back in Trat

(A pier on Ko Mak)....

I'm back in Trat, the little town (which now feels like the big city) that's basically the jumping off point for the Ko Chang islands, and where I was almost two weeks ago. I had a great time, got more than enough sun, did some snorkeling (although the conditions weren't perfect, it sounds like the water will be clearer later, since it's still transitioning from the monsoon season) did some hiking around, went swimming in a pool at a waterfall, had plenty of banana shakes (not with ice cream, I think it's just fruit, milk, ice and sugar put in a blender, but they're pretty good) and plenty of good Thai food. A couple of nights ago I mentioned to the waiter at the restaurant to make it plenty spicy, since previous dishes weren't quite spicy enough. "How spicy, Thai style?" Sure, I said. That was a mistake, it was so hot I could barely finish it, although it was still pretty good. He was a little apologetic and I couldn't quite tell if they'd accidentally made it even spicier than normal, or if that was just the norm. But now I know what Thai style is and for them to make it about half as spicy as that.

Anyway so I first went to the little island of Ko Mak. I was avoiding Ko Chang, which is the most popular island and also the biggest and most expensive. Ko Mak was great, pretty beaches, warm water and nice folks, etc., pretty much just what you'd expect of a tropical island. I met a Norwegian couple on the boat there and hung out with them a bit, as well as a woman from France who had lived on the island previously for 5 years, and had a great little wooden hut with private bathroom and a porch with a hammock (good thing I didn't haul that hammock all the way from home). After a few days I realized though that there wasn't a whole lot to do there activity-wise (especially trying to watch my budget, everything's pricier than normal there) and I was getting a little bored of just being a beach bum. I stayed there for a week though and then took another boat over to Ko Kood, which is bigger, almost the size of Ko Chang, but not nearly as popular mostly because it's farther away. That was a nice change, as there was a lot more to do, more beaches to check out, waterfalls, etc. and just a different vibe. The weather didn't cooperate completely though, it was hazy and overcast a lot, so I ended up getting started on an article about my recent trip to the Kalalau Valley in Hawaii, which I've almost finished (just writing in a notepad) and has turned out pretty well. So at some point I'll type it up and then start looking at who or where I could possibly sell it to, which is one of the plans for this trip. So we'll see how that goes. Also once I do get it written up then I'll go ahead and pass it along.

So the other wrinkle with Ko Kood was somewhat ironically that it wasn't quite touristy enough. I stayed there for five nights and there were at least a dozen rooms, but I was the only person in my guest house for all except one night, when another couple was there. There were other tourists on the island, but from what I gathered the real tourist rush starts next weekend. So I was thinking of hopping over to Ko Chang to perhaps find some other travelers to hang out with, or at least a little more sense of something happening, but it isn't easy to get from Ko Kood to Ko Chang. Basically it was cheaper to take a boat all the way back to Trat, and then go to Ko Chang from here. So, I'm still pondering maybe going over there from here, but instead I'm thinking I'll probably save the island thing for another time, and see some other parts of Thailand.

I was considering going from here into Cambodia to see the temples at Angkor Wat, but I don't really feel like leaving Thailand already and dealing with getting across the border, etc. So maybe I'll come back and do Cambodia at another time and check out Ko Chang then. Instead I'm planning to head north in the general direction of Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a small city of around 150,000 people, pretty far north, but it's said to have all the cultural benefits of Bangkok, without all the hassle. It's quite popular with travelers, the hotels are cheap (and I need to do cheap for a little while after the islands) and there's a lot going on, i.e. meditation courses, yoga, massage, etc. as well as dozens of temples to check out, plus there's trekking in the hills nearby. So it sounds like something completely different from laying around on a beach and I think is more what I'm up for right now. There are a few destinations I'll most likely hit along the way, particularly Ayuthaya and Sukhothai, which are both towns with tons of temples, as I think they were both the capital of Thailand (aka Siam) at one point. Also Chiang Mai is heading in the direction of Laos, which has been highly recommended, so I may end up going there while I'm in that area. Another possibility is to then make a loop and go down into Cambodia from there and then back here, but who knows.

