November 15, 2006

No Middle East Experts In Iraq Study Group

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Crooks and Liars points out the obvious–that not one member of the Iraq Study Group is a Middle East expert. James Baker (remember Florida 2000?), Lawrence Eagleburger, Alan Simpson, Charles Robb, William Perry, and Sandra Day O’Connor have a lot of expertise among them, but none of it has anything to do with the Middle East.

If this sounds familiar, it should. The people planning the invasion of Iraq–the “cakewalk” group–had little understanding of Iraq’s religious sects and its divided culture. Now the emphasis is on bi-partisanship. Nothing wrong with that, to be sure, but wouldn’t it help if at least one person understood the territory?

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This is a big one for us. So, as we ask you to consider supporting our team's journalism, we thought we'd slow down and check in about where Mother Jones is and where we're going after the chaotic last several years. This comparatively slow moment is also an urgent one for Mother Jones: You can read more in "Slow News Is Good News," and if you're able to, please support our team's hard-hitting journalism and help us reach our big $350,000 goal with a donation today.

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