The Washington Post is reporting that US officials have given up in their attempts to finalize a Status of Forces agreement with the Iraqi government during the Bush Administration.  This is a major victory for the Iraqi people.  The totality of the middle finger being shown to Bush, here, should not be overlooked.

Let us compare "then" and "now."

Then (June 11, 2008):

MESEBERG, Germany, June 11-- President Bush said Wednesday he is confident the United States will reach an agreement on the role of U.S. forces in Iraq, calling opposition to a U.S. proposal part of the "noise" of a freer Iraqi society.

The Republican narrative about the current situation in Iraq is that "the Surge has worked."  The Surge, we are told, provided the security conditions which have resulted in decreased violence, a move toward relative normalcy for Iraqis, and -- ironically -- a chance for Prime Minister Maliki and the Iraqi parliament to reject US demands for a sustained occupational force in Iraq.  

We are told that the very fact that Maliki is able to demand a timetable, and to reject US demands for among other things, contractor immunity and free military reign in Iraq, is an indication of just how successful General Petraeus and President Bush's "surge" strategy has worked.  The very strategy Senator McCain had urged all along.  This shows that McCain is wiser than Obama, even if it does have the ironic effect of benefiting Obama in the election.

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki said that he wanted to implement a timetable for a US pullout from Iraq.  Yahoo news called this a Maliki Stunner.  Here is what he said:

"The current trend is to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or a memorandum of understanding to put a timetable on their withdrawal."

Maliki's people reinforced the assertion.  "Maliki and his top security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie added that Iraq intends to link even a limited accord to a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces."

This is good news.  But here is what to watch for in coming days.

You pay all these taxes but you don't want anything in return for it.  You don't want free health care.  You don't want time off of work.  You don't want anything.  You're not selfish enough.

You get mad when someone is taking welfare and sitting on their ass.  What have you got against sitting on your ass?  The whole point behind having a government and paying taxes is to have more time to sit on your ass.  That's what technology is for.  You Americans work longer than anyone, pay all these taxes, make all these robots, and then not only don't you sit on your ass, but you get mad when anyone else does.  You're fucking crazy.  

In recent weeks, bewildered Americans have been asking what the angry man on television is doing.  Speculation that he is part of a new viral ad campaign for Centrum Silver was only surpassed by rumors of a new form of performance art.

"I didn't buy the vitamin ad idea," said Oregon resident A. Brearley.  "I mean, I get that he's appearing in a lot of places and has a lot of energy, so it could be an ad for vitamins.  But in advertisements, the point is not usually to call the customer a jerk.  Actually I had no idea what it was all about," Brearley added.

So today I read Bush's remarks on the passing of Jesse Helms, and I wondered how anyone could say such wrongheaded things:

"Jesse Helms was a kind, decent, and humble man and a passionate defender of what he called "the Miracle of America." So it is fitting that this great patriot left us on the Fourth of July. He was once asked if he had any ambitions beyond the United States Senate. He replied: 'The only thing I am running for is the Kingdom of Heaven.' Today, Jesse Helms has finished the race, and we pray he finds comfort in the arms of the loving God he strove to serve throughout his life."

-- President Bush.

And now, tonight, the Washington Post has answered my question.  I should have seen it right away.

So earlier today I was reading about an upcoming election in Russia.  One of the candidates was a pilot in the Soviet  air force in the 1980s.  He flew a Sukhoi Su-25 close-support fighter in the Soviet Air Force during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  Along with 130 other Soviet fixed-wing aircraft and 333 helicopters, the candidate's Su-25 was shot down by the Afghans.

I'm not one of the resident global warming experts, or even amatures, on Daily Kos, and one of them should be writing this diary -- but this story in the UK Independent calls for a diary.

Exclusive: No ice at the North Pole

Polar scientists reveal dramatic new evidence of climate change

By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Friday, 27 June 2008

It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.

The Washington Post ombudsman today takes David Broder to task for accepting speaking fees from industry and "special interest groups."  Ken Silverstein at Harper's, who first brought Broder's moonlighting to, uh, light, today comments on the amazing and pathetic amount of flat lying Broder did in the face of the revelations.

Also today, David Broder's new column is about . . .

(Now, wait for it.)

. . . the distrust Obama will engender in Americans for taking money from small internet donors.  

Ohmygodthisisgoingtobesomuchfun!

Give me liberty or give me death.

