War Is Back As Campaign Issue - And Campaign Observations
We have been fed so much exaggeration about the situation in Iraq. And it is now apparent that the recent optimism falls into the category of deliberate deception. How can we believe the Generals and the White House when the Iraqi Army faces possible defeat from the Al-Sadr militias.
More and more, this is looking like Vietnam, where our allies (the government in Iraq) are infiltrated by our enemies (Shiite militias). The problem is not the war itself, but the great lies that we are receiving about the state of safety in Iraq.
We need a major force of at least 150,000 troops to protect our interests in the Middle East. They should be withdrawn from the civil bloodshed in Iraq, and placed in Kuwait and the territory of our other allies. Our military presence is critical in the Gulf. If Iraqis cannot keep the peace or are not willing to, it is time for the U.S. to deploy these troops elsewhere in the region.
Some notes on campaign 08. Gutsy move by Bob Casey to endorse Barack Obama. He didn’t have to do it. Aside from his family’s dislike of the Clintons, who refused to let the late Bob Casey speak at the 1992 convention, the young Bob Casey genuinely has affection for Obama. They are good friends.
Ed Rendell is setting a record for national TV appearances by a Pa. Governor. Rendell is becoming a national figure, enhancing his already large profile, and placing himself in position to take high profile positions when he leaves office in early 2010.
Keep an eye on State Rep. Josh Shapiro of Pa. The Deputy Speaker of the Pa. House is becoming a major force in state government. He is supporting Obama this year, but the Clinton campaign would love to have him on board.
Warning to readers. Someone is logging in with my name and offering semi-ridiculous and vacuous comments. The “real” Larry Kane will not submit stupid and angry blog postings.
Note: by “our interests in the Middle East,” Larry meant oil-filled pipes.
Larry, your comment about pulling out of Iraq is as vacuous as the Democrats you support. It is wreckless and self-serving to suggest to immediately pullout our troops from Iraq. It is also presumptuous to assume that Kuwait would want to be home to 150K troops.
Like it or not, we created a huge power vacumm in the Middle East and to walk away now after 6 years and so much cost is absurd. Even Hillary knows that’s not reasonable but she continues to pander to the masses. If you haven’t already figured it out, this is Vietnam 40 years later. Bad idea with no exit strategy and no positive end result.
Larry, I noticed that someone yesterday under your name wrote a semi-ridiculous and vacuous article entitled “MURDER IN A PHILADELPHIA SUBWAY A CHALLENGE FOR SEPTA TO CLEAN UP THE UNDERGROUND MESS” The “real” Larry Kane wouldn’t blame SEPTA for Sean Conroy’s death.
If it were me that was murdered on that platform and the only response to my death other than “catch them varmints who did it” was a call to clean up the subway stations my death would certainly have been in vain.
I agree with a couple of things that this fictitious “Larry” said. Like Challenge, Clean up, and Mess all good words but not used correctly when facing the real issue that stares back at us like the midday sun.
If it was me on that platform my postmortem wish would be an awakening of every soul in the city to the fact that it is the responsibility of every adult to teach their children how to act in society. Replace this ignorance and tolerance with enlightenment and discipline. Give kids grave consequences if they step out of line. Make parents pay for their children’s mistakes. Kids having kids must stop. Pay these people to fore go having children if we must.
I know I am just howling at the moon but I just wanted to let Sean’s family know that his death could be a wake up call and not merely a phone call for more cops and light bulbs.
hello Larry,
I see Rick has all the ‘answers’to the iraq war,but Larry today is the first day of baseball season in the u.s.a.,george bush is throwing the first pitch tonight,you think he’s thinking about iraq?,bush and chaney will be walking into the sunset soon and leaving the u.s.a. holding the bag or bagdad,but it’s baseball season and I wonder if Hillary can make that throw to home plate.
If Hillary threw out the first pitch it would no doubt be illegal and way to the left.