So I'll probably hang out here in Trat for at least a day or two, it's a good place to get reoriented, do shopping, get a cheap massage and trade in some books, etc. I'm staying at the same guest house where I was before, the people there are nice and at least a few speak some English so that you can make onward travel arrangements easier. Plus they make a mean banana shake....anyway that's all for now...

Trat, Thailand

I'm now in the little town of Trat, about 5 hours by bus southeast of Bangkok, and pretty close to Cambodia. Yesterday morning I had to decide whether to go into the concrete jungle of Bangkok (since I was in a hotel on the far eastern edge of it) or head this way for the islands (just some of the islands, most of the Thai islands, and the more popular ones, are due south of Bangkok a ways). Although Bangkok sounds extremely interesting, I decided to save it for later in my trip and go straight for a mellow island.

So I packed up, got some good directions for catching the appropriate bus here from someone at the guest house, and then arrived here about 5pm. So far I'm definitely impressed by Thailand, even though I really haven't seen much. The drive here was inland, cutting across diagonally from Bangkok, so I didn't have the ocean to look at, and it was fairly uneventful but pleasantly green scenery, going through smallish towns. But it just has a good feel to it, and the notable thing, after going to India, is that it's way cleaner, mellower, less crazy and less third world than India. I would say that it even seems about halfway between second world and first world, maybe close to the equivalent of Greece, from what I remember of it (although it may have changed a little in 17 years). There are lots of private cars, they mostly seem fairly new, there's almost no garbage on the streets, almost no beggars or homeless, people are dressed pretty similarly to people in the west, nice but pretty casual, you see few animals around other than stray dogs, I didn't even notice any cows until a few right before I got here.

So all considering I'm pretty amazed that it's as cheap as it it. When I got to the bus station here in Trat someone came up to me with a card to recommend a guest house. So I decided to check it out, and it's quite nice, although a much simpler room than my other one. It's very small, like barely larger than the double bed that's in it, with just a fan and small table, but a quiet neighborhood, clean (other than lots of geckos, but I don't mind them) and it's about $3.50/night. They have a nice restaurant that's reasonably priced and really quick internet for about a buck an hour. The town is really mellow, about 15,000 people and I was walking around last night and it feels really safe, there were young kids out and about after dark and families going to restaurants, etc., but the streets weren't packed at all like India.

I'm on a small side street that's a short walk from the center of town and the market. The only thing is that grapes are apparently quite expensive, unless someone was giving me the inflated price. I went through the market last night, and asked about some grapes at one of the stands. She put a fairly large amount on the scale, maybe three handfuls, and then asked for 150 baht. That's about 5 dollars. That probably doesn't sound like much, until you figure that my hotel room is $3.50. And my budget is 10 bucks a day. So I passed on the grapes and instead bought some bananes, which were about 40 cents for a rack of 16 of them. That isn't quite as good of a deal as it sounds though, because the bananas were literally only about two inches long, and I had 10 of them in a row. They're usually pretty small in India as well, but not that small. But the thing is they taste a lot better than larger bananas.

Well anyhow I should probably wrap things up here. It's now about 10am, I've had breakfast and am planning to just explore the town here a little today. It sounds like there really isn't all that much to do around here other than see some temples, maybe rent a bike and go out of town a little ways, or just hang out and read or whatever. The reason this is a popular tourist town with lots of guest houses is simply because it's the jumping off point for the nearby islands. It was overcast yesterday and so I was thinking I might hang out here (rather than go straight to the island of Ko Mak) for a few days since there's no reason to rush to the beach when it's cloudy (and accomodations are going to be more expensive there). But then today is nice and sunny so I might just stay here one more night and then go tomorrow, but I guess I'll just see.

in Bangkok

Greetings from Thailand! (or, in Thai, hello is "Saw wat dee", the only thing I can say so far)...

