by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Ali Frick, and Benjamin Armbruster

IRAQ

Interpreting McCain's 100 Years

During a New Hampshire townhall meeting on Jan. 3, an audience member started to ask Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) how long he expected troops to stay in Iraq, saying, "President Bush has talked about staying in Iraq for 50 years," but McCain cut him off. "Make it a hundred," McCain replied. "That'd be fine with me, as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, that's fine with me." McCain continued later, "excitedly declaring that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 'a thousand years' or 'a million years,' as far as he was concerned." Now McCain is decrying critics for supposedly taking his comments out of context -- even as he stands by his call for an indefinite occupation of Iraq. Yesterday, McCain accused Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) -- who criticized McCain's 100-year framework -- of displaying "a fundamental misunderstanding of history and how we've maintained national security." McCain claimed that Obama is trying to "swindle voters" with "dishonest smears" by repeating McCain's comments. Some journalists have compared it to Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) infamous 2004 remark about voting for war funding "before I voted against it." Both characterizations are misleading. There is nothing "dishonest" about Obama saying, as he did yesterday, that McCain "wants to keep tens of thousands of United States troops in Iraq for as long as 100 years." And unlike Kerry's misspoken statement, McCain repeatedly and constantly evokes the long-term occupations of Korea, Japan, Germany, or Kuwait when discussing Iraq.

KOREA FLIP FLOP: Although McCain is now fond of using South Korea as a model for the Iraq occupation, he hads rejected such a framework as recently as last November. At that time, PBS host Charlie Rose asked the senator whether he thought "South Korea is an analogy of where Iraq might be...over the next, say, 20, 25 years," to which McCain replied, "I don't think so." Rose followed, "Even if there are no casualties?" McCain repeated "no," adding that because of "the religious aspects of it [Iraq] that America eventually withdraws." Just two months later, however, McCain emphasized that as long as there are no casualties, he wouldn't mind staying in Iraq for "one hundred years, one thousand years, ten thousand years or until the earth collapses under global climate change." McCain is now fully embracing the Korea model, remarking just yesterday, "We fought a war with Japan and Germany. Afterwards we maintained a military presence there, which we are doing today. We fought a war in Korea, we maintained a military presence in Korea, which we are doing to this day. The first Gulf War, we threw Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, and we have a military presence there to this day." But as McCain himself seemed to recognize just a few months ago when talking to Rose, sectarian Iraq presents a very different situation than relatively ethnically- and religiously-homogeneous South Korea or Kuwait.

RIGHT WING RUSHES TO McCAIN'S DEFENSE: Yesterday, MSNBC's Chuck Todd wrote that "not a day has gone by recently" without an aggressive pushback from conservatives on McCain's 100 years comment: "[T]hey are trying very hard to put the toothpaste back into the tube. They are petrified that it becomes the one thing everyone thinks they know about McCain and Iraq." Those on the far right are embracing McCain's vision for a permanent occupation. Recently, former White House adviser Karl Rove explained with approval that McCain was talking about "the projection of American power to maintain stability in a dangerous and difficult part of the world." New York Times columinist Bill Kristol praised the senator for choosing "to tell Americans the hard and unpopular truths that we'll be there [in Iraq] for a while." Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer echoed that sentiment, saying that McCain's permanent occupation creates an Iraq from which the United States "projects power and provides stability for the entire Gulf." But the Wonk Room's Matt Duss pointed out, "It's Charles Krauthammer who doesn't get that Kuwait is not Iraq, and that if we'd spent years bombing their country and kicking down their doors in the middle of the night, the Kuwaitis would want us to leave, just as the Iraqis do. ... [A]ny Iraqi government that agrees to a hundred-year U.S. presence in Iraq will never be seen as legitimate by the Iraqi people, and thus will require the presence of U.S. forces to ensure its government."

100 YEARS STARTING WHEN?: McCain's dissembling about his vision of an Iraq occupation shows how little he understands about the region and the Iraq war. Recently, McCain rejected the very question of "how long we stay there" as "a false argument," because "it's not a matter of American troop presence, it's a matter of American casualties." McCain insists his 100-year troop presence would begin only after American casualties have ended. He told Fox News's Sean Hannity, "This war will be won if we stay with it and then it's just a question of American presence," adding, "I haven't seen anyone demonstrate against troops in Kuwait. It's American success." McCain's logic is woefully muddled. Last month, McCain reassured a townhall audience that "the war will be over soon," though he added quickly, "although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years."

