Out of Iraq

Ssh … don’t tell the anti-war media … but one of our two Middle East wars seems to be drawing to a successful conclusion.
While much angst has been expressed at the worsening of the Afghan War, the news from Iraq is better. The last American combat unit has left Iraq seven years after the US invaded the Mideast nation.
“Troops from the Army’s 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Division, drove through the night and arrived in Kuwait just before 4 a.m. local time,” the New York Post reported on Thursday.
I’m happy that the troops’ mission is completed, happy for the loved ones who I hope will see them home soon, and happy that a war that, pre-surge, seemed as out of control as Afghanistan looks today now appears headed toward a satisfactory resolution. (If only the media shared this good news along with all the bad news from Afghanistan. Even the pro-military Post buried the story with a mere four paragraphs on Page 16, although there is a longer AP story online.)
Fifty thousand US troops remain in Iraq. The military faced an Aug. 31 deadline -- a week from next Tuesday -- to decrease its presence there. It looks like mission accomplished, although “a senior administration official” told the Post that “the combat mission is not over.” Yet it may be reaching what Churchill would have called “the beginning of the end.”
I am, frankly, surprised that the Iraq War is winding up before the Afghan War. We entered Iraq under far murkier reasons and with far less international support than we did Afghanistan … and in the wake of the atrocities committed against Americans in Fallujah and the resentment Americans created with the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, it seemed like the war would never end. However, the US then adopted countermoves like the surge and pacifying locals … and they seem to have paid off. Gen. David Petraeus and Presidents Bush and Obama all deserve credit for this … some more than others.
We can’t bring back our military dead or the Iraqi civilian dead. Yet we can leave Iraq in a hopeful shape for the future. May its democracy last and its citizens know domestic tranquility.
Iraq still faces problems, but it’s good to know that the country appears to be in stable enough hands that the US can diminish its presence there so that now, we can focus on the remaining mess in Afghanistan.

Bob Gates: Serpent in Obama's Garden

Gates Cobra Cartoon, originally uploaded by rbtenorio.

Look out, Mr. President ... there's a GOP serpent in your garden ... and as the Iran memo proves, his name is Defense Secretary Bob Gates!
Read more in the latest "The Devil Made Me Blog It."

George Bush's Shoe-manship

Shoe Cartoon
Originally uploaded by rbtenorio

While visiting Iraq, President Bush had two shoes thrown at him by Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi. Satan thinks Dubya should have responded creatively, as he explains in the latest episode of "The Devil Made Me Blog It"!

Dubya fans can't get even a quantum of solace

On Saturday, my muse and I saw two movies -- "W" and "Quantum of Solace" -- at the Somerville Theater. While only one was a portrayal of Bush, and while only one was truly fictional, both contained lessons in how we see the Bush Administration.
First, the protagonist of each film wants revenge. Josh Brolin's Bush seeks revenge on Saddam Hussein after the Iraqi leader's alleged involvement in an assassination plot against Dubya's dad, ex-president George H.W. Bush. (The Huffington Post disputes whether such a plot existed.) Daniel Craig's 007, meanwhile, pursues revenge for the death of his lover, Vesper Lynd.
Just as common as the revenge element are conspiracy theories. Which is more believable -- Richard Dreyfuss' Dick Cheney arguing that an occupation of Iraq would help the US rule the oil market and preserve American global hegemony? (Um, no comment.) Or Bond villain Dominic Greene sparking distrust of environmental groups through his portrayal of an eco-do-gooder with bad motives? (He wants to manipulate the Bolivian water supply.)
Revenge and conspiracies abound in both films, and maybe it's no mistake that they each contain characters who go by one initial -- Judi Dench's M and, of course, the president. What this also reveals, though, is how disturbing the presidency has become when the cartoonish elements of a cloack-and-dagger flick permeate it.

"The Devil Made Me Blog It" is now a comic book!

THE DEVIL DEBUTS IN BOSTON AREA!
 
Just in time for Halloween and Election Day, Rich Tenorio's Web comic "The Devil Made Me Blog It" has made its print debut as a comic book. "The Devil Made Me Blog It" has appeared in print form in five locations in the greater Boston area -- and potentially more! 
 A compilation of Tenorio's weekly blog postings plus heretofore-unseen samples from his sketchbooks, "The Devil Made Me Blog It" chronicles the 2008 presidential saga to date -- from Barack Obama and John McCain choosing their vice presidents to the subsequent presidential debates to the accompanying dramas of the Iraq War and the economic crisis.
 "The Devil Made Me Blog It" is currently sold at the following locations:
 Hub Comics, 19 Bow Street, Somerville, MA 02143 / (617) 718-0987 / hubcomics@gmail.com
Comicazi, 407 Highland Ave., Somerville, MA 02144 / (617) 666-2664 / thebadkidsinc@yahoo.com
The Million Year Picnic, 99 Mt. Auburn Street (downstairs), Cambridge, MA 02138 / (617) 492-6763
New England Comics, 14A Eliot Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 / (617) 354-5352
Harrison's Comics & Collectibles, 252 Essex Street, Salem, MA 01970 / (978) 741-0786
 Read "The Devil Made Me Blog It" each week at http://richardtenorio.blogspot.com. For more info, please email rich.tenorio@gmail.com.