Not too much has happened between leaving Hawaii two days ago and getting here, other than sitting on a plane pretty much and eating a lot of airplane food. The one bit of excitement was when I got to Tokyo, and they wouldn't change US dollars into Thai baht. No problem, I could probably do it during my layover in Taipei, Taiwan which is closer to Thailand. Well, I could have except that the currency exchange desk closed at the weird time of 2:50 pm, and I got in there at around 5 in the evening. Considering that, I figured I wouldn't be able to change money in the Bangkok airport either, since I was flying in at 1am. I had 5 hours there in Taipei to think about it, and thought if I didn't come up with a solution then perhaps as a last resort I could find another traveler with baht who would exchange a small amount for me, since all I really needed was enough to get me from the airport to my hotel. So after thinking about it I realized the obvious solution was that there would probably be 24-hour atm machines in Bangkok where I could withdraw money (you can withdraw directly out of your checking account, but then it converts it into the local currency at a fair rate). So just to make sure, I went onto a traveler's website (at least there was free internet access in Taipei) and posted a question asking if anyone knew for sure that there would be atms there open at 2 am. I checked back an hour later and two people had responded, both saying that not only would there be plenty of atms available but that the exchange desks would also be open. And sure enough when I got there they were, so I exchanged the last of my dollars (on hand, I mean, I'll be using the atms from now on). Obviously the Thais are a little more of night owls than the Taiwanese.

So then I got a taxi to my hotel, which I'd reserved a while ago for two nights to have the chance to recover for a day, which I definitely needed. I was able to print out directions to the hotel in Thai off the hotel's website beforehand, which was a good thing because even with it he had a bit of a hard time finding it. It's roughly near the airport but a little out in the middle of nowhere, it was a pretty uninteresting drive through a sort of an industrial business zone to get here, going the opposite direction from Bangkok. But it was highly recommended online, and I'm guessing the out of the way location is why it's really cheap for being a nice place with really clean rooms and a pool. My room has a tiny balcony, private bathroom and TV, and it's 250 baht, which is about $7.50/night. And they had cheaper rooms for about $5 but none were available. If this same hotel were more centrally located I'm sure it would be more like $20-30 at least, since Bangkok is a little more expensive than other areas of Thailand. If you want to check out a couple of photos their website is: http://www.bangpli.com/sananwan.htm.

So today I'm not doing much of anything, especially since based on the drive last night it didn't look like there was anything worthwhile to check out within a short walk from here. It's overcast and warm but not hot (I think about 80 f) so I may not even make it into the pool today. But tomorrow I'll being moving on way or another, since there isn't too much point in staying here to see Bangkok because you'd use up a lot of time, and all the money you saved, just getting into the city. But I'm probably not even going to Bangkok from here anyway. The islands that I want to go to first are east of Bangkok, and I'm on the eastern edge of the city, so I don't have to deal with the city in the process of getting there from here. Reading through my guidebook Bangkok sounds really interesting and there's lots of great stuff to see, but I'm thinking I'll wait until a little later in my trip when I'm more in the mood to spend 3 or 4 days in the city. So probably what I'll end up doing is taking a 5-6 hour bus ride to the small town of Trat, which is close to Cambodia. It sounds worth spending a few days in, then from there it's a short bus ride to a pier, from which boats take about 2-3 hours to go to the island of Ko Mak, which is where I settled on first, an island of only about 12 square miles that sounds pretty mellow, with budget accomodations and good beaches, swimming and snorkelling. Then from there I'll probably go to the nearby larger island of Ko Kood, which has a lot of waterfalls and hiking and stuff in the interior, but it sounds like accomodations are a little spendier, partly just because it's not very developed and has catered more to package tourists. So I'll have to find out a little better what the budget options are there. Then from that area I'll probably either head to see the temples at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, or else go back to Bangkok, then go north from there and make way up to the northern border and then go check out Laos. It'll certainly depend a bit on what I hear about in the meantime and whoever I might meet up with along the way...