IMMIGRATION -- BUSH ADMINISTRATION BYPASSES ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS TO BUILD BORDER FENCE: Homeland Security officials announced yestday that they will use waivers "to bypass more than 30 federal and state laws to finish building 670 miles of fence along the southwest U.S. border" by the end of 2008. In doing so, the administration will "sidestep environmental laws that currently impede the Homeland Security Department from building" the fence, constituting the "biggest use of legal waivers" since the administration started construction. Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said that yesterday's "waiver represents an extreme abuse of authority." Environmental groups and even President Bush's Interior Department have "raised objections to some fencing" over the possibility it could threaten "endangered species and fragile ecosystems along the Rio Grande." The Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife have asked the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of the Bush administration's waiving of "any and all laws it views as inconvenient in its rush to build an unpopular, ineffective border wall." IRAQ -- CIVILIAN CASUALTIES AND ATTACKS ON U.S. FORCES INCREASE: According to figures compiled by the Iraqi government's interior, defense and health minitries, "[a] total of 923 civilians were killed in March, up 31 percent from February and the deadliest month since August 2007."  The recent clashes between Shi'ite militias and Iraqi and coalition security forces are partly responsible as "[h]undreds of people were killed and many more wounded in last week's fighting" in Basra. At the same time, "[a]ttacks against U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces soared across Baghdad in the last week of March to the highest levels since the deployment of additional U.S. troops" in Iraq and "reached full strength last June, according to U.S. military data and analysis." Of the 728 attacks on U.S. forces since the Iraqi military launched the offensive in Basra last week, 60 percent occurred in Baghdad. While "surge" architect and American Enterprise Institute "military analyst" Frederick Kagan recently said "the situation in Iraq today is, I think, not that fragile," U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith said the recent fighting in Basra and Baghdad "shows the tenuous nature of security, which is something we've been stressing for some time now."  ECONOMY: STIGLITZ SAYS PAULSON IS 'WRONG,' ATTRIBUTES ECONOMIC CRISIS TO REGULATORY FAILURES: This week, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson proposed a shake-up of financial regulations, a plan that had its "genesis in a yearlong effort to limit Washington's role in the market." The administration's proposed new oversight, however, "would have a light touch, enabling the government to do little beyond collecting information -- except in times of crisis," the New York Times observed. On Monday, Paulson defended this hands-off regulatory approach. "I do not believe it is fair or accurate to blame our regulatory structure for the current turmoil," he said. "I am not suggesting that more regulation is the answer." In contrast, Monday on CNN, Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz sharply disagreed with Paulson, stating that the regulatory failures were indeed to blame for our current situation: "He [Paulson] is wrong, it is a failure of regulation.. ... [T]hat's why you have regulations. You just don't build better hospitals. You try to stop the diseases before they lead you to be in the hospital." Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) argued that Paulson's proposal reflected misplaced priorities, a "failure to utilize the regulatory tools" such as the Home Owners Protection Act 1994 that could have prevented the current housing crisis.

In 2003, the Justice Department issued a legal memo "asserting that federal laws prohibiting assault, maiming and other crimes did not apply to military interrogators who questioned al-Qaeda captives because the president's ultimate authority as commander in chief overrode such statutes." Former Justice Department lawyer Marty Lederman says the memo "effectively gave the Pentagon the green light to disregard statutory limits on torture" and "maltreatment." Approximately one-third of U.S. soldiers "in hard-to-reach outposts in Iraq and Afghanistan lack timely access to mental health care, according to Pentagon officials and a recent survey." In Afghanistan, for example, "it can take an average of 40 hours for a psychologist to visit soldiers." A new BBC World Service poll finds that the U.S. image abroad "has begun to improve after worsening for years, but the United States is still viewed more negatively than the European Union, Brazil, China, India and Russia." According to the new survey, 35 percent of the world believes the United States has a positive influence, but 47 percent still believe its influence is negative. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, Army vice chief of staff Gen. Richard A. Cody said the 30,000-plus troop increase in Iraq and Afghanistan is "inflicting 'incredible stress' on soldiers and families and posing" a significant risk to the nation's all-volunteer military." Six months after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced phased withdrawal from Iraq, "his defense secretary announced on Tuesday that the reduction had been postponed" after recent violence in Basra. The U.K. will maintain about 4,000 troops outside Basra instead of 2,500. "The Pentagon is expected to shut a controversial intelligence office," known as the Counterintelligence Field Activity office, which has been described by critics as "part of an effort by the Defense Department to expand into domestic spying." In 2005, it was revealed that the office managed a database "that included information about antiwar protests planned at churches, schools and Quaker meeting halls." Intelligence centers run by states called "fusion centers" have access “to personal information about millions of Americans, including unlisted cellphone numbers, insurance claims, driver's license photographs and credit reports." The centers were created after the 9/11 attacks. Lawmakers urged Exxon Mobil yesterday to invest more in alternative energy, beyond its $100 million for research at Stanford University. "Does the oil fairy have to show up? ... When are you going to put some real money into it?" said Jay Inslee (D-WA). And finally: Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee's telecommunications subcommittee held a hearing on "online virtual worlds." The hearing was also broadcast online in Second Life, where several avatars -- including a pink cat, winged grasshopper, and "a naked man floating through the air" -- were allowed to participate. Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) noted that his avatar -- named EdMarkey Alter -- looked "like he's been working out." The guest avatars also "kept up a virtual dialogue," adding comments such as "smile," "wave," "hooo!" and "hahahaha."

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The Senate is edging closer to a bipartisan housing bill that would "patch up the country's tattered housing industry" after a "surprise breakthrough Tuesday on the top issue facing Congress."

ARIZONA: "The domestic partners of state employees, gay or straight, will be eligible for health coverage and other benefits under a plan approved Tuesday by a state oversight panel."

NEW YORK: After Earth Day on April 22, plastic bags will no longer be a choice in New York City's Whole Foods stores.

SOUTH DAKOTA: "Abortion opponents rolled three safes stuffed with signed petitions into the state Capitol Monday" in an effort to ban most abortions.

THINK PROGRESS: Bush administration manipulates Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell as their top intelligence lobbyist.

WONK ROOM: The castor oil caucus: Ecrasez l'entitlements!

WAL-MART WATCH: Wal-Mart bows to public pressure, drops lawsuit against brain-damaged employee.

WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT: The latest Iraq National Intelligence Estimate will not be released publicly ahead of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker's testimony next week.

"Illegal migrants really degrade the environment."
-- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, 10/1/07

VERSUS

"In an aggressive move to finish 670 miles of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of the year, the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday announced plans to waive federal and state environmental laws."
-- LA Times, 4/2/08