Bush's Simplistic Vision

"The Sadrists, the main winners of the 2005 elections, are the political expression of the majority of the majority -- the Shia poor -- and cannot be eliminated militarily. The US-led occupation forces will do nothing for their reputation or the future of Iraq by taking sides in an intra-Shia test of militia strength."

The Boston Globe editorial board writes: "US support for this assault is a dangerous venture. President Bush risks repeating the sort of missteps that have haunted America's occupation of Iraq for the past five years. . . .

"The picture he paints of events in Iraq suggests either that he is confused about the players and issues in Iraqi politics or that he fails to understand the impact of his policies. . . .

"When Bush talks of defeating the enemy in Iraq, he obscures a crucial reality: that at least three major power struggles are going on in Iraq, and America serves primarily as paymaster and muscle-bound enforcer for one side or the other."

The Globe editorial also notes: "An irony Bush may or may not comprehend is that he has put himself in the position of backing rivals of Sadr - Maliki's Dawa party and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq - that are intimately entwined with the Iranian regime. They would benefit enormously by taking over completely the lucrative port and oil pipelines of Basra and crushing the Mahdi Army before next October's provincial elections."

The Concord (N.H.) Monitor editorial board writes: "Despite administration claims, the surge has not succeeded. Its primary purpose was to reduce the violence enough to buy Iraq's unpopular, cobbled together government time to find a way for rival factions to share power and oil revenue. That time was squandered, and now the violence is increasing. If, as many fear, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr lifts the ceasefire that has kept most of his 70,000 militia members on the sidelines, the fighting will escalate drastically. The Iraq people have 'been liberated,' in the words of the president. They are free to be kidnapped, shot or blown up at home, at work and at play.

"None of this squares with the version of reality being spun by President Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney. Nothing they say about Iraq is believable. Both men continue to falsely link Saddam Hussein with the al-Qaida terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. Both warn of the danger posed by al-Qaida in Iraq, though the vast majority of those wielding arms have nothing to do with the terrorist group. Neither will admit that al-Qaida was not in Iraq before the American invasion. Both claim that the war in Iraq has made America and the world safer from terrorism, yet the opposite is true. . . .

"Nothing is likely to change between now and January 20 next year, when a new president takes office. The course that president takes will be dictated by events to come. But the next president must not stay the haphazard, endless course set by Bush and Cheney. And above all, unlike Bush and Cheney, the next president must tell the American people the truth."

Poll Watch

The latest nationwide survey by the Pew Research Center finds: "Bush's job approval rating has slipped to 28%, the lowest of his presidency."

McCain's Critique?

Is Sen. John McCain getting a little fed up with some of Bush's simplistic views?

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous points out that in his speech on Wednesday, McCain spoke about his own view of war: "The lives of a nation's finest patriots are sacrificed. Innocent people suffer and die. Commerce is disrupted; economies are damaged; strategic interests shielded by years of patient statecraft are endangered as the exigencies of war and diplomacy conflict. Not the valor with which it is fought nor the nobility of the cause it serves, can glorify war. Whatever gains are secured, it is loss the veteran remembers most keenly. Only a fool or a fraud sentimentalizes the merciless reality of war." (My italics.)

This came only a few days after Bush, in a videoconference with U.S. military and civilian personnel in Afghanistan, said that he envied them. Tabassum Zakaria of Reuters quoted Bush as saying: "I must say, I'm a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you . . . in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger."

Notes my reader: "So, within weeks of each other, we have the GOP president romanticizing war and the GOP candidate calling people who romanticize war fools or frauds. Deliberate or not, the implication cannot be easily explained away. It seems that McCain has just publicly called Bush a fool/fraud."

And it's not like McCain's line was an accident, either. As Sam Stein reported for the Huffington Post, much of that portion McCain's speech was a rehash from an October 2001 op-ed he wrote in the Wall Street Journal. But not the "fool" line. That was a fresh addition.

Playing Politics at Guantanamo?

Carol J. Williams writes in the Los Angeles Times: "The lawyer for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's former driver, on Thursday accused U.S. officials of trying to orchestrate war-crimes convictions for election-year political gain.

"In his motion for dismissal of the case against Hamdan, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer accused Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann -- legal advisor to the White House official overseeing terrorism trials at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- of exercising 'unlawful command influence' over both the prosecution and defense. Lawyers participating in the tribunals are members of the U.S. military, and all are subordinate in rank to Hartmann. . . .

"In his 97-page motion, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer cited what he said were inappropriate comments and actions by Hartmann and political appointees in the Guantanamo process -- including its top official, Susan J. Crawford, the convening authority. . . .

"In the last six years, only one case against a detainee at Guantanamo Bay has reached its conclusion. Crawford, who served as Pentagon inspector general when Dick Cheney was Defense secretary, in early 2007 facilitated the plea bargain that freed Australian David Hicks.

"The move was seen by many as a favor by the Bush administration to Australian Prime Minister John Howard, whose failure to free Hicks was hampering his reelection battle -- which he eventually lost."

Williams also has a moving account of life at Guantanamo.

Torture Tapes Watch

Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane writes in the New York Times: "When officers from the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed hundreds of hours of videotapes documenting harsh interrogations in 2005, they may have believed they were freeing the government and themselves from potentially serious legal trouble.

"But nearly four months after the disclosure that the tapes were destroyed, the list of legal entanglements for the C.I.A., the Defense Department and other agencies is only growing longer. In addition to criminal and Congressional investigations of the tapes' destruction, the government is fighting off challenges in several major terrorism cases and a raft of prisoners' legal claims that it may have destroyed evidence."

Gov. Siegelman Freed

Adam Nossiter writes in the New York Times: "Donald Siegelman, former governor of Alabama, was ordered released from prison on Thursday by a federal appeals court, pending his appeal of a bribery conviction that Democrats say resulted from a politically driven prosecution.

"In its order, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, said Mr. Siegelman had raised 'substantial questions' in his appeal of the case and could be released on bond. . . .

"Mr. Siegelman's case has been cited by Democrats here and in Washington as Exhibit A in their contention that politics has influenced decisions by the Justice Department, which prosecuted the former governor. In addition, Mr. Siegelman's conviction in June 2006 here sharply polarized the political climate in this state, and suggestions by his supporters and others that the former Bush White House political director, Karl Rove, may have been involved have only increased the tensions."

Brazilian Tells Off Bush

AFP reports: "Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday he told US President George W. Bush to fix his country's economic problems before they spill over and harm other economies.

"'Son, here's the problem,' Lula said he told Bush in a telephone call. 'We've had 26 years with no growth. And now that we're growing, you want to complicate things? Fix your own crisis!'

"In a speech to Mexican and Brazilian businessmen in Brazil's easternmost city, Lula said he placed the call to Bush to tell him what he felt about the current US economic crisis, but did not say when the call took place."

The Pitch

Barry Svrluga writes in The Washington Post: "With President Bush slated to open Nationals Park by throwing the ceremonial first pitch Sunday night, new Washington Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca has assumed all spring that he would be the man to receive it.

"But Thursday morning, on the last day of spring training, General Manager Jim Bowden informed Lo Duca that the honor instead will go to Manager Manny Acta.

"The choice has symbolic implications. Lo Duca was one of the primary figures in the report by former Senate majority leader George J. Mitchell on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. Bush, in turn, is an avid baseball fan and former owner of the Texas Rangers who has publicly denounced the use of steroids, both in professional sports and by America's youth."

Cartoon Watch

Mike Luckovich on Bush's idea of benchmarks; Adam Zyglis on indifference; Ann Telnaes on Bush at the Olympics.