Gov. Bill Richardson has an op-ed in the WaPo this morning, and, in it, he reinforces his recent attacks on other Democratic candidates who won’t call for a complete withdrawal form Iraq: Our troops have done everything they were asked to do with courage and professionalism, but they cannot win someone else’s civil war. So [...]

I agree with NewMexiKen. Bush: “[Maliki's] learning to be a leader. And one of my jobs as the president and his ally is to help him be that leader without being patronizing. At some point in time, if I come to the conclusion that he can’t be the leader—he’s unwilling to lead or he’s deceptive—then [...]

You’ve got to be reading Kevin Drum this week. In addition to his surge report card I mentioned last week, he’s got the latest on seasonal violence (hint: it’s as bad in Iraq as ever, despite the surge) and what to expect in the coming weeks (see Smearing the GAO and Moving the Goalposts). That’s [...]

Yesterday, Heath blogged about Gov. Bill Richardson’s latest campaign tactic: calling out the leading Dem. candidates on their Iraq War positions: Richardson has thus far refrained from going negative. However, in an e-mail sent today to campaign supporters, he suggested that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have not been providing “straight answers” on [...]

The Washington Post reports today that the administration is so confident that the upcoming Patreaus news will silence critics of the U.S. mission in Iraq that it plans to ask for an additional $50 billion in funding for the venture: The request — which would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal [...]

Josh Marshall gets to the bottom of the Iraq War debate: For [Bush], this is it. He’s not bigger than this. His entire legacy as president is bound up in Iraq. Which is another way of saying that his legacy is pretty clearly an irrecoverable shambles. That is why, as the folly of the enterprise [...]

Following on the president’s recent speech, Kevin Drum notes: What’s worse, we now have a president who’s officially decided to take history lessons from Rambo. Turns out that’s not a bad assessment of the situation: In the speech, Mr. Bush sought to paint the conflict in Iraq in the broader context of American involvement in [...]

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is releasing another radio add targeting Rep. Heather Wilson (and 11 other vulnerable GOP incumbents) over Iraq. According to Election Central: A new radio ad that has just been launched by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that is set to run in the districts of 12 vulnerable Republicans. “This August [...]

Anybody who has read Atrios knows all about Friedman Units1. Well, the Center for American Progress has put together a great time line on all the Bush Co. apologists politicians, administration officials and sympathetic media-types who have said the “next X weeks/months” will show whether the U.S. is making progress in Iraq. Check it out: [...]

Allow me, for a moment, to ask one question: what in the world are Congressional Democrats doing? The decision by the Democratic majority to strip the measure of a timetable for troop withdrawal has raised the prospect that it could be approved mainly by Republicans with scattered Democrat support. The idea that many Democrats would [...]

Spotted this over at Laura Rozen’s place: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told Arab leaders on Wednesday that the American occupation of Iraq is “illegal,” and he warned that unless Arab governments settle their differences, foreign powers like the United States would continue to dictate the region’s politics. Ruh roh. From the NY Times.

Dan Froomkin at the WaPo: In stark contrast to the indecision and hesitation on Capitol Hill and among the Washington media elite, the American people have made up their mind about Iraq. They want out, and they want Congress to do something about it. According to the results of the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll, [...]