Tidbits from Clark on CNN/Washington Week today/night... [View All]

Clark was on Inside Politics and had two good areas of discussion:

First, he really gave a very informative answer about why the generals say one thing and the senators say another, vis a vis troop levels. Makes a lot of sense! Never thought about how "one" multiplies into MANY more in terms of support personnel, etc.

The other thing about how Clark said that the "groundwork" is being laid for a "change." He really focussed on the "buildup" idea....not the alternative of leaving. I got the feeling he thinks they want to commit more troops, we don't have many....so.....he was being very "non-out on a limb" about it....but it makes me think about Hagel saying a few days ago that a draft might be needed....

Fast forward to what USED to be a great news panel show.....

Then, on Washington Week in Review, which I happened to be clicking by,
I caught a comment from a new "unknown" face reminding us all that a poll is saying that "55% of the Iraqi people feel things are going in the right direction" in Iraq...and this "reporter" beamed and repeated that things are "trending" in the right direction. The impressed with himself Doyle McManus of the LA Times then said that the Administration is "cautiously optimistic" because the Shiites are all on board for the election, so if they can get a few of the "rebellious" Sunnis to say nice things about it, then Iraq will be on a new track after the elections.

MMM..this flies in the face of a recent report I read that opined that the post-election period would be perhaps even more dangerous...because if the Shiites are the winners (which they will be), the various factions will have many things to complain about and things could escalate. Which sounds logical to me....