RSS

Spencer Ackerman

Spencer Ackerman, a senior correspondent for The American Prospect, is a senior reporter for The Washington Independent.

Recent Articles

I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING, SO YOU'D BETTER LET ME KEEP DOING IT.

Spencer AckermanJan 17, 2007

I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING, SO YOU'D BETTER LET ME KEEP DOING IT. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that part of George W. Bush's plan to sell escalation would be to admit failure. Yet in an interview with Jim Lehrer yesterday, that's exactly what Bush did:

Look, I had a choice to make, Jim, and that is - one - do what we're doing. And one could define that maybe a slow failure.

HISTORY REARS UP TO SPIT IN YOUR FACE.

Spencer AckermanJan 12, 2007

HISTORY REARS UP TO SPIT IN YOUR FACE. The enormity of what happened in Irbil yesterday is just starting to become clear. To recap, U.S. forces raided the Iranian liaison office in Irbil -- apparently it's not an actual consulate -- seized a number of computers and other documents, and took six Iranian nationals into custody. The six are accused of involvement in attacks on U.S. forces. What will happen to them? Here's Eli Lake in today's New York Sun:

EVEN BETTER THAN A SURGE!

Spencer AckermanJan 11, 2007

EVEN BETTER THAN A SURGE! Why didn't we think of this, liberals? In order to complete the liberation of the Iraqis, we have to put them in concentration camps! So says conservative blogger Josh Trevino:

One might look to Algeria, where the Morice Line offers an instructive example of just how a hostile border can and should be sealed; and one might look especially to the Boer War, in which a fractious, semi-fanatical culture was slowly ground into submission by an occupying force � several years after the seeming success of the initial invasion. If it sounds familiar, it should: and so the means of victory there offer an instructive thought experiment for Iraq today.

WHEN GENOCIDAIRES TALK, THE RIGHT LISTENS.

Spencer AckermanJan 11, 2007

WHEN GENOCIDAIRES TALK, THE RIGHT LISTENS. Understandably, everyone's attention is going to the Call to Escalation -- hey, we're inching toward a whole 'nother war with Iran! -- but it would be a shame to ignore Stephen Rademaker's Washington Post op-ed on Darfur. Rademaker, until recently an assistant secretary of state for destroying international institutions, blames the International Criminal Court for the genocide. Seriously!

DIE FOR THE VANITY OF GEORGE BUSH.

Spencer AckermanJan 04, 2007

DIE FOR THE VANITY OF GEORGE BUSH. This Jim Miklaszewski report needs to be exhibit A in the case against escalation:

Interestingly enough, one administration official admitted to us today that this surge option is more of a political decision than a military one because the American people have run out of patience and President Bush is running out of time to achieve some kind of success in Iraq.

Pages