Ambassador Crocker is giving us a bunch of CROCK
Crocker served up his crock in a bizarre, robotic manner that made him look like he had been put together by Disney Imagineers -- not surprising since the administration is running out of actual human beings willing to defend the war. So he gave us his lies more lies and damn lies.
Meet The Press was required viewing for anyone who cares about ending this war, because it's clear that Crocker's talking points are a preview of the spin the administration will use come September. They were trial balloons, and Democrats should start shooting them down now.
So here, courtesy of Ambassador Crocker, is a sneak peek of some of what you're going to hear in September -- and what it really means:
June 17th 2007
MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: a new Pentagon report says despite the military surge, the overall levels of violence in Iraq have not decreased. And the Iraqi leaders have made "little progress" on achieving their political goals. What now? We'll ask the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker.
Then, the debate over immigration, a pardon for Scooter Libby, and the 2008 race for the White House. Insights and analysis from E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post, Kate O'Beirne of the National Review, Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post and Byron York of the National Review.
But first, joining us from Baghdad is the United States ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker.
Mr. Ambassador, good morning and welcome.
Let me ask you about the Pentagon report that has just come out regarding the violence in Iraq. And I'll read it to you and our viewers. "No drop in Iraq violence seen since troop buildup. Three months into the new U.S. military strategy that has sent tens of thousands of additional troops into Iraq, overall levels of violence in the country have not decreased, as attacks have shifted away from Baghdad and Anbar, where American forces are concentrated, only to rise in most other provinces, according to a Pentagon report.
"The report—the first comprehensive statistical overview of the new U.S. military strategy in Iraq—says Iraqi leaders have made 'little progress' on the overarching political goals that the stepped-up security operations are intended to help advance, the report said, calling reconciliation between Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni factions 'a serious unfulfilled objective.'
"The 46-page report mandated quarterly by Congress, tempers the early optimism about the new strategy voiced by senior U.S. officials."
A U.S. commander this morning saying just 40 percent of Baghdad is now secure. Has the surge done anything in a positive way to bring us closer to the goal of a secure Baghdad?
AMB. RYAN CROCKER: I think it very much has, and the portion of the report you just cited notes that, that violence has indeed shifted away from the two areas where the surge is directed, that's Anbar and Baghdad. The success in Anbar has been quite striking as the Iraqi tribes out there have basically turned against al-Qaeda, and the level of violence in Anbar is dramatically down. The report notes that violence has shifted out of Baghdad. It is not good that we're seeing violence in other areas and there are some major challenges in the province of Diyalah to the northeast and to the belt around Baghdad, particularly to the south. General Petraeus and I talk on a more than daily basis. As you know, we've got a new offensive under way now that the, the full strength of the surge has been reached, primarily directed at al-Qaeda in the Baghdad area. So, you know, we're moving by phases here.
We've got the challenge out in Diyalah, and clearly, our forces are going to be addressing that, in coordination with Iraqi forces. But the fact that the level of violence is down in the two areas where the surge is focused, Anbar and Baghdad, I think is noteworthy. Again, we should not draw too many conclusions too quickly, either positive or negative. This has a ways to run. But it's, you know, definitely not by any means a universally negative picture.
MR. RUSSERT: But isn't it the equivalent of playing Whack-a-Mole? You whack them one place, and put your troops in, and they go to another area.
AMB. CROCKER: As, as the administration said at the beginning of this effort, the president's speech in January, Baghdad is central. It is really very difficult to imagine any meaningful political progress being made if security is not imposed in Baghdad. So just to use your own image there, what we are now positioned to do with the surge at full strength, is whack a whole lot of moles simultaneously. And that does, does have an effect. Again, not in a position to make a definitive judgment, but if we're successful in continuing to bring security to Baghdad, same time, forces are now in place to take on challenges in, in Diyalah and in the belt around Baghdad. So you progress, moving out as we get more security in Baghdad.
MR. RUSSERT: General Petraeus was quoted in the USA Today newspaper on Thursday as saying, "You'll find astonishing signs of normalcy in" "two-thirds of the city of Baghdad."
The Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, responded by saying General Petraeus "isn't in touch with what's going on in Baghdad."
AMB. CROCKER: Well, I, I worked very, very closely with General Petraeus since literally the day I arrived here at the end of March. America could not ask for a finer, more experienced and more able military leader than, than they have in General Petraeus. I have heard him give tough, clear assessments to, to the president, to congressional visitors as they come through; and you've heard him in the open media. He spends time on the ground. He's out there walking around Baghdad, and he calls it as he sees it. There are parts of the city in which life is remarkably normal. There are parts when it is far from that. He estimates that about 30 percent of, of Baghdad divides along fault lines where we've, we've really got to work with the Iraqis to try and bring stability and security. No playgrounds open in those areas. But as he has said, in other parts of the city, it's a different case.
