Zen and the targeting of John Murtha

Slow bleed, indeed! This is how the GOP debates the surge? Good work, Phaedrus! A high 10 to you, a 12 to Murtha!

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The Washington Post reported last week that the Army, which has suffered the largest number of fatalities, began the Iraq war in 2003 with an estimated $56-billion shortage of equipment - including advanced Humvees equipped with armor kits designed to reduce troop deaths from roadside bombs.

Well, guess what? Nearly four years later, the Army, the Marine Corps and the National Guard still do not have an adequate number of Humvees equipped with the needed FRAG Kit 5 armor manufactured with more flexible materials that slow projectiles and contain debris, thus causing fewer deaths.

Is this support of our troops?

Pentagon brass and the president have known about these shortages from the beginning. And, while saber rattling, they have known all along that serious shortages of the new armor have been responsible, directly and indirectly, for hundreds of U.S. deaths.

Is this support of our troops?

It is not. Yet the president remains hell-bent on a surge of thousands of troops into Iraq. An Army spokesman said that while thousands of additional troops will be deployed to Baghdad by the end of March, the armor upgrade of Humvees there will not be completed until summer. Even now, we are seeing a U.S. escalation of street patrols in Baghdad.

Have to agree with your illusion, Tom-Tom.  It's truly sad that this war has become a political football rather than an effort that pulls Americans together.

Personally, I'd like to see a vote on a defunding bill calling for an orderly withdrawal a la Murtha's original redeployment suggestion.  Would you?

However, political reality dictates the Slow Bleed and I congratulate the House Democrats for taking the first step.  Do you, Tom-Tom?

Furthermore, political reality leads me to condemn every Republican who places party solidarity above the wishes of the voters and the lives of our troops.  Agree, Tom-Tom?

Secondary and tertiary issues aren't distractions if they add to the case of Bush's self-serving incompetence.  The power of the GOP accusation that defunding doesn't support the troops is eroded by exposure of the way the Bush war-machine has NOT supported the troops.

Rest assured, the Slow Bleed grinds toward defunding with Madame Speaker holding the ball!!

Tom-Tom,

RE: But Bush's incompetence is no secret.

Your cynical drumbeat clearly shows you believe this.  I don't. 

Democratic attacks, once dismissed with Republican bumper-sticker slogans, are now being validated.  With enough exposure of Bush's high crimes and misdemeanors, it may begin to sink into the consciousness of the American Idol/Britney Spears/Anna Nicole Smith fans that while they were watching TV, someone stole their America.  Hell, even the BAA Boy can't remember if it's Cut and Run or who the enemy in Iraq is.

The truth's just background pump-priming anyway. 

Yeah, pump-priming, Tom-Tom! That metaphor too obscure for ya? Prime that pump of public opinion, flood that playingfield with truth, make it so slippery that Bush can't even get to the ball while the Democrats struggle toward the goal line.

Yeah, it's double-dog-dangerous, Tom-Tom. But, from where I stand, the Democrats and the truth are the ONLY hope I see for preventing an attack on Iran and for wrapping up our occupation of Iraq. 

Bush ahead in the backstretch?  Your binocs must be more powerful than mine, Tom-Tom.  Last I saw of 'im, he was in the far turn, headed for the outside rail, because a reporter questioned the truth of his intel on those Iranian weapons that showed up in Iraq. 

If it’s gonna be a political game, it’s gonna be a political game. Not much we can do, is there? If you’re so risk averse that you can’t stand to follow it, Tom-Tom, that’s your problem! Don’t make it mine - I’ll cheer for every degree of sanity we gain! 

BTW: Last month, in the runup to Bush’s announcement of his escalation, the WH had a background briefing wherein the issue of benchmarks for measuring the efficacy of the surge were discussed:

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, here's -- but you're going to have to -- you're going to have some opportunities to judge very quickly. The Iraqis are going to have three brigades within Baghdad within a little more than a month. They have committed to trying to get one brigade in, I think, by the first of February, and two more by the 15th.