Not when they keep moving the benchmarks, no.

There is only one benchmark that counts in the Shrub Administration plan:  stealing the oil.  They others are just window dressing to the main intent--and no, they have *NOT* been met.

But you went through an entire post without a misspelled word.  *THAT'S* progress...

The bidding war for the Iraq oilfields started yesterday. I'm sure that W has an iron or two in the fire.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id...

They haven`t reached 5000 US deaths by 2009,,,,,, yet,, but what about the benchmarks in Afganistan?More killing there today than Iraq for the first time, hmmmm,,,, do they have oil there?   They have oil in Iran though,,, gonna be "benchmarking" there soon...

How about the original benchmark

1. Catch Osama Bin Laden

The so-called "surge" -- meaning an extra 30,000 ground troops thrust into the battle zones of Iraq in early 2007, though troop levels are still far short of what generals thought was necessary to invade and conquer Iraq--whoops--liberate Iraq -- has, it is recently claimed, proven the negativity of doubters and critics unwarranted. "The surge is working," the pundits and talking heads keep proclaiming. The latest salvo in the PR war is that "15 of 18 benchmarks have been met."

And, true, we are seeing reports that security conditions have improved and in ways that few thought likely a year ago. However, in my opinion, it's the Vietnam era's "body count" in reverse -- that "falling" levels of "violence" indicate the arrival of some measure of success (at long last, after over a half decade of wartime planning and incompetence) for the President and his supporters.

Only problem is, Iraq has at least 50% unemployment, still cannot consistently keep the power on, or potable water, hospitals with drugs (or even doctors, so many having fled), or courts with judges (40 of them having been assassinated and many more injured since 2003) or lawyers, many of whom joined the more than two million Iraqis who have gone into exile.

Five years later, Iraqis are still dying in prodigious numbers, and significant numbers of those dying are at the hands of Americans. Are Americans dying too? Of course. If your country had been invaded, you'd be fighting too.

The part of the surge nobody talks about is not the surge on the ground, or even the poorly covered air surge of the last year and a half, but the political surge (which has had American "advisers" and "mentors" pouring into Iraq), the prison building and inmate surge, the surge in base building, and the surge in demands by the Bush administration for an American future in Iraq.

All of this adds up to a new picture of Iraq in the last 18 months into what some call a U.S. "surge-athon," an across-the-board ramping up of American power in Iraq.

This war has been nothing but a disaster. To speak of the surge and its results as 'success' or as 'good news' is obscene, in my view. Iraq, to use a metaphor, is a cocked gun. It's loaded, it's held to your head, and things are improving only to the extent that, recently, it hasn't gone off.

Considering the way this administration has lied about Iraq before and during this war, I'm skeptical of any successes it claims. Any reports that claim 'improvement' may (or may not) be real, and worse still, it represents an effort to dominate, divide and conquer in a colonial fashion, and any current talk of "peace" is something that is barely held together by bubblegum and baling wire.

Well put, noon.....

Military See Presidential Race Through Own Lens

WASHINGTON — Brandon Ziegler served two tours in Iraq and wears a bracelet inscribed with the name of an Army buddy who never made it home. Jim Morin saw action in both Iraq and Afghanistan and has lost several friends to the war in Iraq, the latest just a month ago.

Iraq " No Privileges and No Share of Oil for Companies

The Iraqi oil ministry had been expected to announce the deals with companies such as Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total and BHP Billiton on Monday.

But Hussein al-Shahristani, the oil minister, told a news conference that the deals had not yet been concluded as the companies wanted a share of the profits.
 

"We did not finalise any agreement with them because they refused to offer consultancy based on fees as they wanted a share of  the oil," he said.
 

The contracts would not allow investments by the foreign companies in the oil sector but would pave the way for global energy giants to return to Iraq, 36-years after being told to leave by Saddam Hussein, Iraq's former president.
 

 'No privileges'

Shahristani stressed that Iraq needed the services of experienced companies to realise the potential of its reserves but added that it was not ready to do so at any price.
"We went to these global companies and asked them to offer us consultancy but they will have no privileges or will not get a share of oil."

Extraction contracts

The oil ministry also plans to sign longer-term contracts for extracting oil with 41 other foreign energy companies, according to officials.

"We chose 35 companies of international standard, according to their finances, environment and experience, and we granted them permission to extract oil," Asim Jihad, oil ministry spokesman, said.

http://english.aljazeera.ne...
  
Six other state-owned oil firms from Algeria, Angola, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam have also been selected to compete for extraction deals.

Iraq has opened the world's third largest oil reserves to foreign firms by offering limited contracts at six fields.

The oil ministry hopes that granting multinationals technical contracts can help boost production at Iraq's under developed oil fields by providing equipment and training, while Baghdad would keep control of the profits.

Did you ever wonder why BS doesn't provide cites?

Because he's lying.

Here's an example for his "benchmarks have been met" lie:

The White House sees the progress in a particularly positive light, declaring in a new assessment to Congress that Iraq's efforts on 15 of 18 benchmarks are "satisfactory" — almost twice of what it determined to be the case a year ago. http://ap.google.com/articl...

The benchmarks haven't been met, the EFFORTS ARE SATISFACTORY according to the administration.

Efforts.... efforts.....How about that,,, maybe the person don`t read too well...Efforts,,, He was close....That`s entertainment for Ya....

maybe the person don`t read too well

That's probable considering he don't write too well either.

