Maine: Iraq

Our youngest is three, and we have learned from his older brother and sister that you don't stop asking questions with his first answer, but keep asking until his answers agree, more or less, with the evidence at hand.

Have any of the people trying to get to the bottom of the Big Shitpile reared their own children, or was that done by the nannies they hired and forgot to pay taxes on? Because what I've been watching since last summer is very much like watching a parent that doesn't have a clue how to deal with a three year old.

Except, of course, my three year old isn't going to bankrupt the world.

Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films has produced this new film, Afghanistan + More Troops = Catastrophe:

There is more at Rethink Afghanistan:

President Obama has committed 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan. This decision raises serious questions about troops, costs, overall mission, and exit strategy. Historically, it has been Congress' duty to ask questions in the form of oversight hearings that challenge policymakers, examine military spending, and educate the public. After witnessing the absence of oversight regarding the Iraq war, we must insist Congress hold hearings on Afghanistan.

Here is the complete prepared text of President Obama's speech to the Joint Session of Congress (my thanks to Jesse Lee of the White House staff):
Madame Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, and the First Lady of the United States:

I've come here tonight not only to address the distinguished men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us here.

I know that for many Americans watching right now, the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others.  And rightly so.  If you haven't been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has - a friend; a neighbor; a member of your family.

The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation today issued this paper on how President Obama can withdraw our troops from Iraq by December 2011, with most withdrawn by July 2010:
This paper outlines how the President can responsibly execute his policy of removing U.S. combat forces from Iraq within 16 months. It proposes a workable U.S. redeployment schedule that would result in 100,000 total U.S. troops remaining in Iraq by the end of 2009; 35,000 to 65,000 support troops remaining in Iraq by July 2010, when the President's 16-month timetable would end if it is initiated in April 2009; and less than 1,000 troops remaining by December 2011, when the U.