Lieberman spin debunked

Seems like Think Progress beat me to the punch in debunking President Bush's best friend Joe Lieberman's shameless op-ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal.

I'll still take a swipe at Joe later today as his commentary is a COMPLETE joke but Think Progress hit it out of the park today with this point...the Iraqis WANT us out of their country.

Writing this morning in the Wall Street Journal, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) claims Iraqi leaders want a commitment that U.S. troops will stay until whenever “the Iraqi military is capable of security the country”:

And, I am convinced, almost all of the progress in Iraq and throughout the Middle East will be lost if those forces are withdrawn faster than the Iraqi military is capable of securing the country.

The leaders of Iraq’s duly elected government understand this, and they asked me for reassurance about America’s commitment. The question is whether the American people and enough of their representatives in Congress from both parties understand this.

The Iraqi leaders, however, have said publicly that they want the United States to set a firm timetable for withdrawal immediately. From the AP, 11/22/05:

Leaders of Iraq’s sharply divided Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis called Monday for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces in the country and said Iraq’s opposition had a “legitimate right'’ of resistance.

The real position of the Iraqi leadership is they want a definitive timetable for withdrawal from the U.S. The question is whether Joe Lieberman will ever understand this.

According to Atrios, journalist are even mocking the Senator as he delivers the White House spin.

Time magazine Baghdad bureau chief Michael Ware on Morning Sedition this morning:

I and some other journalists had lunch with Senator Joe Lieberman the other day and we listened to him talking about Iraq. Either Senator Lieberman is so divorced from reality that he's completely lost the plot or he knows he's spinning a line. Because one of my colleagues turned to me in the middle of this lunch and said he's not talking about any country I've ever been to and yet he was talking about Iraq, the very country where we were sitting.

David Siorta sums things up pretty well with his word of advice to Liberman.

Here's a good idea Senator Lieberman: keep your trap shut unless you are actually willing to be honest about the situation. Otherwise, you continue making a complete fool out of yourself.

Amen brother.