Stay the course/articles & commentary 2006

The following are articles & commentary for 2006 related to the main article stay the course.

Also see articles & commentary for 2003-2005 and for 2007.

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January 2006

• Andrew Greeley, "Staying the Course Compounds Iraq War," Chicago Sun-Times, January 6, 2006.

June 2006

• Eugene Robinson, "Stay the Course? What Course?" Washington Post, June 16, 2006.
• David Usborne, "Baghdad blasts mock US claims of Iraqi progress. Following death of Zarqawi and visit by Bush, leaders fail to bring end to cycle of violence," The Independent (UK), June 18, 2006.
• Partial Transcript: "Sen. Jeff Sessions on Staying the Course in Iraq," Your World with Neil Cavuto/Fox News, June 21, 2006.
• Ernest F. Hollings, Opinion: "'Staying the course' not worth another GI's life," The State (SC), June 23, 2006.
• Lawrence Auster, "Rumsfeld makes it official: we have no plan or intention to win," View from the Right, June 27, 2006.
• Joe Conason, "Staying the Course, Without a Map," truthdig, June 28, 2006.

July 2006

• Jan Frel, "Conservative, old Pentagon pals are the Dems who lead on Iraq. It's odd, isn't it, that the Democrats who are out front on getting out of Iraq are Ike Skelton and Jack Murtha?" The Mix / AlterNet Blogs, July 27, 2006.
• Tracy Russo, "Because Staying the Course is Not a Strategy," The Democratic Party Blog, July 31, 2006.

