Poll shows majority mistrustful of upcoming Iraq report: It's been a while since I've written on Iraq, and I've found this interesting CNN story on a revealing poll:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A majority of Americans don't trust the upcoming report by the Army's top commander in Iraq on the progress of the war and even if they did, it wouldn't change their mind, according to a new poll.
President Bush frequently has asked Congress -- and the American people -- to withhold judgment on his so-called troop surge in Iraq until Gen. David Petraeus, the commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, issue their progress report in September.
But according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Thursday, 53 percent of people polled said they suspect that the military assessment of the situation will try to make it sound better than it actually is. Forty-three percent said they do trust the report.
CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said he doesn't think the mistrust is directed at Petreaus as much as it is what he represents.
Holland said, "I suspect most people are hearing the words 'general' and 'Iraq' and that's what they're basing their opinion on."
He added, "It does seem to indicate that anyone associated with the Bush administration may be a less than credible messenger for the message that there is progress being made in Iraq."
Another interesting thing about the poll, Holland said, is that it indicates that about half of those surveyed -- 47 percent -- feel that the military is making progress in Iraq, although slightly more -- 49 percent -- do not.
It would appear to me that the American public may just be a little confused about the Iraq war now. They are seeing two polar opposite sides of this war--the news reports showing that Iraqi government has failed in stabilizing the security situation and failing to achieve the benchmarks for Bush's surge, while the second side is the Bush administration's fantasy PR-spin of keeping the war going, even as the situation is getting worst. That is probably why we have this split in the survey, where half of the public thinks that the military is making progress and the other half thinks not. Of course, this is good news for the Bush White House in using the public to convince Congress into continuing to fund the war until after President Bush leaves the White House in January, 2009. The bad news here for the administration is that the public doesn't trust the upcoming Petraeus report. The Petraeus report will be written by the Bush White House, with President Bush obviously cherry-picking details to support the continued war. The Bush administration tried to push Congress to accept a closed hearing for the release of the Petraeus report, even going as far as to say that Petraeus would brief Congress in a closed session, while Secretary of State Condi Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates would provide public testimony on the report. This type of PR-manipulation shows that the administration may have something to hide in this report. It is why the American public doesn't trust the release of this report.
Gas prices could rise to $9 a gallon: That is what Nevada GOP Rep. Jon Porter is saying in the ReviewJournal.com;
WASHINGTON -- Gasoline prices could rise to about $9 per gallon if the United States withdraws troops from Iraq prematurely, Rep. Jon Porter said he was told on a trip to Iraq that ended this week.
The Nevada Republican, who returned Tuesday from his fourth trip to Iraq, met with U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Iraqi Deputy President Tariq al-Hashimi and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh.
"To a person, they said there would be genocide, gas prices in the U.S. would rise to eight or nine dollars a gallon, al-Qaida would continue its expansion, and Iran would take over that portion of the world if we leave," Porter said Wednesday in a phone interview from Las Vegas.
Porter did not elaborate on the assessment that gasoline prices could spike. His spokesman, Matt Leffingwell, said afterward that the scenario "makes sense if Iran moves into Iraq."
Porter "can't speculate directly on what is going to happen with gas prices, but the market prices for oil reflect the stability in that region," Leffingwell said.
I'm trying to understand Porter's reasoning here for his $9.00 per-gallon gas spike, but I'm stumped. Is Porter saying that if the U.S. pulls out of Iraq, then Iran will invade Iraq, causing this $9.00-a-gallon gas price increase? Or is it that if we pull out of Iraq, then Iraq will descend into civil war and ethnic genocide, thus causing the $9.00-a-gallon gas price increase? Or is it that if we pull out, then al Qaeda will take over Iraq and again will have the $9.00-a-gallon gas price increase? Sounds to me like Porter is trying to keep the U.S. in the Iraq war by spreading fear-mongering of a huge gas price spike. Which brings up this interesting question for Mr. Porter--If President Bush decides for the U.S. to attack Iran, will the resulting attack also increase the gas prices here to $9.00 per gallon?
Olbermann's Dragnet on Senator Craig--Just the facts: This is just hilarious. Countdown's Keith Olbermann recreates Senator Larry Craig's bathroom crime, Dragnet-style, using the police report. From YouTube;
Tom DeLay talks about the Larry Craig scandal on the Today Show: Tom Delay appeared on the Today Show to talk to host Matt Lauer about the Larry Craig sex scandal. Delay is a disaster here. He blames the media for a double-standard on reporting Republican scandals, but not Democratic scandals--it's the liberal media and Democrat's fault! It is pretty disgusting when DeLay opens his mouth and fills the airways with his filth. Of course, I'll also say why did the Today Show even bring on DeLay to talk about this Larry Craig scandal, when DeLay himself is embroiled in his own corruption scandal and money laundering? From YouTube;
Of course, I love Melissa McEwen's unofficial transcript of Matt Lauer's interview with Tom DeLay;
LAUER: Blah blah Republican Scandal-a-thon 2007 blah blah.
DELAY: Democrats!!! SCREEEEEECH! The media!!! SQUAWWWWWK! Double-standard! BLARRRGGGHHH!
Perfectly sums it all up.
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