Great, Where's Lindsay Graham Going To Buy His Rugs Now?

"Sorry folks, park's closed. Moose out front shoulda told ya."

On April 1, 2007, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) strolled through the open-air Shorja market in Baghdad in an effort to prove that Americans are “not getting the full picture” of what’s going on in Iraq. In a press conference after his Baghdad tour, McCain told a reporter that his visit to the market was proof that people could “walk freely” in parts of Baghdad.

What McCain failed to mention was that he was accompanied by “100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead.” He also appeared to be wearing a bulletproof vest during his visit.

Since that trip, McCain has claimed that the situation in Iraq has improved even more. A few months ago, McCain claimed that “we’ve succeeded militarily” in Iraq. Things, of course, are going so well, that he wants to keep U.S. troops there for at least 100 years.

McCain is now back in Iraq for a “surprise visit with Iraqi and American diplomatic and military leaders.” He is joined by fellow Iraq war defenders Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). But it’s unlikely they will be visiting the Shorja market again. Today, CNN reported that they tried to visit the Shorja market, but it was too unsafe and they were unable to go.

(via)

This is a major blow to the Iraqi rug industry.

I'm going to have a lot more about the "Responsible Plan" being offered by progressive candidates today. This is a major development, the first tangible one toward ending the war since the Democratic takeover of Congress in 2006. That ended up having no material effect, but this might. I also will have a lot from a panel I sat in on with Brian Katulis of the Center for American Progress, perhaps one of the most knowledgeable foreign policy experts we have on our side of the aisle. There's a moment we're coming to where progressives can finally get together and do something to end this catastrophic occupation.