But in reality, he's nothing more than a propagandist straight out of the mold of Joseph Goebbels.

Thanks TSM.. Strange it applies so well for the BushCo destruction of the Empire

"It is the absolute right of the state
to supervise the formation of public opinion."

Mr Goebbels

The Republican presidential candidate made his comments during an exclusive interview from Cartagena, Colombia, with "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts, who asked McCain why he went abroad when the No. 1 issue for voters was the U.S. economy.

"You have admitted that you're not exactly an expert when it comes to the economy," Roberts began.

"I have not. I have not. I actually have not," McCain interrupted. "I said that I am stronger on national security issues because of all the time I spent in the military. Very strong on the economy. I understand it. I have a lot more experience than my opponent."

The original remark that prompted Roberts' question and has haunted McCain slipped out last December in New Hampshire when McCain said, "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should." He went on to joke, "I have Greenspan's book," referring to the biography that has just been published at the time by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

And at a January town hall meeting in Concord, N.H., McCain told the crowd, "I am not an expert on Wall Street. I am not an expert on some of this stuff."

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/V...

It`s sad, Mr Cindy can`t even pull off a good swan song,, keep a eye on the real canidate,, the VP....

"In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happened, you can bet it was planned that way."

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt

you do not really believe that the GOP had Mr Cindy in mind to be "the" real choice....

The benchmarks haven't been met, the EFFORTS ARE SATISFACTORY according to the administration.

In other words, they stayed bought.

Is that a C, C-, or a C+ in goverment talk ?... Is there a real difference between " Efforts" and " Have met",?, could it be possible you are just splitting hairs here?

could it be possible you are just splitting hairs here

It all depends on how precise you want to be, I suppose.

Would you want your mechanic to tell you your brakes have been fixed, or have him tell you his efforts have been satisfactory without knowing exactly what he means by that?

Considering how important brakes are to the operation of the vehicle, I wouldn't be happy with just a satisfactory effort. The same can be said for Iraq, considering the consequences.

In other words, they stayed bought.

They'll tell the truth about the benchmarks after the oil agreement is signed (if ever).

I stand corrected, I guess there is a difference between the two, So that means the BSuper could have been mistaken...

BS's comprehension of just what his links *SAY* isn't too firm.  Quite often they do not support his contentions.

Bush may send more troops to Afghanistan  

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday he is weighing whether to send more troops to Afghanistan. Bush said it has been a "tough month" in Afghanistan, where more U.S. and NATO troops died during the past two months than in Iraq.

The president said he'll also use the summit to remind the world that the threat of terrorist attacks has not gone away.

"The temptation is to kinda say, 'Maybe this isn't really a war. Maybe this is just a bunch of disgruntled folks that occasionally come and hurt us.' That's not the way I feel about it."

That's the second-worst thing about the Iraq fiasco.  If it hadn't been for the distraction, we probably would've won in Afghanistan.  Now it's too late.

I guess there is a difference between the two

No guessing about it really.

What do you think your grade would be if on a final exam you told the professor you didn't finish but gave it a satisfactory effort? He would be the judge of that, would he not?

So that means the BSuper could have been mistaken

He was not mistaken, he lied.

Even the administration admitted the benchmarks have not been met.

Quite often they do not support his contentions.

This blog is a perfect example of that.

If it hadn't been for the distraction, we probably would've won in Afghanistan.

No probably about it. We would have overwhelmed the Taliban and destroyed them.

And bin Laden would have been caught.

As it is, U.S. deaths in Afghanistan are higher than in Iraq now.

By the way, today's the fifth anniversary of Bring 'Em On Day. 

Almost 4000 Americans have died since.

Almost 4000 Americans have died since.

And that's just in Iraq. The Taliban heard it too and has brought it on as well.

That`s 4000 soldiers, not Americans, There are more counting contractors, goverment agencies, relief workers, journalist, and what about all the other nations there fighting also, they have lost soldiers contractors..etc....And what about the innocent people we went there to "free"....

Military forces deaths(all)...4427

Iraqi civilians from 2005....42631

Iraqi police/security 8409

confirmed foreign contractor deaths ...437

journalist confirmed deaths ...127

all the names and details are at this link...

http://icasualties.org/oif/...

And what about the innocent people we went there to "free"

Don't forget the more than 2 million Iraqis who have become refugees in neighboring countries.

Iraqi refugee women have turned to prostitution in order to feed their famiies and there's been NO humanitarian help from the U.S.

So much for the "family values" party.

I guess you didn't hear BS, the war is being brushed aside by the liberal conservative media. It just isn't front page news anymore. Maybe it bums people out too much, especially when brangelina is expecting TWINS! Now that's news.

It's OK BS, they probably won't cover the story about a McCain fundraiser (chiquita bananna guy) that gave money to terrorist groups in colombia either. Anyone know when McCain is going to release his military records? It sure seemed like John Kerry got a lot more pressure to release his.

Not only twins PP but now she's in the hospital.  THAT's the news of the hour.  You're behind.

PP"..covered the Cindy man fundraiser on a earlier post this morning... but it was from me so no one read it...so therefor it doesn`t exist....it`ll be our secret...

Actually I heard about that this morning Nancy. I'm so worried ((sniff, sniff))

Magiepoo, I'll check it out.