Na Pali coast

(First two photos are dayhiking on the Kalalau Trail with Denise and ? (damn forgot his name), friends from the hostel, the day before hiking out to the Kalalau Valley; third pic is the night before, having some grub and a beer at a nice restaurant in Kapaa)...

I had a great trip camping on the Na Pali coast, which is the section of coast on the western side of Kauai, Hawaii, where there is no road because the cliffs are too steep. I spent about 10 days camping altogether, which included two days of hiking in and two days hiking out. Although it's only an 11 mile hike, it's rated as one of the most difficult hikes in North America, because it goes up and down so many valleys along the way. It's not a walk on the beach by any means. So the first day I hiked in to the unofficial camp at the 8-mile marker, and discovered a guy there who had been camping at that same spot for 4 months. He had hiked the trail I guess around early summer, and decided that the trail needed some maintenance, and the park service was neglecting it (it's a state park), so he decided to just camp there and work on the trail. Every two weeks he hikes out for food and then hikes back in. I was glad he was there because I got there completely exhausted and he already had a fire going. Plus he was a nice guy and good company.

So the next day I hiked the last little bit and then spent the next 5 or 6 days or whatever camped right near the beach, and the waterfall, at the end of the trail, where the cliffs become too steep even for a hiking trail. It was a bit cloudy and rainy the first few days, which leaves you a little bored, since mostly what you want to do there is swim and hang out in the sun. But I was still able to catch a few rays between the clouds, as well as hike up into the valley, where another 2-mile trail extends away from the coast. There's a river running down the valley with great swimming holes, and it's just interesting terrain for hiking through, pretty much full-on rainforest, although there are no large mammals, other than goats, but plenty of birds and bugs. Fortunately though there are basically no mosquitoes out there for some strange reason.

I was able to spend a few extra days out there because I met a backpacker's club, 6 guys from a few places around the country, who had hiked in with way too much stuff for just a few days. They sent up their tents in the same area of the campground I was in, then invited me over to their fire for dinner for the 3 nights they were there, as well as gave me a bunch of lunch snacks. One of them had 3 headlamps, so when he found out that I just had a flashlight he gave me one of his, which was great because I've been meaning to get one for years. But the main thing was that I was able to stay an extra 3 days, because otherwise my food would have run out, and I wouldn't have felt quite ready to leave at that point.

I also met some of the semi-permanent residents who live back there, people who, like the guy at the 8-mile point just set up camps and then head back to town every few weeks to stock up on supplies. You're technically only allowed to stay there for 5 days, but the rangers only check permits a few times a year, when they helicopter in. And although there's a bit of controversy over whether people should be living out there, there doesn't seem to be much negative impact from it, certainly no more than all the people staying in resorts elswehere on the island. And I think any time someone wants to live in the woods it's pretty much a good thing. So I joined some of the valley-dwellers for a few sunsets and some music jam sessions on a bluff overlooking the ocean and the beach.

After a week out there, though, I was ready to get back to civilization and start gearing up for the next part of my trip. I am now staying with a friend near Kapaa, which is the same town where I was previously staying at the hostel. She owns a house here but is in the process of trying to sell it, and so I'm helping around the place in exchange for staying here. I'll probably stay here until next week, when I get on a plane, Oct. 24th, and go to Thailand. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Hawaii has been nice but this is my 4th time here, and besides I'm still in the U.S., so I'm ready for a little more excitement and some new places to check out. I'll be there for 7 weeks, then I'm off to India for 3 months, then back to Thailand for another month, then I'll be flying back to Kauai again next April.

going to Kalalau

(originally written October 1st, 2007)

I've had a little change of plans. I was going to stay with a friend in Kapaa (the same town where the hostel is) starting today and for the next week or so, and help her getting her house fixed up to sell, as she's moving to Europe. But it turns out she has a big project to do on the computer for the next several days, so it was better if I come at the end of the week, or else next week. So I shifted things around and instead I'm going camping at the Na Pali coast tomorrow. I'm in Lihue (the biggest town on the island) and just got my camping permits, then I'll probably get a ride out to the trailhead with some people at the hostel.

