, abu Ghraib, and driving 2,000,000 Iraqis from homes -- Hero McCain speaks of a "Victory !"
More to the point would be a big, public American "Thank you !".
Good luck with that....
The politician, McCain, claims credit for a number of interesting changes.
Getting investments deregulated has to be the worst of the lot. He and Phil Graham pushed through the particular combination of deregulation and privatization that has now caused directly the worst economic situation in America "since the Great Depression."
THE SURGE is not bad at all.
Hurrying suppression of a dozen criminal gangs by six months or so is a good thing.
However, the Shia Peace has no connection to the Americans whatsoever.
Taking credit for work done by others ???
Don't know if there's a specific word for it.
McCainery ???
Iraqi opinion of America has us a pack of torturers and lying thugs. Iran is the political beneficiary:
The US has accused Iran of supporting Shia militants in Iraq, a charge Tehran denies.
Before leaving for Iraq, Mr Ahmadinejad laughed off the American accusations.
"Is it not funny that those with 160,000 forces in Iraq accuse us of interference?" he asked.
Later, speaking next to Mr Maliki, Mr Ahmadinejad said the US should not blame others for Iraq's problems, and should accept that: "the Iraqi people do not like America."
By way of comparison, The Surge provided an additional 20,000 troops. That's troops from America, which everybody over there knows instituted a war that killed 1,000,000 Iraqis and drove another 2,000,000 Iraqis from their homes.
What McCain and the NeoCon Living Brain Dead are still saying is all the other way. If they know anything, this is open lying.
Here's this Goebbels-like line of the McCain propaganda machine, as typed by sicko David Ignatius:
Petraeus did something astonishing here. It wasn't simply managing the "surge" of U.S. troops, whose precise effects military historians will be debating for years. It was that he restored confidence and purpose for a military that had begun to think, deep down, that this war was unwinnable and unsustainable.
By force of will, Petraeus and his president, George W. Bush, turned that around. They didn't win in Iraq, but they created the possibility of an honorable exit.
Gonna lie ??? LIE BIG.
If I may offer, a mock poster:
POW + MIA =EQUALS= LIAR + bOOPS.
One can barely avoid hearing her, if you own a television.
Sarah "Betty bOOPs" Palin is clearly one of H. L. Mencken's less well read booboise.
The greatest McCain error for political misstatement and malgovernance would be setting Mrs. Palin into the presidency.
Three trillion dollars does not begin to balance the damage this mindless "hottie" could inflict if placed in a position of real power.
There is no intent, here, to malign the cartoon character Betty Boop.
That Betty was a delightful oner.