Anniversaries

We're coming up on the Fourth Anniversary of "Mission Accomplished".

But there are, as ever in disastrous clusterfucks, other non-heroic non-heroes to commemorate as others suffer the consequence of their non-heroism.

This is approximately, the second anniversary of this:

Let us reflect on what passed for the wisdom of Rich Lowry at that time:

It is time to say it unequivocally: We are winning in Iraq.

If current trends continue, our counter-insurgent campaign in Iraq will be fit to be mentioned in the same breath as the British victory over a Communist insurgency in Malaysia in the 1950s, a textbook example of this form of war. Our counterinsurgency has gone through the same stages as that of the Brits five decades ago: confusion in the initial reaction to the insurgency, followed by a long period of adjustment, and finally the slow but steady erosion of the insurgency's military and political base. Even as there has been a steady diet of bad news about Iraq in the media over the last year, even as some hawks have bailed on the war in despair, even as Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has become everyone's whipping boy, the U.S. military has been regaining the strategic upper hand.

That was Rich Lowry, who if he was paid at all, IS VASTLY OVERPAID, then.

I make no claims to even above-average intelligence. I'm just some guy in Iowa that Brian Williams sneers at. I do this blog at its actual retail value -- I let the market decide, and the market clearly hates my fucking guts. Consequently this blog makes me, literally dozens of dollars a year! Yet, I bet the loss-leader in conservative publications grosses (and I mean grosses) Rich Lowry in the low six-figures.

Yet, look at my wisdom in April 2005 in comparison:

Sadly, given their track record, a bloodier Civil War is all but guaranteed.

And what has Rich Lowry been saying lately?

ABC News on Iraq [Rich Lowry]

Here’s the YouTube of that encouraging ABC report on the surge, mentioned by Jonah earlier today.

04/04 05:14 PM

And then here, we see Commandante Lowry, "General Clownsewitz" approvingly link to this from the NY Post on March 20, 2007 about how the "surge" is working:

Another change: an emphasis on protecting of gathering places like mosques and marketplaces. "We initiated Operation Safe Markets," Petraeus said, "and have placed ordinary concrete highway barriers around the vulnerable targets." Car bombings have dropped precipitately - the limited access thwarts them.

As a result, "The marketplaces, including the book market that was targeted for an especially vicious attack, are rebuilding and doing great business. It is helping the local economy enormously to have this kind of protection in place." With jobs plentiful and demand growing, the appeal of militia armies declines proportionally.

Normally, I'd say oops, but I think the more appropriate "why the fuck are you able to leave your bed in the morning?" works better for me.