Robert Byrd - Guardian of the Public

Byrd just said something on CSPAN to the effect of "all of this seems to be an attempt to mislead an easily confused public." (I'm paraphrasing based on my immediate recollection.) He was implying that the hearing on 9/11 discussing Petraeus' report about Iraq, and specifically the numerous AQI mentions were designed to deceive.

Now I can see why Byrd thinks the public is easily deceived - if I was a former high ranking member of the KKK and continuously had to foist a fraud on my constituents to get elected - I would assume all of the public was a bunch of dupes. But the guy should literally watch himself on CSPAN - and then decide who is likely to be mentally incompetent. Here's a hint, its him.

Jonesing for Some Better Headlines and Politicians

I watched an unusually long amount of CSPAN today. I was transfixed by the Senate Armed Services Hearing on the Jones Report. For starters I will provide my own summary:

+ The mission is critical for our national, mid eastern regional, and global security.
+ The mission is a very difficult one.
+ We are making good progress.
+ The Iraq army is doing well.
+ The police force is doing poorly.
+ Specifically the national police force (small when compared to the total police service) should be disbanded and the members reassigned.
+ They expect Q1 2008 troops can start being reassigned or rotated as Iraqi army starts taking on more load.
+ They expect an 18 month period where Americans are still heavily involved.


The Dems asked leading questions to show how bad its going. The Repubs asked leading questions to show how well things are going. Everybody was running in and out for some vote. The headlines in the papers were pretty piss poor.

Here is what was reported (via Google news headlines) and my response:

NPR: Jones Report Calls for Reducing US Troops in Iraq
AFP: US report calls for troop cuts in Iraq
Actually, they specifically said that decision would have to be made by commanders on the ground, they recommended a reduced footprint, so we would not give the impression of permanency and occupation.

AFP: Iraqi army cannot stand alone: US report
What does that mean to you? The report was overwhelming positive about the Iraq Army, basically saying the Iraqi Army shows that the mission can succeed. What does the headline imply? The Army is failing.

Times Online: Iraq police should be disbanded, Congress told
This is almost true. In reality the report says the Iraqi police should be disbanded. Beyond that the report analyzed the armed services and the police services. The national police is but a small part of the police services (as opposed to the "local" police, coast guard, and other units under the Ministry of Interior.) Additionally by disbanded the lead police chief on the commision said the some portion would be retained and have their mission altered (typically to services that required training beyond what the provinces could support, such as bomb squad, search and rescue, river patrol, etc.) and the remainder should be merged into the regular police units for their own region, or the army.

Tere is one brilliant exchange between the Chairman Levin and Jones, around 1:40 into the hearing. Levin basically cannot understand the general making a simple point, and can't ask a question clearly. Basically Levin wants the generals to say that their are Iraqi units that are not be used completely. The generals are saying the Iraqis are doing what they can.

Also Byrd and Kennedy are both showing tremors in their hands during committee, I wonder if for Kennedy this is the result of a lifetime of boozing, Byrd could be something like Parkinson's or if he's had a set of strokes.