Game time in Iraq

By Michael J.W. Stickings

(Updated below.)

Dick Cheney paid a surprise visit to Baghdad -- or, rather, the Green Zone -- today, talking tough to the Iraqis, urging "Iraq's feuding political factions to pull together urgently on such divisive issues as oil revenues, political militias, the future division of power and the rehabilitation of thousands of former Saddam Hussein-era officials". And I'm sure they will, because Cheney told them to, and because it's now "game time," according to "a senior Bush administration official".

But wasn't it "game time" several years ago? Why is it only "game time" now? Perhaps because the strategy is to carry on with the "surge" until September, talk tough to the Iraqis in the meantime, blame them for not meeting benchmarks for otherwise for not doing what they should be doing, that is, obeying Cheney's orders, get the hell out of Iraq, and blame both Democrats and the Iraqis for the war's failures and for the chaos that is likely to follow withdrawal. U.S. military commanders in Iraq are saying that the "surge" may continue into next year, but those military expectations may be eclipsed by political considerations before that, particularly as Republicans eye the '08 elections. If there is no clear improvement in Iraq before the end of this year, and if Bush insists on carrying on with the war as is, there could well be a dramatic rift between the White House and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

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Meanwhile, as AlterNet is reporting: "On Tuesday, without note in the U.S. media, more than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country. 144 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal, according to Nassar Al-Rubaie, a spokesman for the Al Sadr movement, the nationalist Shia group that sponsored the petition."

It should be noted that Prime Minister Maliki is close to the Sadrists.

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Cheney may have been talking tough in the Green Zone, but, elsewhere, real life was taking place:

A suicide truck bomber devastated the security headquarters of one of Iraq's most peaceful cities Wednesday, killing at least 15 people, wounding more than 100 and showing that no corner of Iraq is immune from violence.

It was the first major attack in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish self-governing region, in more than three years. The victims were among 72 people killed or found dead nationwide.

But I'm sure Cheney will be able to heal the wounds of this devastated country.

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Update: NBC (via Think Progress, which has the video of Tim Russert's report) is reporting that 11 GOP members of Congress "pleaded yesterday with President Bush and his senior aides to change course in Iraq". It "may have been a defining pivotal moment," according to Russert.

Update 2 (the following day): Various other media outlets are picking up on this story. See, for example, The Washington Post and ABC News. From the latter: "This wasn't what Karl Rove's permanent majority was supposed to look like. Even as Vice President Cheney was being dispatched to Baghdad to prod the Iraqi government and shore up public support for the war, President Bush was being bluntly told by Republican moderates that Iraq is a looming political disaster for the GOP."

There's also been a lot of reaction in the blogosphere. See, for example, The Carpetbagger Report on the left and Captain's Quarters on the right. As if anticipating likely GOP talking points, Ed Morrissey of CQ points the blame squarely at the Iraqis: "The lack of energy from the Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki has added what might be a final straw to Republican discontent about the progress of the war."

Progress? What "progress"? The war -- and particularly the occupation -- has been a disaster. That couldn't have anything to do with Republican discontent, could it?