So I'll probably stay out there roughly a week, give or take a few days. It might just depend on how long the food lasts, or else whenever I get bored and want to come back to civilization. But I'll be at the Kalalau Valley, on the Na Pali coast here on Kauai. That's the section of the island where there's no road because the cliffs are too rugged. But even the trail ends after 11 miles and there's no trail after that because it's too steep even for a hiking trail. But at the end of the trail there is a nice beach with a campground, and then another trail going inland a couple of miles that's great for hiking and exploring, plus a small river for swimming in, so it's easy to find stuff to do out there. Also when I went to get the camping permit he said I was lucky because it's almost full, so it sounds like there'll be plenty of other campers out there.

Anyway the last couple of days has pretty much been the usual. I went snorkeling yesterday with some people at the hostel, at Poipu beach, which is in the same area where my mom and brother stayed back in 1989. It was okay snorkeling, saw some interesting fish but nothing like the Andaman islands, or Thailand by the sounds of it.

Beaches and waterfalls

The last couple of days have been pretty packed. The first few days the weather was a little funky and besides I wasn't feeling particularly ambitious anyways. Gilbert (the Canadian I met the first day) has a rental car the whole time he's here (unfortunately he's taking off tomorrow, there goes my ride), so both Saturday and Sunday he and I and Eamon (from Ireland) did some exploring of the island. Saturday we went to Secrets Beach, which is an amazing beach I'd been to before. Then we continued on along the north shore looking for this one beach I hadn't been to, Tunnels Beach. We ended up at the end of the road, which meant we'd passed it (that's also where the trailhead is for the Kalalau Trail) so we got out there and hung out at Ke'e beach, which is supposed to be good snorkeling. It wasn't great snorkeling though, in fact I just swam around and didn't even bother trying the snorkel. We did see a couple of nice fish but mostly just enjoyed the water as the waves were mellow, because there's some reef in the way of the waves, then it opens up into this nice sandy area, so it's perfect for just swimming around. Then I showed them the nearby "Blue Room" which is little known because it's a little ways off the road. You hike up this little hill beneath a cliff and then you come to this lake that's sort of buried in the base of the cliff. It's a good place to get a refreshing swim and wash off the salt water. So after that we went back and found Tunnels Beach, just down the road. But by then we were beached out so we just headed back to the hostel and then Gilbert, who's a good cook, instigated a barbecue (maybe instigated isn't the right word, but you get the idea).

Anyway then yesterday we drove up to Waimea canyon, which is called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, and it's about as impressive. From the top of it we were able to get a view down into the Kalalau Valley, which was amazing. Then we headed back down to Lihue as Eamon had to catch a plane and fly to San Francisco. After that Gilbert and I went to these waterfalls where the locals like to jump off the top into a deep pool. It's about 25-30 feet or so, but it's actually pretty safe as the water is plenty deep, so I did it a couple times. Some of the guys there were doing various tricks, backflips, dives, etc., etc., but feet first was all I was about to attempt. Gilbert's digital camera had video capability, and we got a short clip of each of us doing it. So I'm hoping he can email that to me okay, in which case I'll forward it. Well I should wrap it up here. Today I'm not sure exactly what I'm doing yet, although I may go on a hike with Gilbert, or else I may just go to another beach that I want to check out. It's already time for me to start making some decisions though, as I'm only paid up at the youth hostel through the end of this week. Then I have to decide whether I'm going to fork over the money ($25/day) for the hostel, which is way over my budget, in which case I'll need to find some work. Or else I'll be camping somewhere, we'll see.

on Kauai

(originally written September 20th, 2007)

Nothing too exciting to report so far, other than that I made it here. The flights were pretty boring and uneventful, since there wasn't too much to look at over the Pacific Ocean. I met a guy from Canada at the youth hostel who was checking in at the same time as me, and since he had a rental car I got a ride with him to the local grocery store to do some shopping. While I was there I ran into Eric, the guy from my work back in Portland who I had discovered was flying here the same day I was for a week vacation. I'll probably end up hanging out with him and the folks he's with in a couple days.

