Charlie Rose Science Series
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Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America
by Thomas L. Friedman
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by Thomas L. Friedman
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09/10/2007
David Sanger, Thomas E. Ricks, Joe Klein, Colonel Gary Anderson
A discussion about the Petraeus/Crocker testimony
A discussion about the Petraeus/Crocker testimony with retired General Gary Anderson, Joe Klein of Newsweek, David Sanger White House Correspondent for The New York Times & Tom Ricks senior Pentagon correspondent to The Washington Post.
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What was Dracula doing on the united states congressional armed services?
Basically, the US plans to be there until the "conditions on the ground" allow them to leave. That means indefinite. It is the same position as 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.... It is not the goal of Petraeus to criticize the Iraqi occupation; it is the role of Congress. The Congress is still being hampered by the Republican question "What happens if we leave?" They are playing the Iranian bogeyman, that is Iran will step in "and take over" or fill the "power vacuum". Based on the resistance that Iraq is giving the US, Iran can try to take over, good luck. By the way, Gary Anderson's contribution was weak, he could have not been there, and he did not contribute in the critical analysis.
Biden's analysis on News Hour tonight is right:that the sum total of all the words mean Bush & Co will leave it to the next president to figure out what where and when to get out. It's a politically cynical criminally insane waste of our armed forces. If Petraeus was willing to stand up for his troops he would have to say: "My buddy Shinsecki told you we would need 300,00 to 400,00 troops to secure Iraq properly and barring that we should never have gone in in the first place." So to claim that he'll do a 30,000 troop drawdown in the spring of '08 that we've known about since last year as a sign the surge has worked is the same political misdirection. The longer we wait for benchmarks never really seriously considered by BushCo to materialize the more we bleed in troops and treasure, and moral standing in a world we are becoming more alienated from and less involved in.
Uh, because he wants to keep his job as well as stay out of prison? Seriously, that's a policy statement and completely not his job.
I wonder why General Petraeus didn't begin his report by saying the US should not have invaded Iraq in the first place. A mea culpa from American officials is rare as hen's teeth, alas.