Old Fogey's Quotes for Thursday

"It wasn't as specific as that, and it was a lot more conditional."
Source close to the Iraq Study Group, referring to the proposal for troop withdrawal
Study Group to Call for Pullback
[If this is true, why did the panel bother? We have enough vague plans already floating around]

"He's the right guy for Iraq."
King George the Pathologically Loyal in an endorsement of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
Bush: Calls for Troop Drawdowns Unrealistic
[If we ever wondered if Maliki was up to the job of leading Iraq effective, this endorsement should provide the answer. The more Bush says "heck of a job," the poorer the performance of the person. Bush's strong endorsements almost read like a Hall of Shame]

"The information he receives is undoubtedly skewed by his small circle of Dawa advisers, coloring his actions and interpretation of reality. His intentions seem good when he talks with Americans. . . . But the reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action. "
Text of U.S. Security Adviser’s Iraq Memo
here
[Now I get it! Bush and Maliki are kindred souls! To reject Maliki, Bush would be rejecting himself]

". . . the Review Tribunals are precisely the sorts of kangaroo courts that the Administration's most cynical critics have long suspected to be in use behind a veil of military secrecy down on Cuba."
Seton Hall University School of Law professor Mark Denbeaux and his detainee defense attorney son, Joshua Denbeaux, in a report on Gitmo
Gitmo Justice Is a Joke
[For those of you who remember the comic strip 'Pogo,' it feels like the strip was presentient when Pogo declared, "We have met the enemy, and it is us." In the name of fighting terrorism, as before in the fight against communism, we have sacrificed constitutional provisions that we criticize our enemies for not having]