August 2006

• "Blair Plans to 'Stay the Course' as Violence Builds," Bloomberg News, August 3, 2006.
• "Tom Friedman: 'Staying the Course Is Pointless,' It's Time To 'Disengage' From Iraq," Think Progress, August 4, 2006.
• "Ear to the Ground: Friedman Jumps on the Antiwar Bandwagon," truthdig, August 4, 2006.
• Judd Legum, et al., "Staying on the Wrong Course," American Progress Report (OpEdNews), August 4, 2006; introduction by Allen L. Roland, "Hillary Rightfully Blasts Rumsfeld / It's Time to Leave," August 5, 2006.
• Jay Bookman, "Stay course' leaves Iraq stuck in fiasco," Cox News Service, August 7, 2006.
• David Isenberg, "Stay the Course in Iraq?" Partnership for a Secure America, August 8, 2006.
• "Stay The Course, It’s Working," The Post-Journal (Jamestown, NY), August 8, 2006. re Kurdistan - The Other Iraq
• "Stay the Failed Course?" BuffaloPundit, August 9, 2006.
• Ted Galen Carpenter, "Washington's Masochistic Policy in Iraq," Cato Institute, August 10, 2006.
• Harold Meyerson, "Which Side Are We On? Any admission that Iraq is facing a civil war dooms the administration's justifications for the U.S. mission there. But even Republicans are starting to admit just that," The American Prospect, August 10, 2006.
• Robert J. Elisberg, "Election '06: It's Official. It's the War, Stupid," The Huffington Post, August 10, 2006.
• Blake Morlock, "Iraq war MIA from some Dems' campaigns," Tucson Citizen (AZ), August 10, 2006.
• R.S. Janes, "The Stupidity of Staying the Course Summed Up," Grouchy's Liberaltopia, August 13, 2006.
• "Kean, Hamilton: Iraq War a Mistake," NewsMax, August 13, 2006.
• "Ken Mehlman Falsely Claims Conservatives Aren’t Advocating ‘Stay The Course’ In Iraq," Think Progress, August 14, 2006. Includes video link.
• Lee Russ, "Holy Repub, Mehl Man, Stay the Course is Now Off Course?" Watching the Watchers, August 14, 2006.
• "On 'Meet the Press', Gregory allowed Mehlman to peddle falsehoods, attacks on Democrats," Media Matters for America, August 14, 2006.
• David Ammon, "Embattled Cantwell lines up for re-election bid," Associated Press (Seattle Post-Intelligencer), August 14, 2006.
• Cynthia Tucker, "Republicans beat the war drum. Will GOP message of 2002, 2004 still resound with voters?" WorkingForChange, August 14, 2006.
• Tom Lasseter, "Rosy assessments on Iraq 'not related to reality,' some say," McClatchy Newspapers (MercuryNews.com), August 14, 2006.
• Bernard Weiner, "Bush&Co.: Desperate Desperados," The Crisis Papers and Democratic Underground (OpEdNews), August 15, 2006.
• Christine Schiavo, "Fitzpatrick now rejects Bush's strategy in Iraq," Philadelphia Inquirer, August 15, 2006.
• "Sen. Cantwell clarifies her position on Iraq," Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog, August 15, 2006.
• Jeremy Pelofsky, "Bush strongly defends US policy in Iraq," Reuters, August 16, 2006.
• Press Release: "One Wisconsin Now: Giuliani Blames Troops…Does Green?" WisPolitics.com, August 16, 2006.
• Mark Ginocchio, "Farrell opposes setting date to bring troops home," The (Stamford, CT) Advocate, August 16, 2006.
• "DSCC.org Video: Want A Different Course?" Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, August 16, 2006. Also see video at YouTube (added August 17, 2006).
• Thom Shanker and Mark Mazzetti, "Bush Said to Be Frustrated by Level of Public Support in Iraq," New York Times, August 16, 2006.
• Rick Gell, "Bush's (Possible) Five-Point Iraq Exit Strategy," AlterNet, August 17, 2006.
• Faiz Shakir, "CBO Forecasts 'Staying the Course' In Iraq Would Increase Deficit By $1.3 Trillion Over Next Decade," Think Progress, August 17, 2006.
• "CBO sees rising fiscal 2007 U.S. budget deficit," Reuters, August 17, 2006.
• "AP, NY Times characterized Bush's latest 'cut and run' speech as 'kinder, gentler,' and free of 'partisan politics'," Media Matters for America, August 17, 2006.
• Steve Holland, "White House sees 'huge challenges' in Iraq," Reuters, August 17, 2006.
• Alex Fryer, "Should we leave Iraq? Major split in state," Seattle Times, August 17, 2006.
• Joe Sudbay, "'Full-scale sectarian violence' in Iraq, so 'Stay the Course'," AMERICAblog, August 17, 2006.
• Carl Groth, "Sen. Allen, Rep. Davis enable misbegotten Iraq war," The Free Lance-Star, August 18, 2006.
• Eric Pfeiffer, "Pennsylvania Republican walks fine line on Iraq war," Washington Times, August 18, 2006.
• "Democrats Call on President to Uphold His Promise of a Democracy in Iraq," U.S. Newswire, August 18, 2006.
• Jonathan Weisman, "Ruling Against Wiretaps Further Sharpens Partisan Divide," Washington Post, August 19, 2006.
• Amanda Terkel, "Hagel: Iraq Is In A ‘Very Defined Civil War’," Think Progress, August 20, 2006.
• Judd Legum, "Bush Not Leaving," Think Progress, August 21, 2006.
• Mr Populist, "GOP Big Lie For 2006 Elections: 'We're Tough on Terror'," Daily Kos, August 26, 2006.
• Patricia Wilson, "Cheney: Early Iraq pullout 'ruinous' to US security," Reuters, August 28, 2006.
• Editorial: "Our Agora: The American Legion and the public square," Salt Lake Tribune (Utah), August 28, 2006.
• "Cheney Brings His Alternative Universe to Reno," Desert Beacon, August 28, 2006.
• Julian E. Barnes, "Bush Shields U.S., Cheney Says. The vice president says 'sound policy decisions' by the president, and a vigilant government, have deterred terrorist strikes since 9/11," Los Angeles Times, August 29, 2006.
• John Amato, "Rumsfeld says war critics are Nazi appeasers," Crooks and Liars, August 29, 2006.
• E.J. Dionne Jr., "Slowly Sidling To Iraq's Exit. Many GOP Candidates Part Company With Bush," Washington Post, August 29, 2006.
• Ann Scott Tyson, "Rumsfeld Assails Critics of War Policy," Washington Post, August 30, 2006.
• Peter Baker and Jim VandeHei, "Bush Team Casts Foes as Defeatist. Blunt Rhetoric Signals a New Thrust," Washington Post, August 31, 2006.