Larry,
all the apologies rick has for bush/chaney you would think he was on the payroll,george bush know’s as much about baseball as he does about iraq and that is only what chaney/mccain tell him, my friend.
Is there television in Iraq? Do they have super markets? Do they have a
WalMart or McDonalds? Is Toyota selling cars in Baghdad? Where do these people purchase gas? If someone gets hurt is there a hospital for them to go to? Who fixes the toilet when it is broken? Do they even have toilets? Do children go to school?
These are just a few of the questions my grandchildren are asking among others when it comes to the Iraq war.
When the time comes for them to pay for this emancipation I’m sure their questions will be quite different.
Jenna Bush and her sister are going to have children but I doubt their kids are going to ask the same questions.
I used to be a believer in this crusade but my feeling lately is to cut our losses just like we did in Vietnam.
Larry, you’re a little late to the game with these suggestions/opinions. They’d be a lot more helpful if stated a few years ago.
Trying to play catch-up now is futile, you missed your chance for relevancy.
Don’t worry, you’re not considered a A-leaguer and are not supposed to make these plays. But if you did, it would have helped your career tremedously. A bit hollow now, though.
JR, I have never encountered a more sanctimonious, pretentious or stridently ill-advised supporter of the Clinton felons. Please don’t don’t lecture me on Bush, Cheney or McCain. To the best of my knowledge, none are under federal investigation or impeachment. They may have stretched the truth on WMDs in Iraq but none claimed to have sniper fire raining down on them.
Larry, is Jack Russell one of your pseudonyms or is it just a coincidence that he always takes your side far to the left?
I’d be more dubious about those who endorse Senator Clinton. Are they doing it because they really feel, in their hearts of hearts, that she would make the best leader for this nation, or just because they are President Bill Clinton’s friends and owe him a favor for making them rich? It does send a chill in my back when they accuse Governor Richardson for betraying Bill Clinton. That makes me think of Mafia tactics to keep the Mafia Godfather’s power in control of the country. And that would be an unethical and morally injustice served for America.
Larry,
What happened in Southeast Asia after we pulled out of Vietnam? Since no one mentions it but people keep making allusions to Vietnam, maybe we can tell people. Death and destruction on a mass scale is the answer if you didn’t know.
Maybe the deception about how Iraq is going is self-deception on your part. Maybe you don’t want Iraq to go well for some odd reason.
Rick and Geoff, we could have stayed in South Vietnam for ten more years and the exact same thing would have happened the minute we left. Same for Iraq. It’s time to start preparing for a post occupation Middle East. Kuwait, in fact would LOVE to have 150,000 US troops in their country. Do you really think they’ll put up any resistance to a Sunni or Shiite insurgiency? I think they’ll bolt overnight. I would give the Saudi Royal family a month. When Iraq breaks up (not if) these are the next security threats we will have to deal with.
What you guys have to face is that there is no way an Iraqi state can emerge from this mess. There’s no way we can stop Iran from arming the Shiite militias and undermining any government, and nobody has even considered what will happen when we try to squeeze the Kurds back into the tube.
Larry and other bloggers,
I find it frustrating to listen to you give opinions on Iraq and other foreign policy issues on which you have limited information. The blog sphere is full of opinion based on little more than feeling. I do not post blog comments on physics or chemistry, two topics I know nothing about. So why do so many others feel free to give uninformed opinions on foreign policy?
I have lived with U.S. foreign policy, working with some of the largest international organizations throughout the world. U.S. foreign policy is one of the things that shapes my life the most in my work life. But I am not constantly shouting my opinions left and right. There is something wrong when the informed are overwhelmed by the uninformed. As I said, I will not make blog comments on issues I have no knowledge of, and in return I wish many of the the bloggers and journalists would do the same — especially Larry when he posts blogs like this one on Iraq. Just clueless ….
