Schumer on the dissembly line

Senator Charles Schumer on the surge, Sept. 5:

We've heard of success stories every six or eight months. This province, this town, this city. “They're cleared, they're safe.” And then because of the basic facts on the ground, we revert to the old situation. And let me be clear: the violence in Anbar has gone down despite the surge, not because of the surge.

The lack of protection for these tribes from al Qaeda made it clear to these tribes, “We have to fight al Qaeda ourselves.” It wasn’t that the surge brought peace here. It was that the warlords had to create a temporary peace here on their own. And that is because there was no one else there protecting them.
(Schumer Web site, senate.gov)

If that's what Schumer really believes, then he's not qualified to serve as a senator.

If nobody protects the tribes from al Qaeda, then al Qaeda kills the tribespeople--not the other way around. That's been the pattern wherever AQI holes up. The strategy represented by the surge has been underway in Anbar since before additional troops were authorized to implement the strategy in Baghdad as well. That's clear from the original surge proposal.

Al Qaeda is still active in Iraq. Its home base is Anbar Province. Al Qaeda has helped make Anbar the most violent area of Iraq outside the capital. A captured al Qaeda document describes the terrorists' plan to infiltrate and seize control of the province. This would bring al Qaeda closer to its goals of taking down Iraq's democracy, building a radical Islamic empire, and launching new attacks on the United States at home and abroad.

Our military forces in Anbar are killing and capturing al Qaeda leaders, and they are protecting the local population. Recently, local tribal leaders have begun to show their willingness to take on al Qaeda. And as a result, our commanders believe we have an opportunity to deal a serious blow to the terrorists. So I have given orders to increase American forces in Anbar Province by 4,000 troops. These troops will work with Iraqi and tribal forces to keep up the pressure on the terrorists.

(whitehouse.gov)

Those are President Bush's words from Jan. 10, 2007, when he announced the surge.

Bill Roggio, writing in Nov. 2006:

The Anbar tribes' turn against al Qaeda has developed significantly since the end of the Anbar Campaign late last year, which swept al Qaeda and the insurgency from the major towns and cities west of Ramadi. Over the past year, the majority of the tribes have denounced al Qaeda and formed alliances with the Iraqi government and U.S. forces operating in the region.
(The Long War Journal)

Strategy Page, Sept. 2006:

On the other hand, by signing up with the government, these tribal leaders will hasten the construction of government services, and gain something else just as valuable – the government's gratitude. In essence, the tribal leaders have slowly been won over by a combination of coalition perseverance and al Qaeda strategic ineptness.
(Strategy Page)

Listen to the execrable Schumer, trying to soften the insult of Sept. 5 with a fresh round of insult mixed with insincere appreciation for the effort of U.S. troops:




Amazing.

Hat tip to Hugh Hewitt and Duane Patterson at Radioblogger.com,

Obama stumbles again

Duane "Generalissimo" Patterson of the Hugh Hewitt (radio) Show and blog points to more evidence supporting my observation that Barack Obama appears to reveal his inexperience more with practically every opening of his mouth.

It has not been a good week for Barack Obama. The first term Senator of Illinois and chief thorn in the side of Hillary Clinton on her ascendance to the presidency tripped on a YouTube question in the Democratic debate a couple of nights ago by declaring that no dictator is above meeting with, regardless of the situation, raising the eyebrows of even some of the Beltway punditry. He tripped again today.

Obama found himself in the usually mundane role of Senate chair this afternoon while the Republicans used procedure to tie the Democrats in knots once again. And when put in the position to make a ruling, he gave the Democrats a short-term win, but a long-term loss on the immigration debate. He very well have given critics of his presidential campaign more fodder.
(HughHewitt.townhall.com)

Obama settled an issue in the Senate by ruling from the chair that funding for border security could not "conceivably" be germane to homeland security.

Not presidential.

Generalissimo skewers Harry Reid

Duane "Generalissimo" Patterson bounced back from his dismal performance at Hugh Hewitt's Disneyland challenge, guest-posting at Hewitt's blog with a rundown of Senator Harry Reid's abrupt about-face on Senate rules.

Quoting an excerpt doesn't do it justice, but a teaser can't hurt.

What a difference eight months make. Senator majority leader Harry Reid, still smarting from having his hat handed to him twelve hours earlier on the Senate floor by Mitch McConnell and the Republicans, opened the Friday session of the Senate by previewing coming events next week in the Senate. It was during his calendar talk on the Kennedy Student Loans and Grants Act that he noticed Utah Senator Robert Bennett also on the floor, and had this to say as an aside.
(HughHewitt.townhall.com)

Please read it all.