Nothing But Words

Eidan Lee Toppa
Born: 5:52AM
Weight: 6 lbs., 10 oz.,
Height: 20 1/2 in.

Maria’s labor didn’t last long, the delivery was fast, and – at least deliveries go – relatively easy. By 10 AM Maria was feeling great, and Eidan had no trouble figuring out the whole breast feeding thing (he was even sucking his thumb within a few minutes of being born). I just woke up from a short nap at home and now I’m heading back to the hospital. More to follow…

Steven Vincent was one of the very few Iraq reporters brave enough to venture outside the Baghdad Green Zone these days, without a US military escort. He took this risk to bring us stories that would otherwise go unreported, as it’s a lot earier to get people to talk freely without armed US soliders looking over your shoulder. As has been widely reported, he was killed yesterday in Basra. What hasn’t been as widely noted is what a great reporter he was. It’s quite likely that his Switched Off is Basra editorial in last Sunday’s New York Times – in which he described how much of the Basra police force is little more than an extension of the extreme Shiite religious parties – is what got him killed.

The Christian Science Monitor (my favorite paper) regularly picks up his stories, so I’ve read his stuff before, but it was only after his death that I learned about his blog, In the Red Zone. I’m not sure how much longer it will stay up – I highly recommend taking a look while it’s still available. In particular, his final entry, The Naive American, is a compelling, personal account of his recent interview with an Air Force captain.

My GSAVE post to TPMCafe garnered some attention: it made their Top Readers Blogs just a few hours after I posted it (since it was a couple days ago, it’s now 3rd from the top). One of their regular contributors has a different take on what it really means, if you’re curious. Now that more information has come out, I’m inclined to agree with him. The Bush administration almost always has tight message control, and I had taken that as a given when I wrote my post. But it looks like this is a rare case of the Pentagon announcing policy decisions without coordinating with the White House.

Maria’s beenn having false labor on and off for the past few days, and for all of last night. It’s quite maddening for her (as it can be difficult to distinguish from true labor) so hopefully it will turn into true labor soon! We spent a good part of the weekend washing baby clothes, getting the old bassinent and infant car seat out of storage and cleaned up, etc. So we’re ready!

Cross-posted at TPMCafe – please go there and click the “Recommend” button

Matt Yglesias was mystified by the name change of the Global War on Terror to the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism (GSAVE). The motivation for the name change is the 2006 midterm elections. With popular support for Bush’s handling of terrorism and the Iraq war on the wane, the White House recognizes that maintaining the status quo could very well lead to Republican loses in 2006. So Bush’s objective is to make, or at least announce, significant troop reductions in Iraq by next summer’s election season.

The White House’s public pronouncements aside, they know it’s very unlikely that the situation in Iraq will significantly improve by then. So the  question they’ve been asking themselves is: how do we start bringing troops home even though Iraq is still very unstable, and not have it look like a defeat? The answer is to reframe public perceptions, and to start doing it now. If Iraq is the central front in the Global War on Terror and the troops leave before victory is achieved, then Bush and the Republicans look like failed wartime leaders. But if we are instead engaged in a long-term Global Struggle Against Violenet Extremism, then large numbers of boots on the ground is not the answer: it takes diplomacy, covert operations we can’t tell you about (but trust us, they’re working great), patience, and a holistic perspective that sees Iraq as just one aspect of the Global Struggle. The message will be that withdrawing the troops isn’t a sign of failure, it’s simply a sign that we’ve entered the next phase of the Global Struggle.

The fact that a lot of this is awfully similar to what they excoriated John Kerry for advocating is not seen as particularly relevant by the White House political strategists. The media has let them get away with blatant hypocrisy before, so they feel no compunction about doing it again. This seemingly odd name change is the first step in a communication strategy that will unfold over the course of the next year.