So that pretty much covers things for now. It's great to be here, but it's been a bit stormy so I might not be getting much of a tan right away. And also the guy from Canada, who is a scuba diver, said that the water has been bad for diving and snorkeling as a result. Kauai weather is pretty unpredictable though so I'm sure it'll change soon enough.

General Petraeus' report

I've said it before and I'll say it again, now that General Petraeus has said what we all knew he would say (essentially, the surge is working, and they need more time): The Bush administration's plan for Iraq is to pass off this botched war to the next president, so that they can avoid the stain of failure.

Their plan so far is going brilliantly. When the Iraq Study Group report recommended withdrawing troops from Iraq, they did just the opposite. They devised a plan that would allow them to kick the ball further down the field, and put off taking any responsibility for what they've created. They figured out how to "stay the course", without actually saying they were staying the course. They came up with a new slogan, "the surge". In short, they increased troops, in order to delay talk of withdrawal for 9 months.

And now they'll delay for another 9 months, as they decrease the very troops they increased, which will bring everything back to where it was when the troop surge began, and they will have bought themselves some more time. By then, next spring, we'll be in the heat of the presidential campaign and upcoming Congressional elections, and neither party will want to take any big risks. Bush will leave office with his war still in limbo, with the next president stuck cleaning up and taking responsiblity for his catastraphic mess in the Middle East.

In terms of his legacy, this may in fact be the best option President Bush has left. In terms of the future of our country, and the world, however, he is simply sugarcoating disaster for the sake of his own ego. The question is, are the American people, and the Congress, and the press going to continue going along with this charade for another year-and-a-half? Or, are they finally, truly fed up with this web of lies? I, for one, see only two reasonable paths left for Congress to take: One is to recognize that an ongoing U.S. military presence in Iraq is not the solution to the problems there, shift priorities big-time, start focusing on diplomacy and political reconciliation, and cut off funding for this immoral war. The other is to impeach those who led us into it.

My traumatic experience with RedState.com

If you'll indulge me for just a minute or three, I have a little story to tell. A couple days ago I visited the site RedState.com just to see, for once, what they were saying on the other side of the blogosphere. It was basically what you would expect. The usual right-wing talking points, ranting and raving (not that we do that or anything, of course). But at the same time, I'll admit, it was a mite intriguing. Here I was cavorting with the enemy, so to speak.

So, for the fun of it I decided to enter the fray and join the discussion. I commented. I blogged with abandon. I danced and weaved my arguments with great passion, and parried when attacked, which was often. It was just what I was in the mood for. All was going so well, I almost forgot about the potential pitfalls...

And then, it happened. Quite abruptly and without warning (despite the fact that their rules state they will give notice first) I was banned. Upon trying to login at one point, I was informed that my username was blocked or deactivated. My heart sank. I couldn't believe it. Surely this was a mistake. They weren't actually THAT petty and cowardly, were they? But sadly, apparently it was so.

And yet, I had experienced such heights of joy, I couldn't surrender so easily....I quickly created a new email address and lickity-split I was back in action, blogging merrily away amongst the hordes of Fox-defenders and Bush-lovers, defying their simplistic arguments with actual evidence and critical thinking.

This was where I wanted to be! This was my calling! Maybe, just maybe, I could manage to turn one or two away from the ravages of Darth Cheney, and give them a glimpse of the light! Yes, I would show them the truth, and they would love me for it!!

But no, it was not meant to be. Tragically, it happened again. After successfully sending through a particularly witty comment, I went on to write yet another response, satisfying those deep primal urges like only blogging can. And then, I was denied. My comment failed to post this time. I was informed, once again, that my username was no longer recognized, barely an hour after it had been created.

But it was even worse than that, my friends--much, much worse. I can barely even speak (errr...blog..) the words. So, I'll just shout it out loud, for all to hear. I then tried to reload their homepage, to see if at least my previous comments still remained on the site, only to encounter......stark whiteness. Nothing. A mysterious, unrelenting vaccuum staring out at me from my dusty pc. THEY BLOCKED MY COMPUTER!!!!!!!! The horror!!

