At 11 this morning, the Press Gallery outside room 345 in the Cannon Office building was abuzz with reporters chugging coffee and downing sandwiches, crews testing lines and surveying the room... All in anticipation of a long day of testimony from General David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. About half of the Talk of the Nation staff is here too (and fully 3/4 of your trusty BotN bloggers), and Neal (and Scott and I) will be with the hearing gavel-to-gavel, today and tomorrow. We don't anticipate anything terribly earth-shattering out of either gentleman as the gist of their testimony has been leaked, but since a whole boatload of congresspeople will get to lob questions their way, you just never know. By now, the hearing's been underway for a couple hours, so guest host John Ydstie has highlights... What's the one thing you'd love to hear them say?
Blog Of The Nation
I would be very interested in how they account for a decline in civilian deaths, when the AP is publishing data that shows an increase over the same period of time.
I would also like them to address reports that certain civilian deaths are excluded from their data (reports that Sunni on Sunni violence is not tracked in their data).
My opposition to the war is deeply based on the (at best) miscalculations and mistakes, or at worst (and what I believe to be) the lies told by the Administration to get us into this mess in the first place, and to justify its continuation and escalation. For years we have been told, "We're making progress, we're making progress." It's a standing joke on "The Daily Show."
Is either Gen. Petraeus or Ambassador Crocker willing to publicly acknowledge those lies, diversions or mistakes? My own willingness to support any sizable continuation of our efforts in Iraq will largely depend on their willingness to acknowledge those lies and mistakes.
Parenthetically, I'm embarassed and ashamed of the MoveOn.org ad. These guys have their lives on the line, as well as their careers and reputations. We should never again blame the soldiers on the ground for the policies created by our "leaders" the way we did in Vietnam.
I think it's too much to ask for "oh man- this is bad", or "you guys, seriously, we messed up".
How about a nice, solid, "the report's conclusion is that our strategy has been less successful than some may have initially hoped"? No, wait, that's still too strong.
I think the most realistic thing to expect is a solid, conclusive, "I'm sorry, I don't have that information." That's about the best my government has done in the past several years, so why should I expect any better now?
Comments
Discussions for this story are now closed. Please see the Community FAQ for more information.