Ladies and Gentlemen,

We’ve heard a lot about Iraq from the misAdministration. And believe it or not, some of it is actually true. For instance, Iraq actually is located in the Arab world. Beyond that, pretty much everything they say should be viewed with skepticism.

Let’s take a look at two recent stories about Iraq. First, we have the ultimatum:

Al-Maliki Commands Basra Gunmen To Disarm Or Else

The Associated Press
Published: March 27, 2008

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s prime minister warned gunmen in the oil port of Basra to surrender their weapons by Friday or face harsher measures, as clashes between security forces and Shiite militia fighters spread throughout the south and in Baghdad.

Next, we have the response:

U.S. forces drawn deeper into faceoff with militias

By By McClatchy Newspapers and Los Angeles Times
Published March 29, 2008

BAGHDAD – As U.S. forces plunged deeper into the bloody showdown between Iraqi security forces and Shiite militiamen, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki extended a deadline yesterday for fighters to disarm after nobody responded to his first one.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this demonstrates the problem in Iraq succinctly: al-Maliki has a credibility problem. In the militias, nobody cared, much less worried, about al-Maliki’s threatening “or else”. This should be of no surprise to anyone paying attention. Beginning with pre-invasion war planning, the misAdministration of Bush The Lesser has consistently erred on Iraqi policy. Al-Maliki is simply a continuation of these failed policies, and the locals there recognize that.

General Petraeus is preparing to testify this week. Fortunately, MoveOn.org has kept silent, so focus this time might actually be on what The Good General has to say. Last time The Good General testified, the misAdministration was lucky that ad ran, because what General Petraeus said was highly critical of the misAdministration. Most telling was General Petraeus’ “I don’t know” answer to the question “Does the fighting in Iraq make us safer?”

This answer clearly demonstrated that General Petraeus was bound and determined to do his duty and answer questions truthfully, even though some of his answers clearly were at odds with misAdministration pronouncements. For all President Bush’s bluster that he “listens to the commanders on the ground”, he doesn’t. It’s a shame MoveOn.org created a situation where the focus was on their ad, and not The Good General’s testimony. Clearly, Bush benefited from this.

So, here we are, into Year Six of the war that the main architect, Donald RumsFailed, said wouldn’t last six months; the top General tasked with prosecuting the war doesn’t know if the war makes us any safer, and the Iraqi President is ignored by the militias.

It is important to remember this election season, that the party responsible for creating this FUBAR is the Republican Party; that their candidate in the 3rd district is Erik Paulsen, and that Erik Paulsen will be listening to those politicos as he parrots his “thoughts” on Iraq this electoral season.

By a wide margin, most of the decisions this misAdministration has made in Iraq have turned out badly at best. But, seriously, this time they mean it, John McCain will continue it, and here in the 3rd District, Erik Paulsen is their guy.

The GOP’s collapse of credibility continues.