MR. RUSSERT: Last week, the former secretary of state, Colin Powell, was on this program, and spoke about the situation in Iraq, and the military surge. Let's listen, and come back and talk about it.
(Videotape, June 10, 2007):
GEN. COLIN POWELL (RET.): It is a civil war. The current strategy to deal with it, called a surge, the military surge, our part of the surge under General Petraeus, the only thing it can do is put a heavier lid on this boiling pot of civil war stew.
And it's one thing to send over 30,000 additional troops. But if the other two legs, Iraqi political reconciliation and the buildup of the Iraqi forces, are not synchronized with that, then it's questionable as to how well it's going to be able to do, will it succeed?
(End videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: You agree?
AMB. CROCKER: It is certainly the case that the surge by itself does not fix the problem. The surge buys time for a political process to get some legs under it, buys time for what Secretary Powell describes rightly as the buildup of Iraqi security force capabilities. The Iraqis are very much in this fight, as you know. They are taking casualties at a much higher rate than, than our forces are in Baghdad and elsewhere, and in the process, clearly, clearly learning a tremendous amount about how to deal with complex security situations. How, how well and thoroughly they assimilate all this, again, we're going to have to see. But it's giving them the opportunity. And then, of course, the process of reconciliation is key, and I—and we talked about that a few minutes ago. I think there's, you know, there's frustration on some levels, an absence of progress rather clearly in the legislative arena.
On the other hand, we are seeing the leadership able to come together at a time of really grave crisis, after the Samarra bombing, and agree who the enemy is, agree what the strategy is, and agree on a way forward. So, again, it's, it's a mixed picture, by certainly by not any means a hopeless one.
MR. RUSSERT: But isn't the Maliki government upset with us for, for providing arms and munitions to Sunnis, who they believe are the enemy of their government?
AMB. CROCKER: With respect to the dealing with those in Sunni areas who have decided that al-Qaeda is the enemy and wish to support us and the Iraqi government, in Anbar, we've seen a tremendous shift. And there, of course, the strategy is that these tribes are not going to operate independently, they're forming into what are called provisional police units that are going to be linked to the central government of Iraq, both for organizational and for payroll purposes.
Now, it is an issue of concern, and the Iraqis are right to focus on it. As one moves to other areas, different conditions may dominate, and they and we will have to look very carefully at who we might be dealing with. The prime minister has ordered the formation of a—of a committee that will be chaired by a senior Iraqi government official. It's kind of going to look at these issues as they emerge, so there's a kind of a careful, coordinated process of evaluating what we're dealing with before we move too far down the road.
MR. RUSSERT: As you well know, in September you and General Petraeus will return to the United States, testify before Congress as to what the results of the military surge have been. The president has called this, "a very important moment." What do you expect will happen in September?
AMB. CROCKER: What we'll do is we will come back and jointly, we will give an honest, forthright assessment. General Petraeus will speak to security conditions, I'll be evaluating where matters stand in the political and economic arenas. It will be snapshot, obviously, but that film can't be developed until we're there in September.
The other thing I think we're going to do, because we owe it to our leadership at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, is also try to provide an assessment of what the consequences might be if, if we pursue other directions. Iraq doesn't exist in a background—in a vacuum. We have the issue of the neighbors, particularly Iran and Syria, playing distinctly unhelpful roles. We've got to consider what, what could happen, depending on the decisions that, that are made back home.
MR. RUSSERT: Does the Iraqi government know that two-thirds of the American people now say that the war was not worth the price we paid in blood and treasure, and that a majority of Americans now say we should withdraw from Iraq?
AMB. CROCKER: One thing I've noticed, Tim, being out here, is that the Iraqis are following very, very closely the political debate back home.
MR. RUSSERT: And what is their reaction?
AMB. CROCKER: Their reaction is, is that they understand American concern and frustration, that they are working to meet the, the benchmarks that have been established, and of course, they were part of the process of choosing the benchmarks—they led it, in fact, but that they hope that we understand just how complicated and difficult the situation they face is. There is nothing easy about the task in front of them, and I have certainly been struck since I've been here that the amount of commitment and effort that senior Iraqi officials have demonstrated to try and get the job done. A concern I have had is that, and both General Petraeus and I have articulated it, that there are two clocks, and the Washington clock is running a lot faster than the Baghdad clock. The effort with the benchmarks is, and the Iraqis say this very clearly, that they want to get this done. It's important to them. But they know it's also a very important way of speeding up the Baghdad clock and putting a little extra time on the—on the Washington clock.
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