Now What?

Prelude: (excerpt from National Strategy for Victory in Iraq set forth in 2003, updated in 2005)
The strategy was defined as:

Progress in each of the political, security, and economic tracks reinforces progress in the other tracks. For instance, as the political process has moved forward, terrorists have become more isolated, leading to more intelligence on security threats from Iraqi citizens, which has led to better security in previously violent areas, a more stable infrastructure, the prospect of economic progress, and expanding political participation.
Is this [honestly] the case?

International:
Government Agency Issues Grim Report On Iraq, Warns Of ‘Descent Into Hell’
At his press conference this morning, President Bush said we are “absolutely” winning in Iraq, but a government-funded nonpartisan agency — the U.S. Institute of Peace — has released “an unremittingly grim report” ruling out victory in Iraq. Here are three of agency’s predictions for the future of Iraq (click link).


Imposing A Timetable
An angry Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki disavowed a joint U.S.-Iraqi raid in the capital's Sadr City slum Wednesday, and criticized the top U.S. military and diplomatic representatives in Iraq for saying his government needs to set a timetable to curb violence in the country.

Al-Maliki spoke at a news conference a day after U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Iraqi leaders had agreed to set deadlines by year's end for achieving specific political and security goals laid out by the United States, including reining in militia groups.

"I affirm that this government represents the will of the people and no one has the right to impose a timetable on it," the prime minister said.


Well, so much for international politics...

National:
In the past few days, President Bush has tried to turn Americans' attention away from the growing chaos in Iraq and toward the "good news" of the economy. Unemployment is at a "historic low" and core inflation remains under three percent. The right wing is also pointing to record Dow Jones levels as evidence of the success of Bush's tax cuts. "No question that a strong economy is going to help our candidates," Bush said in a CNBC interview on Monday, "primarily because they have got something to run on, they can say our economy's good because I voted for tax relief." Nevertheless, the public refuses to buy the administration's talking points on the country's economic "progress." According to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, 54 percent of Americans believe the economy is getting worse. "It comes down to the issue of credibility. And so many voters feel so pessimistic about the direction of the country," said Amy Walter, a senior editor of the Cook Political Report. Job growth in September was the lowest since Oct. 2005, and the share of the population in poverty rose from 11.3 percent in 2000 to 12.6 percent in 2005. Most Americans -- including the middle class -- have been left behind by Bush's tax cuts and continue to see the costs of living rise, wages stagnate, and financial insecurity increase.

In Other News:
War on West shifts back to Afghanistan: Counterterrorism officials say Iraq is “drawing fewer foreign fighters as Muslim extremists aspiring to battle the West turn their attention back to the symbolically important and increasingly violent turf of Afghanistan.”


Meanwhile, the “British military wants to withdraw troops from Iraq within a year, and London wants to focus on the war in Afghanistan,” a Pentagon official told the New York Times.


The College Board reports that the cost of obtaining a four-year university degree continues to outpace inflation. Tuition and fees at four-year public universities rose 6.3 percent from 2005 to 2006. At the same time, the amount of federal financial aid available through Pell Grants declined to a new low.


Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said yesterday that he “might need to call for an increase in American troop levels in Baghdad” to stem the violence there, and that Iraqi troops would not be able to take over combat operations for 12-18 months.


The last throes of “last throes.” When asked about his infamous quote about the Iraq insurgency, Vice President Cheney told NPR, “I would have expected that the political process we set in motion…would have resulted in a lower level of violence than we’re seeing today. It hasn’t happened yet. I can’t say that we’re over the hump in terms of violence, no.”


The inspector general for Iraq reconstruction found “overhead costs have consumed more than half the budget of some reconstruction projects in Iraq,” leaving “far less money than expected to provide the oil, water and electricity needed to improve the lives of Iraqis.” A Halliburton subsidiary spent 55 percent of its budget on overhead on a critical oil project.

From The Right:
Terence Jeffrey: Democrats won't check or balance Bush
Billionaire George Soros and Sen. Hillary Clinton have been talking about the congressional elections as if they were a civics test for voters. They could almost be speaking from the same lecture notes.

From The Left:
Michael R. Gordon: Iraqi Realities Undermine the Pentagon's Predictions
The Pentagon wants a democratic Iraq - a model to the region - but until Iraq has a genuine unity government that its own forces respect and are willing to fight for, it seems likely that the American military will continue to shoulder most of the burden.

Thought To Ponder:
9/11 widows have started an online petition in hopes of gathering the public's support to force the White House to declassify documents related to a July 10, 2001, meeting between Condoleezza Rice and former CIA director George Tenet, in which the two discussed a pending attack on US soil by al-Qaeda. What will come of this request?

(Sources: Boston Globe, Washington Times, LA Times, USA Today, USNews, TownHall, Whitehouse website, Washington Post, WSJ, ThinkProgress, TruthOut, MercuryNews, Int’l Herald Tribune, NY Times, NPR, USIP, PoliticalCartoons.com)