A Crappy SOFA Posted by Shawn Brimley

According to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, during the recent SOFA negotiations: "The United States asked Iraq for permission to keep troops there to 2015 but compromised with Iraqi negotiators on 2011." 

Question: Why is it that instead of forcing the Maliki government to make political concessions in order to convince us not to leave, we end up making concessions to the Iraqis in order for us to stay? What kind of bizarro upside-down world is this?

   

Dr. iRack has more.

Kerry Slams McCain Posted by Patrick Barry

"Talk about being for it before you're against it."

Kerry takes a dig at himself to slam McCain...nice.

More on Tiny Posted by Ilan Goldenberg

Ezra Klein and Matt Yglesias do the hard work that I wanted to do but was too lazy to find on explaining how Iran is in fact quite tiny when compared to the USSR or the U.S.  Which is what Barack Obama was saying after all.  So seriously how scared should we be of a country who we outspend on defense by a factor of 100? (Ezra's number don't include Iraq or Afghanistan).  How scared should we be about a country that has the GDP the size of Flordia's?

Iran is a serious national security concern.  And that is how it should be treated. But to imply that it an existential threat to the security of the United States is absurd.

 

National Security at the Conventions -- A Seismic Shift Posted by Heather Hurlburt

Much less interesting than reporting on who does or doesn't edit President Clinton's speeches, Joe biden's train-riding habits, or John McCain's vice-presidential deliberations, but considerably more important, is the enormous cultural shift in the role national security plays at BOTH conventions that has taken place over the last two election cycles.

It's easier to speak to the Dems, as I'm sitting in Denver:  what used to be one set of foreign policy panels run by the National Democratic Institute has morphed into a giant policy jamboree.  Veterans' groups, human rights groups, think tanks (and of course DA's sponsor and my employer, the National Security Network) are here holding panels, luncheons and receptions.  I think the only national security threshold left to cross is the Giant Nighttime Party With Five Bands -- but if you count the ONE Campaign, and you should, we've crossed that one too.

So what's going on here:

• national security is a political issue now, for better and worse;
• the nationl security community is taking quantum steps in political savvy and plugged-in-ness;
• the gap between how domestic policy is conducted and how foreign policy is conducted is slowly, but really, narrowing; and
• nonetheless, the national security wonks are bringing our own wonkish folkways into the convention environment.  You can take the wonk out of the 10-point plan, but you can't take the 10-point plan out of the wonk.

What's really interesting is to look ahead to Minneapolis next week and see how much this is a bipartisan development:  Human Rights First will have its band of generals there to denounce torture as well.  New America will have its "Can We Make the Middle East Boring?" event there too. The Council on Foreign Relations will have its panels.

National security concepts are being marketed to politicians on all sides, in other words.  And, in terms of empowering political figures in Washington and the states to move away from the failed constructs of the last eight years, and be ready to think about real fundamental change after election silly season is over, this is a very good thing.

Now off to my next Denver shuttle bus...   

McCain: Too Reckless to Lead Posted by Ilan Goldenberg

John McCain has an ad up trying to scare the American people about Iran and saying Obama doesn't take the threat seriously enough.  I think it's time to take the gloves off and paint McCain as the reckless and dangerous overeager warrior that he is.

If I was the Obama campaign I would probably go with something like this: 

John McCain.  He was a cheerleader for George Bush and Dick Cheney's war in Iraq.  He has said we should bomb Iran.  He's willing to get into major escalations with China and Russia.  He thought war with North Korea was inevitable.  He even called Germany and France our "adversaries."  Is that who we want leading our country?  John McCain too reckless to lead (You can see supporting facts below the fold).

In terms of McCain's ad.  The whole point is to elevate the Iranian threat to some ridiculous level of fear and paranoia equivalent to the Nazis or the Soviet Union.  First of all, the quote is of course completely out of context.  Obama  clearly takes Iran seriously.  All you have to do is read his policies and listen to his positions.

But Iran isn't the Nazis or the Soviet Union.  The Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear weapons and controlled all of Eastern Europe.  The Nazis took over all of Europe and killed millions.  Iran is a country with 60 million people and a GDP the size of Florida.  By historical comparison it is simply not the same level threat.

But John McCain doesn't think that way.  For McCain every crisis is 1939 and every threat is existential.  As Max has so aptly pointed out, this is a very dangerous approach to the world.

Unity against McCain Posted by Max Bergmann

The key to Hillary's speech and why I think it will be very important, was not just because she called for unity and for people to support Obama - that had happened before and had left many of her supporters unconvinced - but because she explained why the party had to unite behind Obama. And that is the fact that John McCain will continue the disastorous policies of the Bush administration.

Ben Smith is also exactly right as well, and its a point I made earlier in the day, the press went in with very low expectations and as a result her speech and the unity exhibited on the floor was destined to exceed expectations. It did.

A Jumbo Foreign Policy Posted by Patrick Barry

The award for DNC omnipresence has to go to Bill Richardson.  Seriously, the guy is everywhere, be it the convention floor, the Google kiosk, or hallowed greasy-spoon diner Sams No. 3 diner. 

Richardson's ubiquitousness is easily matched by his foreign policy judgement -- his unwavering commitment to a complete withdrawal from Iraq has unquestionably moved the debate to a much more rational place, a far cry from where we were a year ago, when people we're quibbling over what a limitless engagement would look like. 

Richardson's shrewd grasp of foreign policy should come as no surprise - he is after all a Jumbo, a proud graduate of Tuft's University.

