by Aamer Madhani
A cynic, or perhaps even someone with just an ounce of skepticism about how Washington works, might wager that tomorrow and Wednesday’s hearings on Capitol Hill with Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will end up providing more political theater than substantive dialogue.
All three presidential candidates will take part in Tuesday’s two hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee after spending much of the last several months outside of Washington campaigning.
Both Sens. John McCain, the ranking Republican member on the Armed Services committee, and Hillary Clinton sit on the Armed Services Committee.Sen. Barack Obama is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.
As the ranking Republican member of Armed Services, McCain will literarily be front-and-center in tomorrow morning’s action and will be second in line to speak after the committee’s chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.).
As a junior member of the Foreign Relations committee, Obama will likely be one of the last to speak at the late afternoon meeting of the panel.
But Sen. Joseph Biden, the chairman of the Foreign Relations panel, and Levin told reporters last week that they won’t pull any favors to help Obama and Clinton get prime time coverage.
Biden said that the last thing he wants to do is put up a great big sign on his hearing that says its all about presidential politics.
"The biggest mistake we could make is politicizing, making this -- looking at this in terms of political advantage -- the American people are sick of this crap,” Biden said.
“And, you know, McCain is the ranking guy, so he's going to get to speak first. And I think it's good to hear what McCain has to say. I love the idea of McCain having to explain what's going on here and why this is working so well.
Levin promised there would be no change in approach from any other Armed Services hearing.
“It will be the same kind of a hearing in tone and in substance and in seriousness on the Armed Services Committee as we had a year ago when General Petraeus was here,” Levin said.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
Comments
Questions for Petraeus and Crocker:
Why was there never an exit strategy for Iraq?
Over five years ago, what was the plan to keep troops safe while they were to evacuate Iraq?
Why was the Iraqi army disbanded when Bush said it was a goal of the US for Iraq to be self-sufficient?
Why the largest and most costly (3/4 billion dollars?) US embassy built in Iraq?
Where is the money from the Iraq oil profits going?
Is Iraq paying to build their own infrastructure?
What companies of any nation are involved in any way with Iraqi oil?
There are more private contractors in Iraq than troops. How much of the 12 billion+ US dollars per month is going to the mercenaries, and how much is going to the troops?
Why do you say, the surge is working when the British wanted to leave, and now can not leave due to the rising violence?
Do you think General Fallon was wrong? Why?
Do you think you are smarter than General Fallon?
Do you think Bush is?
Posted by: Vivian | April 7, 2008 1:59 PM
Apart from its tragic human toll, the Iraq War will be staggeringly expensive in financial terms. This sobering study by Nobel Prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda J. Bilmes casts a spotlight on expense items that have been hidden from the U.S. taxpayer, including not only big-ticket items like replacing military equipment (being used up at six times the peacetime rate) but also the cost of caring for thousands of wounded veterans—for the rest of their lives. Shifting to a global focus, the authors investigate the cost in lives and economic damage within Iraq and the region. Finally, with the chilling precision of an actuary, the authors measure what the U.S. taxpayer's money would have produced if instead it had been invested in the further growth of the U.S. economy. Written in language as simple as the details are disturbing, this book will forever change the way we think about the war.
About the Author
Winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, Joseph E. Stiglitz of Columbia University is the author of Making Globalization Work and Globalization and Its Discontents. Linda J. Bilmes, a professor of public finance at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, is a former assistant secretary for management and budget in the U.S. Department of Commerce.
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Trillion-Dollar-War-Conflict/dp/0393067017
Posted by: Logic Prisoner | April 7, 2008 3:10 PM
McCain gets schooled!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajm5JTf7jZs
Posted by: McBush Family Value$ | April 7, 2008 9:12 PM
“And, you know, McCain is the ranking guy, so he's going to get to speak first. And I think it's good to hear what McCain has to say. I love the idea of McCain having to explain what's going on here and why this is working so well."
I want to hear that too. I want all Americans to hear how delusional McCain is. What little I heard of his veterans speach leads me to believe he will be revealed for what he is. A has been. Thanks for your service John, but I think it's time for some new ideas from smarter people. He is the new voice of a failed policy that has sunk into an absolute quagmire. I pray for my battered and dead comrades in arms. You will not be forgotten!
Posted by: Bring Them Home | April 7, 2008 10:55 PM
...and that money making machine, formerly known as Iraq, is making more money than ever. How's that for helping the economy?!!! Those Republicans sure know how to write a success story, don't they?!! "Bring 'em on!!!"
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | April 8, 2008 2:49 AM