I did a search on this report and couldn't find any diaries.  I don't have much to add to this except that I can't figure out why the story is not getting any traction.  As far as I'm concerned:

This is huge!

One good thing that has come of the online Obama/Hillary battles is that my eyes have been opened to the fact that there are many faith-based Morans that aren't Republicans.  I swear, I can hardly tell who I'm talking to anymore - Republican trolls or Democrats from Mars.

For example, this delightful post from djia at hillaryis44:

"james carville coming on hannity at the top of the hour!!"

More on the flip.......

Not a diary - but a significant, breaking news item that merits discussion.

Via Blue Oregon:

Unfrigging believable.  

The White House has just announced that there will be no troop withdrawals until after the local elections in the Fall - which are not even yet established by the Iraqis.  A proposal was voted out of some committee last week, but it was immediately quashed by Sadr and others that want no part of local autonomy.

Apparently, the idiots were counting heavily on the local elections being passed so that they could boast of a benchmark - to the extent that they are pretending it exists, and intend to move on on over the bodies of the troops.

In addition to no troop withdrawals, Bush simultaneously erases any hope that deployments might be shortened from 15 months to 12.

I'll add other salient links to this after I publish it, but for now, here is the subject news item.  To come:  elections proposed, canceled elections, White House disappointment, Joint Chiefs desire to shorten tours, broken military.

I think I'm going to lose it.  How much longer can this go on?

In one week we will be coming up on 90-days since Bush announced the surge on January 10.  Following are his own words on what to expect and why this time things will be different.  

How are we doing?

Bush announced the surge (escalation) on January 11.  

Following are the major points of his speech - some quotes and some paraphrased - that detailed the specific goals and reasons this surge would be different from previous efforts - with my analysis of how he's doing so far:

Bush ponders $10bn New Deal to create jobs in Iraq

THE White House is expected to announce a reconstruction package for Iraq as part of a plan for a "surge" of up to 30,000 troops into Baghdad when President George W Bush unveils America’s new strategy next month.

Bush is being urged to give up to $10 billion (£5.1 billion) to Iraq as part of a "New Deal" that would create work for unemployed Iraqis, following the model of President Franklin D Roosevelt during the 1930s depression.

This is never going to work.  Our troops would be vulnerable to more peril than ever.

Breaking news on MSNBC banner.

Well, isn't that a heckuva thing to happen on the auspicious occasion of the ISG Report - one of the worst single days in the course of the so-called war.

Now that the worm has turned and everybody but Laura Bush and the family dog have acknowledged that the war is a tragic mistake - each death now takes on more significance than before.  

John McCain has already said that it was immoral to have soldiers dying in a lost cause.  

Are we going to put up with this immorality until 2009?

Help me fill in 2008 Dream Team slots of cabinet-level posts.    I sat down to do this and ran out of gas.

Yes, I know some of them are not Democrats, but my dream includes attaining some bi-partisanship, while opening up some seats in the Senate!

At the urging of a conservative friend, I checked out Redstate.com.  I registered as a user and made one mild comment to a topic before I was blocked.  Are those folks getting a little testy  - or have they always been that insecure?

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The United Nations estimates that up to 1.6 million Iraqis have left their homes for other countries in "a steady, silent exodus" as a result of the war and sectarian violence, forcing the U.N. refugee agency to announce a shift in priorities.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it plans to focus on the deteriorating humanitarian situation facing people who are fleeing, as opposed to those returning home.

Losing Pakistan

WASHINGTON - A U.S.-backed plan to defeat Islamist militants in Pakistan's autonomous tribal areas has backfired badly, and the Bush administration is working with Pakistan to come up with a new strategy to defuse the insurrection.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf "sees that what he was doing wasn't working," said one U.S. official who's familiar with the new plan. "He really has a mess."

<snip>

 

Palestinians: Parliament speaker seized

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israeli forces arrested the speaker of the Palestinian parliament at his house early Sunday, Palestinian officials said.

The officials -- the director of the speaker Abdel Aziz Duaik's office and security officers -- said about 20 Israeli army vehicles surrounded the house of Duaik, a member of Hamas, and took him into custody.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

http://tinyurl.com/...

Who's kidding who here?  

The Bushies never wanted any of the elections that were held in Iraq this year.  Their plan was to install a puppet regime led by Ahmed Chalabi and continue the occupation for years to come.  The effort to start a legitimate government was driven by Al Sistani and Shiite religious leaders such as Sadr that knew they would command a majority out of any electoral process.

Who's kidding who here?  

The Bushies never wanted any of the elections that were held in Iraq this year.  Their plan was to install a puppet regime led by Ahmed Chalabi and continue the occupation for years to come.  The effort to start a legitimate government was driven by Al Sistani and Shiite religious leaders such as Sadr that knew they would command a majority out of any electoral process.

I wish I could say I was shocked to turn on the TV today and see the President of the United States turn a Veterans' Day ceremony into a political propaganda opportunity for the war in Iraq, but that's what the day has become for many people - a convenience - perhaps a day off work or school, a 3-day weekend to put the family SUV to use, or a jump-start to the Christmas shopping season.