"Progress" According to Joe

Joe Knollenberg has very little to say about the war in Iraq. He has been a follower on the issue, not a leader. He rubber stamps whatever George Bush says.

At most he explains that he wants to see "progress" in Iraq.

He has been saying that for months. How long do we have to wait until we know if they are making progress?

Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki Supports Militias & Not the U.S.
According to the Washington Post, Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki is actually working against us, not with us. He is firing army and police officers who are too aggressive in combating militias:

A department of the Iraqi prime minister's office is playing a leading role in the arrest and removal of senior Iraqi army and national police officers, some of whom had apparently worked too aggressively to combat violent Shiite militias, according to U.S. military officials in Baghdad.

The problem is that Maliki is merely a puppet for Al Sadr and his militas. How can we possibly train Iraqi troops and quell violence when they are not really working with us, but instead are taking the training and the weapons we supply and using them against Sunnis and even American troops. Is that progress?

U.S. Has Given Up on Goal of Training Iraqi Troops to "Stand Up"

For years we have heard Bush say that our troops will "stand down when the Iraqi troops stand up". And that we have been training the Iraqi troops so they can stand up. Bush has been saying that since before the elections in 2004.

Well, apparently we've given up on that goal:

Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled provinces.

Training Iraqi troops, which had been the cornerstone of the Bush administration's Iraq policy since 2005, has dropped in priority, officials in Baghdad and Washington said.

Is that progress? Is giving up on training Iraqi's progress? If we don't train them, how will they ever stand up so that we can stand down?

How Many More U.S. Troops Have To Die Before We See "Progress"?
Bush announced the escalation of the war in Iraq in January and began increasing the troop levels in February. The results so far? More U.S. troops died in April than any other month this year.

Joe Knollenberg Has Failed To Show Any Leadership on Iraq

Knollenberg has never once stood up for changing policies or strategies in Iraq. He has done nothing but quiver in Bush's shadow.

If this is progress, then how much more progress can we bare?

How many more U.S. troops Have To Die before we know if we are making "progress"?

We Deserve A Leader in Congress. Retire Joe Knollenberg.