Seriously, they blocked my computer from entering their site whatsoever. (Luddite that I am, I didn't even know this was possible.) And no, folks, I was not using loads of four-letter words, threatening people with metaphorical uzis or suggesting (like, for example, Bill O'Reilly once did on the air) that terrorists attacking a certain American city would be just fine. No, I was simply blogging away as bloggers do, opinionated and quite possibly annoying, but not much worse than that. But apparently, if you don't follow in single-file lockstep behind their right-wing credo, then you are not allowed to exist in their corner of the blogosphere. Some democratic, free speech forum they have over there.

So, my fellow progressives, liberals, dems, rebels-with-a-cause, I'm calling for action. If you feel the call, (or rather hear it, I guess, smell it, whatever) go to RedState.com. And......blog! Comment! Opine! Because, apparently, that is what they fear most.

And by the way, if you happen to be curious who this offending liberal is (because my comments might still be up there, they were from my first username) it's gabejedmo (or else gabejedmo1, my second ill-fated username). Look around and you may find the faded shadow of my ghost lurking in the corners of that website, somewhat dejected, but certainly not down for the count. I'm simply keeping my profile low, I tell you; awaiting the most auspicious time to come forth again and make my presence known. Because, god willing, I shall not cower in vain. I will not be pushed around by people in suits and ties, with perfectly-cropped side-burns and glaringly-white teeth, and expensive watches, and fancy, silken underwear and large belt buckles and....well, whatever right-wingers wear. I will be back...I WILL BE BACK!!! But if not, maybe you will redeem me, stand up for freedom all across this great nation of bloggers and help fight against the voices of tyranny and insanity (seriously) and blog a little for me. RedState.com. Check it out. And let them feel the wrath (but in a generally polite sorta way) of the liberal.

Don't trust Gen. Petraeus' September report

The Bush administration has made it clear that September is a critical point in the war in Iraq, when General David Petraeus will go before Congress and give a (supposedly) unvarnished account of how well the troop surge is going. But those who think that Petraeus is an unbiased and objective individual, a straight-shooter who has no political motivations or allegiance to President Bush, should be alarmed by the following revelation in a story by ABC News:

"The senior U.S. commanders in Iraq -- Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno and Gen. David Petraeus -- want the surge to continue until at least December and expect to report enough progress in Iraq by September to justify it, officials told ABC News' Martha Raddatz."
(here's the link to that story: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/IraqCoverage/Story?id=3236822&page=1)

So, how exactly can you call yourself an objective observer, if you're stating beforehand that you expect to be able to report progress about what hasn't yet happened, namely events in Iraq between now and September?...Especially, when the report so far is that violence in Iraq has not decreased at all over the past 3 months of implementing the troop surge? This news report is simply further proof that the plan all along was for the surge simply to act as a stalling option, a punt to kick withdrawal from Iraq further down the field, ultimately to some point past January, 2009, when President Bush leaves office.

This is President Bush's plan for Iraq. It's simple and straightforward: leave it to the next President. Avoid taking responsibility for defeat in Iraq at all costs. It doesn't matter how many more people die. It doesn't matter how much it breaks the Army. It doesn't matter how much taxpayers' money is spent. It doesn't matter what the generals say; it doesn't matter what the Iraq Study Group says; it doesn't even matter what Republican members of Congress say, or will say soon enough, as they start to feel the political heat.

The plan is, come September, for General Petraeus to go before Congress and, regardless of what is actually happening on the ground, report that although it's a "mixed picture", there are "signs of progress", "it's not all bad news" in Iraq, and we need to "give it more time", not "cut and run", because then the terrorists will "follow us home". They will say precisely what they have been saying for the past four years, with a few meaningless variations; which is that they have no intention of pulling American troops out of Iraq anytime soon, no matter what. It's about time that the press, the Congress and the American people see through these lies, and demand some real accountability for the fiasco that is Iraq.