The Grey Lady Confounds the Mighty Obob

I read this piece from Real Clear Politics.com and I found it rather uplifting considering the source. The two think tankers went back to Iraq and wrote a "positive piece." This is actually printed in the NYT!

VIEWED from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration’s critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place.

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.

Read the rest and make up your own mind. In the end, our presence in Iraq will be seen as a just affair. Whether you agree or disagree is up to you. How you feel about us being there is up to the spin doctors who medicate you. If you are able to sit back and look at the facts and the results in a long term setting, this will work. But the immature concept of immediate withdrawal of our heroic troops would be a death sentence to the people of Iraq. The harpies of cut and run advocate the massacre of innocents with Iraqi blood on their geonicide enabling hands. Some may howl at this statement and say, "What about the innocent civilians George Bush killed?" Rubbish. Al-quesidilla killed them.

Just for grins and giggles, I omitted Iraqi for American in the paragraph below. It describes the kindergarten level dysfunction that is the Iraqi government. Then I pondered, after a couple hundred years, we still don't the great experiment known as democracy perfected. Something to think about as we bicker into the 08 election.

In the end, the situation in America remains grave. In particular, we still face huge hurdles on the political front. American politicians of all stripes continue to dawdle and maneuver for position against one another when major steps towards reconciliation — or at least accommodation — are needed. This cannot continue indefinitely. Otherwise, once we begin to downsize, important communities may not feel committed to the status quo, and American security forces may splinter along ethnic and religious lines.

It happened once.

Massive props to the Iraqi National Football team for their Asia Cup over their neighbors to the south.