The Iraq Unraveling (video, and Colin Powell turns on Bush policy)

[ProSense]

The Iraq Unraveling

Former General Colin Powell blasted the Bush administration's "stay the course" catastrophe in Iraq today.

Video

Watch the Ware video. It's worse than we are being told.

"Only the Iraqi people can resolve this," Powell said.

U.S. troops have to stay in Iraq for "some time," he said. "But there is a limit to the patience of the American people."

Powell was the featured speaker at this year's distinguished Carlson Lecture at the University of Minnesota.

In Iraq, "staying the course isn't good enough because a course has to have an end," Powell said. ...

Powell: Staying course in Iraq isn't enough

There is also the case of bloody Baghdad.

According to Juan Cole, 21 U.S. soldiers have been killed since Saturday, with 8 killed yesterday alone.

Snip...

It's very clear that as George W. Bush heads into categorically undeniable lame duck status that his desire to actually do anything about Iraq will become less and less. He's said before that he's going to hand it off to the next presidents, plural, meaning that it will take more than two administrations to get the job done. This puts Joe Lieberman Democrats in a difficult position, as Ned Lamont (h/t) said today.

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[ProSense]

1. Republican lawmaker calls for Rumsfeld to resign

Republican lawmaker calls for Rumsfeld to resign

Associated Press

Published October 4 2006

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Rep. Chris Shays, who is facing a tough challenge from an anti-war Democrat, on Wednesday called for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign - a rare demand from a longtime Republican.

The Connecticut lawmaker also accused officials at the Defense Department of withholding information about the Iraq war from Congress.

"I am losing faith in how we are fighting this war," Shays, a longtime supporter of the conflict, said in an interview. "I believe we have to motivate the Iraqis to do more."

Shays, who was elected in 1987, said defense officials stopped cooperating with his congressional subcommittee after he proposed setting a timeline for troop withdrawals. Shays, who had previously opposed such a timeline, offered the plan in August following his 14th trip to Iraq since the war began.

Rumsfeld "simply is refusing to cooperate with a committee that oversees the Department of Defense," Shays said. "To me he has crossed the line."

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[young_at_heart]

2. Maybe it will be just Laura and Barney

Hard to believe our leader would be willing to sacrifice so many because he can't say he made a mistake. Then again, I guess he doesn't think he did make a mistake!

[ProSense]

3. Rice makes surprise visit to Iraq

Rice makes surprise visit to Iraq

By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer
1 hour, 17 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, making an election-season visit to Iraq, said Thursday she will tell its leaders they have limited time to settle political differences spurring sectarian and insurgent violence.

"They don't have time for endless debate of these issues," Rice said during a news conference aboard her plane. "They have really got to move forward. That is one of the messages that I'll take, but it will also be a message of support and what can we do to help."

Rice said Iraqis must resolve for themselves complex problems such as the division of oil wealth, possible changes to the national constitution and the desire for greater autonomy in various regions of the country.

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The conflict, now in its fourth year, has claimed the lives of more than 2,700 American troops and cost more than $300 billion.

There may also be a political cost for Rice's Republican Party. With less than five weeks left before congressional elections, new polls show Americans are increasingly unhappy with the war in Iraq and President Bush's leadership.

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