-- Patrick Henry, 1775

You have no civil liberties if you are dead.

-- Senator Pat Roberts, (R-KS), 2006

The issue is completely straightforward.  It could not have been put more clearly by Senator Roberts.  

Congress has decided that the threat of another attack, and more dead civilians, is more important than the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States.  They are unabashed, unashamed cowards.  They believe that the American people are unabashed, unashamed cowards.  

In November 2007, President Bush and Prime Minister Maliki signed a "Declaration of Principles" without the approval of the U.S. Congress or the Iraqi Parliament.  This document outlined military and economic commitments between the two countries.

Later, this Declaration was broken into two agreements, to be ratified by July of this year.  One, the Status of Forces Agreement, concerns the military part of the Declaration and has received the most attention in the blogosphere.  The other, called the "Strategic Framework Agreement," concerned "Cultural and Economic ties", that is to say, oil.

The New York Times is tomorrow reporting that U.S. oil majors are getting back into Iraq as of June 30.  This appears to me to indicate that the second half of the Declaration is succeeding.

The Washington Post is reporting that a Senate investigation -- parts of which are expected to be made public Tuesday -- has concluded that high-ranking Pentagon officials researched "harsh interrogation techniques" including "stress positions, sleep deprivation and the hooding of detainees during questioning" and waterboarding, as early as summer 2002.  Further, the Pentagon falsely attributed the development of these techniques to requests from "commanders in the field" when in fact the techniques were initially investigated by the top officials themselves.

The New York Times has aquired a 44-page report filed in 1974 by Commander John S. McCain after his return from North Vietnam.  The document is titled "Individual Research Project: The Code of Conduct and the Vietnam Prisoners of War."  The full pdf can be found here.

The Times' story on McCain's report focuses on his suggestion that American troops be told more about U.S. foreign policy, and upon McCain's insistance on the importance of forgiveness: an issue McCain addresses briefly toward the end of the report.

There are now 128 applicants for DFA Netroots Nation Scholarships, which cover registration and hotel expenses for the Austin convention.  Applications are closed, but we can still voice support for applicants and we can still donate to the fund to help send more of the 128 to Austin!  Winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 18.

Howard Dean's Democracy for America is running the scholarship program; Originally DFA was going to be able to give 9 scholarships to folks who would not otherwise be able to make it to NN 2008.  With our help, that number is now up to at least 25.  To everyone who's donated, thank you very much!

The Iraqi Parliament has won a significant if tenuous victory in their struggle for democracy.  AFP is reporting that Prime Minister Maliki is at least temporarily conceding that he cannot ram Bush's Status of Forces Agreement through the Iraqi parliament.

Maliki says talks on Iraq-US pact deadlocked

1 hour ago

AMMAN (AFP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday that negotiations with the United States on a long-term security pact were deadlocked because of concern the deal infringes Iraqi sovereignty.

"We have reached an impasse, because when we opened these negotiations we did not realise that the US demands would so deeply affect Iraqi sovereignty . . .

This should not pass unnoticed.  McClatchy reports that Senator Obama's spokesman yesterday laid out a clearer opposition to Bush's Status of Forces Agreement than the Democratic Senate has so far done.

The point here is subtle but significant.  The Washington Post, in tomorrow's edition, is reporting that congressional lawmakers are objecting to Bush's unilateral Status of forces agreement, but have so far not directly raised the issue of Congressional ratification -- in other words, have not really challenged Bush.  But this is false.  Obama's office did, as reported by McClatchy.  In fact, Obama's position is now directly in line with the Iraqi parliament's opposition to Bush: that Bush must agree to a weakened agreement or punt to the UN, and therefore to the next US Administration, for any agreement.

I am not one for optimism in matters related to Iraq, but this appears to be an actual positive and fairly concrete sign that Obama is not messing around.

Please hit play as backround music to the essay below.

Some will tell you that I lost the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States because I didn't run.  That is defeatest talk and I will hear none of it.  Some will tell you I spent too much in the early contests and did not anticipate a 50-state campaign.  When I hear this suggestion I generally ask how the antiquing went this weekend, pansy.  

Oh, I've heard it all.  I've heard the pundits.  I've heard the man on the street.  In fact I beat the man on the street with a rolled-up newspaper -- a newspaper with a front-page story about the last time I beat a man on the street.  Some say that's why I lost Vermont.

I say: Go fuck yourself, Vermont.