Thursday, June 28, 2007

Just the First Step

In a recent Open Thread on this blog a perceptive reader noted, "Add Rachel Martin to the Army's secretary pool. She takes great dictation." I'll just let the record speak for itself. Here's today's All Things Considered's latest on "progress" in Iraq.

Siegel, primes the pump with "...despite the violence the US military says there are signs of progress in the effort..." and "
Petraeus... said success may take more time than Washington is willing to give."

And then there's Rachel Martin:

  • "Petraeus points at a colorful market bustling with traffic and shoppers....he shakes hands and asks if the tea is any good....these are the kinds of interactions General Petraeus wants to use to gauges success in Iraq....”
  • “Petraeus is a week and a half into the most significant US offensive in Iraq to happen under his watch, and while dozens of al-Qaeda members have been killed and some key insurgent strongholds have been cleared, Petraeus says that’s just the first step."
  • "Petraeus says it gets down to fundamentals..."
  • "Petraeus insists that the surge is helping root out the militants who wage these attacks..."

This all has a familiar ring, doesn't it -"signs of progress," "bustling markets," "dozens of al-Qaeda members" killed [they had their membership cards on them no doubt], blah, blah blah? Maybe next time they'll mention "turning a corner"!

You certainly can see the outlines of the where this is going: Iraq could have been won if only the politicians and the impatient public had given it more time to work. Sounds like 1973 all over again.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

She's a GOOD LITTLE MOUTHPIECE...yes she is, yes she is!