The Surge and the tide turning

I was speaking to the Emperor Emeritus of The Sunshine Empire tonight and he asked about the comments of Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana. He made tacit admissions that "The Surge," which I thought was a failed energy drink, was not working. Where as most in favor of the surge of United States soldiers into Iraq had stated unequivocally that September would be long enough to judge it's effectiveness, he did not feel that we should wait that long. Senator Lugar has always been a practical Republican, and has never been among those who guzzle the neo-con Kool-Aid. Yet he's been reliable conservative that voted with Bush on matters relating to Iraq.

The real news was not his relatively mild statement, which his people assure us is not news to the White House. The news in it was how Jeff Sessions, George Voinevich, and John Warner all stated that they agreed in part. This is not a group of RINO's and had the EE thinking big. Yet Lugar and the group are not joining the Democrats in calling for an immediate withdrawal. The reality is they are simply positioning themselves for September. September will be the critical mass in this entire debacle. When the surge began, those advocating it pointed to September as a benchmark of evaluation to those weary of constant war. This has always been understood as the Hail Mary pass at the end of the game for Bush and those who sold us this. But as violence is up, U.S. deaths are up, and no end or solution is in site, General Petraeus and his puppet masters in the Administration have been backpedaling the surge into this multi-generational long term theory. Those who spoke up today understand this dodge and are positioning themselves for September. The report will come, and barring a huge change it will be more of the same. Those in the Republican party understand that this pointless war lost them the Congress, and could have them holding only the Supreme Court by January of 2009. They are all, aside from Jeff Sessions, very smart politicians and are all planning for September.