From Talking Points Memo comes this story, courtesy of the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
WASHINGTON — Gasoline prices could rise to about $9 per gallon if the United States withdraws troops from Iraq prematurely, Rep. Jon Porter said he was told on a trip to Iraq that ended this week.
The Nevada Republican, who returned Tuesday from his fourth trip to Iraq, met with U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Iraqi Deputy President Tariq al-Hashimi and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh.
“To a person, they said there would be genocide, gas prices in the U.S. would rise to eight or nine dollars a gallon, al-Qaida would continue its expansion, and Iran would take over that portion of the world if we leave,” Porter said Wednesday in a phone interview from Las Vegas.
Umm…excuse me?
Where is this guy getting his info? As Josh points out, who’s got the oil price analysis credentials in that group? (Easy answer: the same magic 8 ball with the surge results.)
The article continues, but the writers aren’t buying it:
Porter did not elaborate on the assessment that gasoline prices could spike. His spokesman, Matt Leffingwell, said afterward that the scenario “makes sense if Iran moves into Iraq.”
Porter “can’t speculate directly on what is going to happen with gas prices, but the market prices for oil reflect the stability in that region,” Leffingwell said.
Sure, and then Iran will come in with their giant killer robots and take all of Iraq’s schoolgirls. This is the kind of garbage that we’ll have to put up with for the rest of Bush’s term. Every argument that logical, intelligent people make against staying gets turned on its head and used as an argument for why we can never, ever, ever, leave.
A war with Iran would surely “reflect on the stability in the region” with gas prices of 8 or 9 dollars a gallon too, but of course we see arguments all the time from the neocrazies that we have to bomb Iran to keep Israel from getting nuked. Hell, the neocrazies believe we are at a de facto state of war with Iran already.
Got that? We can’t leave Iraq because of 8 or 9 dollar a gallon gas and genocide and AQ would gain more power, which of course is completely the opposite of what would happen if we stayed in Iraq long enough to foment a war with Iran.
Makes perfect sense.
Petraeus and Crocker offered a “blunt” assessment of the situation, Porter said.
Although Petraeus did not discuss the much anticipated Iraq status report he plans to release in September, Porter said the general told him the U.S. troop surge was working.
But Porter stopped short of saying he would support Petraeus’ report.
Of course, because that Petraeus White House report hasn’t been written yet. Nope. And the surge is working, except for, you know, the Pentagon hedging its bets on publicly saying the surge actually working.
“This was not unlike my trip there in January. I saw a lot of successes, and I noticed substantial improvement in Baghdad,” said Porter, who has traveled to Iraq three times in the past 18 months.
Funny that the article mentions the numbers 3 and 18. Because 3 of 18 is what the Iraqi government is batting so far even after the surge was supposed to give them the room to meet all of them.
As lawmakers warm up for a renewal of the Iraq war debate in the fall, Porter accused Democrats of failing to offer solutions to the war and avoiding a debate on the ramifications of withdrawal.
That’s because debating the solution (leaving Iraq) is shouted down as unpatriotic at best and treasonous at worst. There’s no debate because the debate itself kills Americans, according to the GOP. The very idea of us considering anything other than total war weakens our effort to win, therefore it is not debated. And really, the Democrats are just as responsible for giving into that idiotic argument…most of the time. Not this time.
He said that some Democratic organizations, including the Searchlight Leadership Fund operated by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., have funded anti-war groups. The Searchlight Leadership Fund made $5,000 donations to VoteVets.Org in 2006 and again earlier this year, according to federal records.
“They’re entitled to their opinion, but they ought to be honest with Nevadans about where they’re getting their money,” Porter said of the anti-war organizations.
But here’s the funny thing: the Dems are fighting back against this kind of stupidity. Yes, look how horrible it is for Senators who are opposed to the war to give money to groups trying to oppose the war! It’s not like Americans are…opposed to the war.
Some 3rd Bass, from the Cactus Album. Old school.
A grin shows a trick up a sleeve,
What a tangled web they weave
Deceivers, stupefied through fable
say Let’s Make a Deal at the dinner table
Put you on tour, put your record on wax…
Give em the Gas Face on this gas price bullshit, Dems.
Reid spokesman Jon Summers said Porter is not “fully up to speed” with the Senate’s actions on Iraq.
“Democrats have put forward a number of solutions to change course in Iraq, but Republican obstructionists continue to throw up roadblocks,” Summers said. As for Democrats funding anti-war groups, “did (Porter) happen to mention the Republican organizations that are funding pro-war groups?”
Ka-chow.
A Gas Face, can either be a smile or a smirk
When appears, a monkey wrench to work one’s clockwork
Perkin his brim to the rim of my cup
Don’t tempt me, you’re empty, so fill’er up!
Democrats claim that organizations defending President Bush’s war strategy, such as Vets for Freedom or the newly formed Freedom’s Watch, are fronts linked to the Bush administration whose aim is to attack Democrats and boost GOP fortunes in Congress.
Reps. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., and Jim Moran, D-Va., joined Porter on the taxpayer-funded trip, which began Aug. 23 and included stops in Kuwait and Baghdad.
Never a magician if I ever tricked em
“Oh shit!” Another Gas Face victim!
Now, this is the kind of fighting back against the Noise Machine we need to see more often…and I’m damn glad to see it in the article instead of a “correction” or “reponse” three days later and 12 pages deep into the news section.
In the end, the truth just makes the GOP look stupid.