September 2006

• Robert Dreyfuss, "A Higher Power. James Baker puts Bush's Iraq policy into rehab," Washington Monthly, September 2006. re Iraq Study Group
• Steve Gilliard, "The last, desperate gasp," The News Blog, September 1, 2006.
• "Bush Setting Up Next Terror Speech," Associated Press (Forbes), September 1, 2006.
• Allen L. Roland, "Americans No Longer Support the Big Lie," OpEdNews, September 2, 2006.
• Sridhar Krishnaswami, "Iraq pullout would be like handing it over to terrorists: Bush," PTI (DNA India), September 2, 2006.
• Partial Transcript: "Team Bush Ramps Up Rhetoric on Iraq and War on Terror," Beltway Boys/Fox News, September 3, 2006.
• "Bush compares Bin Laden to Hitler" (and Lenin) "in a speech to US military officers," BBC, September 5, 2006.
• Bill Hutchinson, "Condi uses Civil War to slap Iraq critics," New York Daily News, September 5, 2006.
• Jim Abrams, "Senate: No Prewar Saddam-al-Qaida Ties," Associated Press (Forbes), September 8, 2006.
• Dana Priest and Ann Scott Tyson, "Bin Laden Trail 'Stone Cold'. U.S. Steps Up Efforts, But Good Intelligence On Ground is Lacking," Washington Post, September 10, 2006.
• Judd Legum, "Cheney Ignores Senate Intel Report, Cites Zarqawi As Evidence of Iraq/Al Qaeda Connection," Think Progress, September 10, 2006. Includes video and transcript.
• Andrew Sullivan, "The Rove Campaign," The Daily Dish Blog/TIME, September 10, 2006.
• Walter Shapiro, "The never-ending War. The president uses the fifth anniversary of our national tragedy to promise a global conflict that will last decades," Salon, September 12, 2006.
• Editorial: "President Bush’s Reality," New York Times, September 12, 2006.
• John Amato, "Jon Stewart reaches out to the president while Little Richard gives us the low down...," Crooks and Liars, September 13, 2006. re Stewart's "take" on Bush's 9/11 speech.

October 2006

• Wade Zirkle, freeSpeech: "Former Marine Speaks About Staying The Course In Iraq," CBS Evening News, October 10, 2006. re Vets for Freedom
• Fareed Zakaria, "Iraq's Dark Day of Reckoning. If you were a Shiite, having suffered through a brutal insurgency and an incompetent government, would you give up your weapons?" Newsweek (MSNBC), October 16, 2006 (issue).
• Simon Hooper, "Is it time to hit 'mission abort' in Iraq?" CNN, October 19, 2006.
• "EXCLUSIVE: George Stephanopoulos' Full Interview With President Bush," ABC News, October 22, 2006.
• Nico Pitney, "Bush: 'We've Never Been Stay The Course'," Think Progress, October 22, 2006.
• Faiz Shakir, "Biden: 12-14 Conservatives Would Vote To Change Course In Iraq If Senate Changes Hands," Think Progress, October 22, 2006. re Joe Biden
• Josh Marshall, "Stay the course," Talking Points Memo, October 23, 2006.
• Mark Silva, "Stay the course, change the words," The Swamp Newsblog/Chicago Tribune, October 23, 2006.
• Peter Baker, "Bush's New Tack Steers Clear of 'Stay the Course'," Washington Post, October 24, 2006.
• Deb Reichmann, "Bush Officials: No Big Move in Iraq Plan," Associated Press (Washington Post), October 24, 2006.
• Eugene Robinson, "Seriously Misspoken," Washington Post, October 24, 2006.
• Keith Olbermann, "Stay the Course!!!" Countdown with Keith Olbermann/MSNBC, October 27, 2006. Links to YouTube.
• "Bush strategist Rove says military's should be flexible in Iraq, withdrawal not an option," Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), October 28, 2006. re "flexibility in response to changing conditions on the ground"
• Judd Legum, "REPORT: Top U.S. Military Officer Recommends 'We Remove All Troops From Baghdad'," Think Progress, October 28, 2006.
• Thomas E. Ricks and Peter Baker, "Tipping Point for War's Supporters? In Past Month, Even Stalwarts Have Called for Change in Iraq Policy," Washington Post, October 29, 2006. re John W. Warner
• Walter Pincus, "Timetables? Depends on Who's Talking," Washington Post, October 29, 2006.
• Raymond McGovern, "Bush The Cheerleader," TomPaine.com, October 30, 2006.

November 2006

• Raymond McGovern, "The Cheney-Gates Cabal," TomPaine.com, November 9, 2006. re Dick Cheney and Robert M. Gates
• Peter Goodspeed, "Gates sees Iraq exit by 2008. 'A real risk of even greater bloodshed,' U.K. Foreign Secretary says," National Post (Canada), November 10, 2006.
• Ben Feller, "Iraq exit strategies under review," Associated Press (Denver Post), November 13, 2006.
• Nico Pitney, "Frist’s Post-Election Revelation: We Are ‘Not Winning’ In Iraq," Think Progress, November 14, 2006.
• Sudarsan Raghavan, "Scores Kidnapped At Iraqi Ministry," Washington Post, November 15, 2006.
• "Pelosi announces Iraq 'Democratic forum'," The Raw Story, November 21, 2006. re Nancy Pelosi
• Dan Froomkin, "Bush v. Baker," Washington Post, November 30, 2006.