Larry,Rick has a really tender spot for bush/chaney,yes they should be have been impeached by now,but for rightwingers like yourself who read the daily proganda from chaney/rove for the last seven years,
3$Bill Clinton left this country in great shape,,now when you say 911 remember it happened on george bush’s watch just like this war in iraq,something that was planned on day one of bush/chaney now they will walk into the sunset leaving america holding the bag/baghdad,
Larry,are you sure people like Rick are not the GOP stooges.
Larry,people like rick who put bush and chaney on a pedestal for the last seven years ‘are part of the problem not part the solution’.
Larry,rick points the finger at the Clinton’s for all the incompetence of the last seven years and now he thinks Mccain will be any better,I doubt Mccain will even be able to Wake Up for a 3AM red phone call let alone make a decision,rick has to be on the bush/chaney/mccain payroll,he has to be Larry.
I have news for you Larry, BIG NEWS.
WAR is hell and is like a tide. Success is always followed by a degree of setbacks. No one has exagerated the situation as great in Iraq. In reality, the main stream media has almost stop reporting on Iraq since there stories turned to mostly good news there. If you were honest about what General Petraus has been saying, he would have told you there was going to be a problem. If you were honest, Basra shows why we can’t simply run away, which the Brits did after Tony Blair retired.
By the way, why is 150,000 men in Kuwait a threat when everyone in the middle east will just assume we will run away?
Senator Casey has demonstrated that the apple has fallen far from the tree. Bob Casey would never have endorsed someone with the most left and socialist record in the senate. I doubt Obama would have even appeared in public with Bob Casey. It does show however just how liberal senator Casey really is. I think it will come back to haunt him.
JR, I can’t debate with you anymore because you don’t take the time to read what I write. This is the last time I respond directly to one of your blogs.
1) I don’t apologize for Bush and Cheney (BTW, after 8 years as VP you should spell his name correctly)
administration. I’ve repeatedly said that Iraq was a mistake. My point is we don’t cut and run as the Democrats suggest.
2) You, and your blog brethren, blame the Bush Administration for everything that has happened foreign and domestically for the last 8 years from gas prices to 9/11. Not that simple. Blame Iraq on Bush. Blame the cost of the war on him. The rest is wrong place wrong time. Very much like Clinton benefited from right place right time when he was in office. 3$Bill had nothing to do with the prosperity of the 90’s. One might argue that his lack of vigilance on the ENRONs of the world, watching millions of American manufacturing jobs move offshore and pushing NAFTA actually set in motion the problems on this decade.
3) President Bush may not be a Rhodes scholar or a great public speaker. He may be bit too much of a patriot and will likely not go down in history as a great President. He may be an easy target for David Letterman and Bill Maher. He remains true to himself. He doesn’t waffle and flip flop everytime a focus group or national opinion changes. He doesn’t cry on cue or make veiled racist remarks.
4) As I’ve said repeatedly, John McCain is a classic case of someone that has been in Washington too long (Byrd, Kennedy, etc.) and is now part of the problem. I think he’s cheeky, pompous and nasty. I don’t think he’ll make a good President. Given the choice between McCain and Hillary, I’ll take my chances with McCain. I KNOW Hillary would be a bad President.
So there are the facts summarized for you as succintly as possible, my friend. BTW, your run on sentence style kills me.
To everyone else (with the notable exception of Christines) I apologize for the long blog.
Dear Larry,
How about an Obama Casey ticket? It is perfect balance of race, ideological leanings,and even experience.
Bob Casey has the financial experience that Obama lacks. Casey could be a moderating force on some of Obama’s socialistic leanings.
Obama seems to do particularly well in the “red” states while Casey is a “blue” state senator who has won two other state wide offices.
Larry,rick states that success in politics has to do with luck or ‘being in the right place at the right time’,so he blames Clinton’s success because he is lucky or at ‘the right place at the right time’,and the bush/chaney blunders are because they are unlucky or they are at the ‘wrong place at the wrong time’,but he also blames the Clinton’s for the bush and chaney failures or lack of luck,so Larry do you think rick is an apologist for bush/chaney?
