No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

More on Iraq

Josh Marshall in Talking Points Memo points out that both The Guardian and The New York Times state the Paul Bremer specifically endorsed the CIA report.

The Guardian's article specifically states:

One military intelligence assessment now estimates the insurgents' strength at 50,000. Analysts cautioned that such a figure was speculative, but it does indicate a deep-rooted revolt on a far greater scale than the Pentagon had led the administration to believe.

An intelligence source in Washington familiar with the CIA report described it as a "bleak assessment that the resistance is broad, strong and getting stronger".

"It says we are going to lose the situation unless there is a rapid and dramatic change of course," the source said.

"There are thousands in the resistance - not just a core of Ba'athists. They are in the thousands, and growing every day. Not all those people are actually firing, but providing support, shelter and all that."

Although, the report was an internal CIA document it was widely circulated within the administration. Even more unusually, it carried an endorsement by Paul Bremer, the civilian head of the US-run occupation of Iraq - a possible sign that he was seeking to bypass his superiors in the Pentagon and send a message directly to President George Bush on how bad the situation has become.

The NYTimes article adds:

The C.I.A. and the White House refused even to confirm the existence of the report, which was first disclosed by The Philadelphia Inquirer. But government officials outside those agencies said its conclusions were among the darkest intelligence assessments distributed since the American-led invasion of Iraq in March.

"It says that this is an insurgency, and that it is gaining strength because Iraqis have no confidence that there is anyone on the horizon who is going to stick around in Iraq as a real alternative to the former regime," one American official said.

"It says that this is an insurgency, and that it is gaining strength because Iraqis have no confidence that there is anyone on the horizon who is going to stick around in Iraq as a real alternative to the former regime," one American official said.

A second American official said the grim conclusions were based in part on a classified opinion poll conducted by the State Department's intelligence branch, which found that a majority of Iraqis now regard American troops as occupiers rather than liberators. The concern has been reinforced, another official said, by an increasing consensus among intelligence analysts that appointed Iraqi leaders do not appear to be capable of carrying out the task of governing or working toward elections.

"The trend lines are in the wrong direction," a third government official said. "I haven't seen anything in any of the intelligence reports that offers a hard and fast recipe for how to turn things around."

I think that this next few weeks is going to involve a lot of major changes in our operations in Iraq, both military and political. It concerns me that many in the Bush administration want to use the Army combat forces against insurgents, something that is not likely to be successful, and that the pressures on Karl rove of the 2004 Presidential election will lead the Bush administration to attempt some counter-productive quick fixes and PR solutions.

Hopefully we have seen the end of the PR offensive from the White House stating that the media isn't reporting the "Good News out of Iraq." We as a nation are in a tough situation now. We need more effective action and honesty out of the White House, and a lot less self-serving "happy happy bullshit" from them.
posted by Richard at 8:34 AM