December 2006

• Robin Wright, "Officials Expect No Big Changes, No Matter What Panel Advises," Washington Post, December 2, 2006. re Iraq Study Group
• Michael R. Gordon and David S. Cloud, "Rumsfeld Memo Proposed ‘Major Adjustment’ in Iraq," New York Times, December 2, 2006. re Donald H. Rumsfeld
• Laura Rozen, Opinion: "Lessons From The Leaked Hadley Memo. Prospect: Now, More Talk Of Futility Of Status Quo In Iraq," The American Prospect (CBS News), December 2, 2006.
• "Rumsfeld memo admits Iraq strategy failing," Reuters (CNN), December 3, 2006.
• "Rumsfeld urged Iraq tactics shift," BBC, December 3, 2006.
• Mark Drajem, "Rumsfeld's Iraq Memo Part of Review, Hadley Says (Update1)," Bloomberg, December 3, 2006. re Stephen J. Hadley
• Michael Duffy, "Can Bush Find An Exit? Calls for a staged withdrawal from Iraq are forcing the President to contemplate the biggest U-turn of his political life. Here's why he's likely to make it," Time Magazine, December 3, 2006; also see article summary posted by CNN, December 3, 2006.
• Mark Drajem, "Bush May Tie Troop Levels to Iraq Government Efforts, Time Says," Bloomberg, December 3, 2006.
• "Hadley: Bush Open To Rumsfeld's Options. National Security Advisor Said President Will Consider Iraq Changes," Associated Press/CBS News, December 3, 2006.
• "Hadley: Bush knows changes needed in Iraq," CNN, December 4, 2006.
• Eric Pfeiffer, "Hadley calls leaked memo 'constructive'," Washington Times, December 4, 2006.
• David E. Sanger, "News Analysis: Amid hints Bush will change policy, clues that he won't," New York Times (International Herald Tribune), December 4, 2006.
• Carolyn Lochhead, "Bush digs in at pivotal point in Iraq war. Politically weakened president gives no signs of altering course," San Francisco Chronicle, December 4, 2006.
• Sarah Baxter, "White House to resist study group," The Australian, December 4, 2006.
• "Iraq: One by one, they tell the truth. As Tony Blair flies out to meet George Bush, the latest admission of failure in Iraq has made the two leaders appear even more isolated," The Independent (UK), December 6, 2006.
• Edward Luce, "Washington looks to ‘blame Iraqis and run’," Financial Times, December 11, 2006.
• Sylvia A. Smith, "Souder reflects on turbulent winds of change. Revises opinions on Iraq war, GOP in the minority," Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, Ind.), December 24, 2006. re Mark Souder
• David Edwards, "Video: Kristol believes Bush mulling more than 'short term surge'," The Raw Story, December 24, 2006.
• Walter Pincus, "Biden to Fight Iraq Troop Buildup. Senator Plans Hearings That He Hopes Will Influence U.S. Strategy," Washington Post, December 27, 2006. re Joe Biden
• Monisha Bansal, "Troop Surge Is 'Absolutely Wrong Strategy,' Biden Says," Cybercast News Service, December 27, 2006.
• Noam M. Levey, "Democrats will soon get a say on Iraq. Congress' new leaders aim to thwart Bush's call for a troop increase. Hearings are planned," Los Angeles Times, December 27, 2006.
• Jack Keane and Frederick W. Kagan, "The Right Type of 'Surge'. Any Troop Increase Must Be Large and Lasting," Washington Post, December 27, 2006. Note: "Jack Keane is a retired Army general. Frederick W. Kagan is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute."
• Kagro X, "The Surge is a Lie. (And You Know It.)," Daily Kos, December 27, 2006.
• "Gates orders more troops," The Australian, December 28, 2006.
• "Many U.S. Troops in Iraq Oppose Escalation," Associated Press (Editor & Publisher), December 28, 2006.
• Greg Mitchell, "'Surge' Protectors," Editor & Publisher, December 28, 2006.
• kos, "'Escalate'," Daily Kos, December 28, 2006.
• David S. Cloud and Jeff Zeleny, "Bush Considers Up to 20,000 More Troops for Iraq," New York Times, December 29, 2006.
• John Dunbar, "Lugar: Bush, Congress Should Discuss War," Associated Press (ABC News), December 31, 2006: "Former North Carolina senator John Edwards, described the troop-increase idea as the 'McCain doctrine' - after a chief advocate, Sen. John McCain - and said he believes the Arizona Republican is 'dead wrong.'"