#5 McGurgue, the train is this: the Dhimmis have come to understand in the last few weeks that one of their major campaign talking points, "we've lost the war militarily in Iraq so we should get out" is about to collapse. The 'surge' strategy (increased numbers of combat troops along with a change in strategy, tasking of troops, and emphasis on clear-and-hold) is working to the point that one can reasonably point to it and say, give the troops more time and we'll have the military situation under control.
And that appeals to the American voter, who doesn't necessarily like seeing our military committed overseas but also does NOT want our military to be seen as defeated, ever.
So the back-up campaign strategy is "yeah sure, the military situation is improved (begrudingly) but the political situation is hopeless, so we should get out." The problem there is that al-Maliki just might finally be getting the message and working to get his faction to in turn work with others in Iraq.
Because if he doesn't, odds are good he'll be replaced soon (preferably by a vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly). That's the train, and both Kouchner, the Hildebeast, Levin et al see it as the best of a not-very-good set of options as far as the Dhimmicrats and Y'urp-peons are concerned. If they get on board now they can claim some credit for having made something happen when Maliki goes.
al-Maliki, skilled political operator that he is, knows this and is trying to do some push-back to gain some manuevering space.
Now you'd think the train is derailed if you're still stuck on the "everything is hopeless in Iraq so we should just leave" phase. But since things are not hopeless (and never have been), the "political situation is hopeless' is the meme that the Dhimmis are trying to push for 2008.
But to get that to work Maliki has to go, and relatively soon, with a period of political instability in Iraq that the Dhimmis can point to. If Maliki and his faction get their acts together and start making things work, it's all over for the Dhimmis. My opinion, anyway.
Liberalhawk: good to see you back. |
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called on the French government Sunday to apologize for comments reportedly by the country's foreign minister that the Iraqi leader should step down. "We welcomed their foreign minister and we were happy with his visit, but they have to show us respect," al-Maliki told reporters. "We call upon the French government to apologize about this issue."