August 27, 2007

IRAQ: Frustration Rising

The netroots continue to act as a vigilant watchdog over Dem movement on Iraq. Following controversy over comments he gave to the Washingtons Post about working with GOPers to find a solution, netroots supported Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA) took the time to host a chat at firedoglake 8/24, opening: "I sat down ahead of time and thought through what I wanted to say to the FireDogLake community tonight. ... To start this discussion, let me be clear about where I stand. I want to end this war as soon as possible. In practical terms, that means beginning a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq now and end with a fixed date. ... But in order to force that withdrawal we need to have a veto-proof majority so that we can overrule President Bush. That's why sympathetic Republicans are key to beginning a withdrawal from Iraq and bringing our troops home. We don't yet have that veto-proof majority - but we need to get there."

CaliticsJulia Rosen later commented: "Here are my initial thoughts on his FDL chat which just concluded. I don't think he was ever going to gain a lot from his comments, but the appearance was important. He left a lot folks frustrated, including yours truly with his failure to address repeated questions. He was never going to be able to get to them all, but I believe it may be wise for him to take the time to respond to some of them."

Also on the netroots radar: Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA). Reactions to his post-Iraq visit support for more surge patience include:

• Jane Hamsher at firedoglake: "Brian Baird just cannot seem to soak up enough media attention now that he's donning Joe Lieberman's jaunty fedora and playing the role of chief apostate in the administration's tightly scripted PR war melodrama. ... Baird may be perfectly sincere about his opinions ... But if that's the case, he needs to be aware of the way he's being used in a much larger framework by those who not only do not seek to end the war, but most probably want to expand it. And to the extent that he does not understand this, he becomes a serious problem."
• Talk Left's Big Tent Democrat: "He ignores the fact that political solutions are nonexistent in Iraq. He has no real information nor real answers. He says six more months. What he expects to happen in six months is not clear. In short, Baird has no actual argument."
• Atrios: "Not having CNN piped into my undisclosed location I've missed the direct exposure to the Most Important Democrat In America, Brian Baird. But I did check the transcripts and discover that until Baird decided that teh surge was teh awesome he'd been on CNN to discuss Iraq exactly... zero times."

IRAQ II: Who's Next?

Watching the 'Sunday shows' Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall concludes the push to remove Nuri al Maliki in favor of Ayad Allawi as prime minister is part of an effort to: "install a strongman government that can get the country in its grip and calm things down. In Allawi's interview with Wolf Blitzer he basically make this point pretty close to explicitly."

Also at TPM, Spencer Ackerman picks up on a IraqSlogger post showing Barbour Griffith & Rogers has been retained by Allawi as "strategic counsel." Ackerman goes on to speculate that both Hazem Shaalan and Muhammed Shahwani may be helping to pay for BGR's $330k fee. Ackerman claims Shaalan is involved so he can clear his name of post-invasion theft charges, while Shahwani is involved with CIA efforts to provide Allawi with a functioning "security apparatus" should he become prime minister.

Ackerman also reveals that, "en different U.S. firms are registered through the Department of Justice's Foreign Agents Registration Act database as having active contracts with various Iraqi factions."

On the right, Power Line's Paul Mirengoff doesn't think Allawi would be a great improvement over Maliki: "On Friday, Charles Krauthammer argued that the U.S. should work with elements in the Iraqi Parliament to bring down the Maliki government. Krauthammer's criticism of Maliki seems well-founded. But because Maliki is a symptom of the problems in Iraq and not their cause, it's difficult to see what would be gained by ousting him."

Posted by Conn Carroll at August 27, 2007 12:57 PM