Last Throes

On Thursday, Dick Cheney defended his remarks calling the Iraq insurgency in its "last throes." Today, a Car Bomber Slams Into U.S. Convoy in Iraq. The only thing in its last throes is the Bush Administrations credibility. Look, I am willing to support the war effort until we have done our job. That is why I normally don't blog about the daily tragedies occurring in Iraq. But please stop blowing smoke up my ass. Cheney sounds more like a used car salesman than a leader of the country.

Abizaid disputes Cheney’s claim that Iraq insurgency is weakening

By Liz Sidoti
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The top American military commander in the Persian Gulf disputed a contention by Vice President Dick Cheney that the Iraqi insurgency is in its “last throes” and told Congress on Thursday its strength was basically undiminished from six months ago.
Furthermore, Gen. John Abizaid told the Senate Armed Services Committee, “I believe there are more foreign fighters coming into Iraq than there were six months ago.”

His testimony came as the nation’s top defense leaders rejected calls by some lawmakers for the Bush administration to set a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. “That would be a mistake,” Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told the committtee.

In a CNN interview last month, Cheney said: “The level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.”

Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the committee’s senior Democrat, asked Abizaid if he realized he was contradicting Cheney.

“I don’t know that I would make any comment about that other than to say there’s a lot of work to be done,” said Abizaid. “I gave you my opinion.”

Levin and other congressional Democrats — and some Republicans as well — have criticized administration officials for painting an unrealistically rosy picture of the situation in Iraq.

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