Joe Lieberman - plagiarist and fool

Don't read this op-ed by SlowJo Lieberman immediately after eating. I promise you that it will cause severe nausea. Independent Democrat my ass. The man just recycled every self-serving pep talk by Bush and has the gall to call it his own work. I mean he was so busy regurgitating ancient White House talking points, I guess he forgot for a minute that he's not really the president himself and declared war on Iran.

Maybe the next time he spends ten days in the Middle East, he should go out on patrol with the soldiers risking their lives in Baghdad instead cocooned in the safe womb of the "leaders" he hobnobbed with and perhaps he might be willing to admit Iraq is already deeply immersed in a civil war. And perhaps he could ask the brave men and women who daily risk their lives whether they think a influx of new troops to "crush the enemy" is going to make any difference. As far as I can see, they mostly don't.

Even more egregious, as Glenn Greenwald notices, SlowJo's talking points serve Israel's interests better than our national security but I don't think that's Lieberman's main intent in plagiarizing the White House speeches since it so well serves Bush's "new plan forward." I figure he's paying Bush back for all his help in tricking the voters of Connecticut into installing him as the GOP's useful fool in the Senate.

If his recylced rhetoric wasn't so dangerous, it would be pathetic. But as Juan Cole points out, "the guerrillas are not outsiders who come in and then are forced out." The insurgency is mainly homegrown Sunnis and renegade Shia and increasing numbers of Iraqi civilians don't care if either side is killing US occupying forces. As Cole says:

Winning guerrilla wars requires two victories, a military victory over the guerrillas and a winning of the hearts and minds of the general public, thus denying the guerrillas support. The US has not and is unlikely to be able to repress the guerrillas, and it is losing hearts and minds at an increasing and alarming rate. They hate us, folks. They don't want us there.

And why would they? As Cole also points out. "from the beginning of history to 2003 there had never been a suicide bombing in Iraq." Now, some three years after the "liberation" the Iraqis suffer daily attacks that are killing hundreds of innocent civilians every week. Even the dimmest bulb could see the cause and effect here. Too bad Joe Lieberman can't see the light from the dark depths of his sold out soul.