The only way to know accurately what is going on in Iraq is to pay attention to the reportes who have actually been there on the ground for long periods of time. They get their information from the people who live there and from the soldiers stationed there, not by calling an ‘expert’ and writing an article based on hearsay. Having tried to read all they have written and listened to their interviews when they are occasionally home, the fragile nature of the Surge “Success” is no surprise.
–While Fast Eddie is on the national news quite alot, most of the time he is just repeating Clinton talking points (e.g. caucuses are not demeocratic since senior citizens can’t vote in them (must relate that to all the oldies who came out with us on the frigid caucus night, guess they didn’t know how fragile they were)). Tried to watch him on Charlie Rose but got bored after 5 minutes and I always used to enjoy Eddie. Clintons will ruin him like all their other lackeys.
– according to national stories, Casey endorsed Obama because his kids were big Obama fans and pushed him into it. Casey is smart enough to sign onto the future of the party.
“MURDER IN A PHILADELPHIA SUBWAY A CHALLENGE FOR SEPTA TO CLEAN UP THE UNDERGROUND MESS”
How about our new Mayor start spending some time coming up with programs to address our out of control youth instead of serving as Chelsey Clinton’s lap dog.
What an embarrassment
When can we replace this guy?
Larry,
all the apologies rick has for bush/chaney you would think he was on the payroll,george bush know’s as much about baseball as he does about iraq and that is only what chaney/mccain tell him, my friend.
I AGREE
WORST PRESIDENT IN US HISTORY BY FAR
Glad to see Bob Casey had the inteligence and integrity to endorse Obama. After the way the Clinton’s treated his father at the 1992 convention it was good to see he wasn’t making any peace with them. Also a wise politcal move to align with the future of the party. As the Reverend Wright might say; “Bill Clinton’s Chickens….(dramatic pause)…have come home….to ROOOOSt!
It was also fun to watch Obama go bowling and bottle feed a cow in rural Pennsylvania over the weekend. He really looked uncomfortable trying to be a middle class white guy, with not even one white “chardonay liberal” within 100 miles, but at least he tried. He’s probably going to do better in PA than we expect.
Michael Nutter should also get some credit for sticking with Hillary, he did well on the national talk shows. It is freshing after the Street administration to not be ashamed and embarrased by the Mayor of Philadelphia.
I am completely embarrassed by Nutter Butter. First he was a lackey for Chelsey and now he is just a political Ed McMahon
shameful
Nutter has done NOTHING to fix the crime in this city. He is too busy hosting WIRE parties
Larry, would that be the same Josh Shapiro who “worked” at Ballard Spahr and drew a paycheck for doing nothing before going to Greenberg Traurig, the K Street firm? Yeah, he’s one to watch all right.
Iraq does not make the news nor does the subject roll off the tongues of the presidential candidates easily. The candidates would rather tell us how much good stuff they are going to give us when elected rather than spell out how they are going to handle current affairs in Iraq. These people have no idea what to do. If they did then we might have heard something by now.
My uninformed opinion says Obama will try the cut and run strategy. Hillary will become another LBJ and try to slog it out with increased manpower. McCain might see the futility in trying to unite this misbegotten territory and divide this nation into the three parts that have separate rule but share equally in the income produced from the oil profits.
CUT AND RUN is exactly what we should do.
It is a useless quagmire
We have needs in this country that need to be addressed before Iraq
Rebuild New Orleans with Cat 5 levees before another dollar goes overseas
TJ = JR = clueless
Larry, time to get off dime and change topic. 2 days is max for any topic.
rick madden + clutch cargo = bush apologist
how can we call Obama a legitimate nominee without michigan and florida taxpayers having a vote?
“how can we call Obama a legitimate nominee without michigan and florida taxpayers having a vote?”
Because Michigan & Florida don’t count.
Worst President ? You’re lucky you were n’t alive when Carter was around.