 |
 |
   Forty years of writing from Taylor Branch, James Fallows, Katherine Boo, Marjorie Williams, Joshua Micah Marshall, and more.
 With help from Washington, the for-profit college industry is loading up millions of low-income students with debt they'll never pay off.
 The best recent memoir from republican Washington is a hoax. That should tell you something.
|
   |
|
|
November 7, 2008
OBAMA ALREADY AFFECTING IRAQ POLICY.... Barack Obama's victory this week generated international acclaim, but the impact in Iraq was of a more practical nature. As recently as last week, Iraqi officials were reluctant to sign a security agreement with the Bush administration, even with a troop withdrawal timeline, because they knew Bush would be gone soon, and weren't sure what kind of commitment they could count on from the next president. Then Iraqi officials saw what happened on Tuesday. Now, they're feeling better.
Jabeer Habeeb, an independent Shiite lawmaker and a political scientist at Baghdad University, put it simply: "Obama's election shifts Iraq into a new position."
—Steve Benen 10:45 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (10) Comments
Gee, electing non-insane presidents is good for foreign policy. Who knew? Posted by: jimBOB on November 7, 2008 at 11:05 AM | PERMALINKI don't think the Shia would want a withdrawal unless they felt confident that they would reach political solutions with the Sunni. If the Sunni were worried that the Shia would ask Iran to replace us, I doubt they would approve. The only real losers in this game are the US oil companies and Halliburton. Posted by: Danp on November 7, 2008 at 11:08 AM | PERMALINKThings work better when the adults are in charge. Who'd a-thunk. Posted by: Steve LaBonne on November 7, 2008 at 11:10 AM | PERMALINKThis agreement will help to tie President-elect Obama to his 16 month timeline. IIRC, w said that we wouldn't stay in Iraq if the Iraq government asked us to leave. So why was the SOFA so hard to get done? Posted by: Michael on November 7, 2008 at 11:14 AM | PERMALINKAnd the dividends are already starting to materialize. I for one thought that if Americans elected Obama, that would send a 'shot heard round the world' so to speak; that Bu$h and the neocons DO NOT represent the majority of Americans. That we REJECT Bu$h and his policies and have chosen to reverse course and rejoin the international community. Posted by: citizen_pain on November 7, 2008 at 11:30 AM | PERMALINKWe don't want or need a security agreement with Iraq. We need to simply get out of the ME and stay out of the ME. The sooner the better. As I posted yesterday, everyone, Obama especially, needs to heed Chalmers Johnson's advice about reducing our unsupportable commitments and quasi-occupations and bring the troops home. I have no idea why the S. Koreans or even the Japanese put up with us. The former don't need us, and we aren't there in any real force to "protect" the latter. Then there are all our unnecessary bases in Europe, Central Asia, and the rest of the Pacific. Posted by: Jeff II on November 7, 2008 at 11:43 AM | PERMALINKThanks for this important thread. Just before the election, Doonesbury scripted a questioning of his intrepid newsman - When asked about the most important topic in the election, he replied, "The economy", When asked about any other important matter, he paused and, finally, said "Bill Ayers?" - The last bloc showed four US soldiers in Iraq, all saying "Ahem, ahem". Posted by: berttheclock on November 7, 2008 at 11:43 AM | PERMALINKdanp said I don't think the Shia would want a withdrawal unless they felt confident that they would reach political solutions with the Sunni. Or they felt they had enough of a military advantage (with Iran's backing) to keep the Sunnis under control. Posted by: thorin-1 on November 7, 2008 at 1:10 PM | PERMALINKObama's election is having ripples everywhere. Apparently radical jihadists, Al Qaeda and the like, are dumbfounded by Obama's election, which they did not expect, and can't agree on how to react. Some propose a truce, some say he's just like Bush and Clinton. So says the NY Daily News. Posted by: David in NY on November 7, 2008 at 2:44 PM | PERMALINKI doubt Obama had a lot to do with this. At the same time, the U.S. now says it's done negotiating, period. Posted by: SocraticGadfly on November 7, 2008 at 5:05 PM | PERMALINK
November 2009
October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 |
|
|
    |
|
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