But Richardson's not the only one.  Other notable Jumbo's include:

Les Gelb, President Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations:

Adam Blickstein, Press Secretary, National Security Network (Right side):

If Democrats take the White House in November, these and other Jumbos will likely play a big role in reducing the deficit left by the Bush Administration.

Angry Man McCain Posted by Max Bergmann

The Politico has a piece that focuses on the danger of John McCain's temper. McCain has a long and storied history of blowing up at his colleagues and the question really needs to be asked whether a man with such an angry temperament and who is prone to an overly hawkish foreign policy should be President. This is hugely important issue and one that has not been adequately talked about to this point.

Yet McCain's supporters seem to be in denial, the Politico writes that "Republicans have accused Democrats of inventing the temper line of attack to knock the Arizona senator."

Really? Invented? Ummm... it is pretty well documented. McCain himself admitted he gets angry and Republican Senators are on record saying he has an anger problem and one even said he wouldn't trust him running the country. Former McCain staffers have also noted that anger was a part of McCain. He even allegedly tried to physically attacked Strom Thurmond. Here are some snippets (sorry no links - came through lexis):

McCain himself admits that “I Get Good And Angry.” “I do get good and angry. Really angry! By God, I'm not going to let them beat me again. I don't like to lose.” [Fortune, 3/20/06]

Orrin Hatch Called It “Awful” To Be The Focus Of McCain’s Anger. “Hatch, who serves with McCain in the Senate, said his colleague ‘is a passionate person and he does have a temper and sometimes it's awful to be on the wrong side of it.’” [Associated Press, 12/2/99]

McCain's temper led Republican Senator to say "I decided I didn't want this guy anywhere near a trigger." McCain’s “ire is all too real. This has prompted questions about whether his temperament is suited to the office of commander-in-chief... 'I decided I didn't want this guy anywhere near a trigger,' Domenici told Newsweek in 2000." [AP, 2/16/08]

AP describes McCain’s Temper Is “Achilles Heel,” described by colleagues as "Senator Hothead." “Temper, temper. Republican John McCain is known for his. He's been dubbed "Senator Hothead" by more than one publication, but he's also had some success extracting his hatchet from several foreheads. Even his Republican Senate colleagues are not spared his sharp tongue. "F--- you," he shouted at Texas Sen. John Cornyn last year. "Only an a------ would put together a budget like this," he told the former Budget Committee chairman, Sen. Pete Domenici, in 1999. "I'm calling you a f------ jerk!" he once retorted to Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. […] The political landscape in Arizona, McCain's home state, is littered with those who have incurred his wrath. Former Gov. Jane Hull pretended to hold a telephone receiver away from her ear to demonstrate a typical outburst from McCain in a 1999 interview with The New York Times. McCain has even blown up at volunteers and, on occasion, the average Joe.” [AP, 2/16/08]

McCain’s Communications Director said anger was part of John McCain. Dan Schnur, John McCain's communications director in the 2000 presidential race, acknowledged McCain’s tendency toward anger, saying, “Anybody who knows John McCain knows that he gets angry.’” [Washington Post, 11/2/99]

Conservative Bill Bennett said McCain was irresponsible and intemperate. “William Bennett, the former education secretary, the prominent conservative who came very close to endorsing you a few days ago, called some of your comments irresponsible and intemperate. He talks about an emerging pattern with you in which -- and this is a quote -- "you portray those with whom you disagree as not just wrong, but wicked." [CNN, 3/2/2000]

Dobson: McCain has a legendary temper. "Family founder James Dobson — talk to tens of millions of people each day. […] McCain's tone was certainly on Dobson's mind when he issued a stinging anti-endorsement on Super Tuesday. He mentioned various issues, but Dobson also said the senator 'has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.'" [AP, 2/16/08]

McCain Began His Senate Career Screaming At A Young Volunteer.  “It was election night 1986, and John McCain had just been elected to the U.S. Senate for the first time. Even so, he was not in a good mood.  McCain was yelling at the top of his lungs and poking the chest of a young Republican volunteer who had set up a lectern that was too tall for the 5-foot-9 politician to be seen to advantage, according to a witness to the outburst.”  Jon Hinz, then Executive Director of the Arizona Republican Party, noted of the outburst, “You'd have to stick cotton in your ears not to hear it. He (McCain) was screaming at him, and he was red in the face.  It wasn't right, and I was very upset at him.” [Arizona Republic, 11/5/99]

McCain “Scuffled” with 92 Year-Old Strom Thurmond.  “In January 1995, McCain was midway through an opening statement at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing when Chairman Strom Thurmond asked, ‘Is the senator about through?’ McCain glared at Thurmond, thanked him for his ‘courtesy’ (translation: buzz off), and continued on. McCain later confronted Thurmond on the Senate floor. A scuffle ensued, and the two didn't part friends.” [Washingtonian, 2/97]

RIP RSVP Posted by Max Bergmann

Apparently RSVPs mean very little these days. I planned to write about a Truman national security lunch event - but unfortunately the RSVP that was put in did not guarantee entrance - not even to the overflow room. Apparently this is a growing trend among many of the forthcoming parties and events...Oh well... off to a local diner.

Setting up for success Posted by Max Bergmann

All the media buzz about the convention tonight is focused on the supposed huge rift between Clinton supporters and Obama. The media ponders - will this divide explode on the convention floor, will Hillary be less than gracious, etc. etc. This to me is very reminiscent of the hype prior to Obama's trip abroad when the media pontificated that the trip was a grave risk. Just imagine if he were to make a huge gaffe, such as confusing Sunni and Shia or misstating a name of a country - it would be devestating.

In reality, the likelihood of a gaffe on that trip was slim and the resulting picture perfect trip wildly surpassed expectations. I think the same is true tonight.