“Time for the Iraqis to step up to the plate”

[omega minimo]

Time for the Iraqis to step up to the plate

There is no plate
The plate is gone
The spoon is gone
The food is gone
The hand is gone
The table is gone
The neighbors are gone
The mind is gone
The roof is gone
The taste is gone
The boy is gone
The girl’s arm is gone
The tears are gone
The eyes are gone
The road is gone
The hope is gone
The seasons are gone
The memories are gone
The reasons are gone
The water is gone
The future is gone
The songs are gone
The store is gone
The school is gone
The lights are gone
The “football$” are gone
The screaming is gone
The dreams are gone
The doctor is gone
The past is gone
The urgency is gone
The cradle is gone
The oil is gone
The blood is gone
The treasure is gone
The bridge is gone
The children are gone
The future is gone
The children are gone
The future is gone
The sky is gone.




REP. JOHN TANNER:
General Petraeus himself has said that there is no military solution. This timeline business that's caused us so much consternation around here is the one tool that will make the Iraqis STEP UP TO THE PLATE.
<snip>
REP. JOHN TANNER:
And, so, Tom Friedman, as you may recall, said that this timeline would be the best instrument that General Petraeus could have to MAKE THE IRAQUIS STEP UP TO THE PLATE now, after four years. I mean, you can only put a square peg in a round hole -- or try to -- for so long.

REP. JOHN TANNER:
I have come to the conclusion that IT’S TIME FOR THEM TO STEP UP. I am past the point of asking young military families in this country to continue to die and the American taxpayers to spend $2.5 billion a week in Iraq to help people who are seemingly unwilling or unable to get along. And, while they're shooting at each other, both sides are shooting at us.

House Opens Debate Over War Funding, Troop Withdrawal
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june07/wardebate_03-22.html
The House of Representatives on Thursday began debating a supplemental spending bill that would require U.S. troops to leave Iraq by September 2008. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.) debate the funding measure and its potential impact on the Iraq war.

Fewer Options for Iraqi Refugees as Crisis Grows
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/middle_east/iraq/jan-june07/refugees_03-21.html

For Omar Fekeiki, a journalism graduate student from Baghdad, the security and calm of life at his university in Berkeley, Calif., can be unnerving.

"I don't know how to act or live in a safe community," said Fekeiki, who moved to the United States on a student visa in August 2006. "That is not real life for me, it's like I'm in a dream and it's taking too long."

He is a world away from his life in Baghdad. Last summer, after receiving multiple death threats, he escaped to Amman, Jordan, to wait for his U.S. visa, leaving his family and homeland. Fekeiki believes he was targeted because he is a journalist and was working for the Washington Post.

"I always tell people that if I leave Iraq I will be dead and I won't be alive until I go back. That is how I feel now," he said.

[ComerPerro]

1. yeah, after all, they asked us to liberate them. Oh, they didn't? Hmmm....

its disgusting that Republicans are blaming Iraqis for this mess.

They accused us of being "Anyone but Bush" in 2004?

Maybe so.

But they are pathetic. Their platform is "BLAME anyone but Bush"

[rodeodance]

2. Tanner is a Dem

[ComerPerro]

3. regardless, its been a Repig talking point for years

[omega minimo]

4. Unfortunately

Tanner's a Dem from Tenn.

And unfortunately, chuckleheaded sports metaphors are used by all.

Tonight I found this one esp...... disengaged.

[ComerPerro]

5. hey, here in Amurika we love us some sports metaphors.

[omega minimo]

6. lol

:spray: thank CP :toast:

[ComerPerro]

7. your thread was sinking, I had to do something. down by two touchdowns and.... damn!

doing it again!

[omega minimo]

10. Hike!

:toast:

[Jcrowley]

8. Gone

K&R

War crimes. And amerika sleeps.

[omega minimo]

9. Yup

I wasn't plugged into all the goings-on today.

Hearing that progressive Dems were being strong-armed and seeing the disengaged, unconscious arrogance of another Hill a$$hole saying "step up to the plate" was striking.

[omega minimo]

11. Obey: "a product" that "sends a message to the Iraqis that we won't continue BABYSITTING"

:evilfrown:

The arrogance, lack of urgency, insulting locker-room posturing and disengagement of Congress is truly underwhelming.

[Jacobin]

12. 'babysitting'

I'm thinking they've had quite enough of that day care center called Abu Graihb

[omega minimo]

13. Ah Jacobin, there's no smilie for

:cleverspotondrywitheartbreaking: It's beyond "irony........"