So what did we learn today from the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing? That a large number of Democratic Party senators on the Committee want the Iraq War to continue. There was Jim Webb who was shocked that, currently, if the treaty is followed, no US forces will be kept in Iraq under DoD.
Of course, they will be kept under the State Dept. (This changes if there is a request from Nouri to extend the agreement.)
Webb was the most interesting in that he was talking about how he always knew -- based on his reading of the Strategic Framework -- that it could be extended. US Ambassador James Jeffrey corrected him by informing him he was referring to the Status of Forces Agreement. But it's really something to hear Webb claim he always knew -- especially after two years of his insisting differently.
Today's hearing mainly served to explain how the US military presence can be extended -- either directly (extending the agreement) or covertly (keeping them but putting them under State Dept and not DoD).
And the real question, watching it, had to be why Tom Hayden, Leslie Cagan, et al, thought it was okay to accept a timeline two years in advance? The timeline does not appear likely at this point. But even if it did, since when did we stop demanding end the war now?
It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)
Last week, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4439. Tonight it is [PDF format warning] still 4439. And that's 18 deaths since 'combat operations' allegedly ended.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
iraq
i hate the war
the ballet
