Up-Surge!
Now, I have no way of knowing whether there has been more relative peace in Iraq in recent weeks after Gen. Petraeus and his 20,000 to 30,000 extra soldiers hit the streets. I do know that something called a "chlorine bomb" was used to attack us today. And something called a "truck bomb" attacked yesterday. Not exactly what falls under a generally-understood definition of 'peaceful,' but who knows? Maybe that's what neocons think of as peace.
My point, however, is this: there is still no way to 'win' Iraq, no matter how many sporadic outbreaks of peace there may be. The war was lost in 2002 when Rummy shredded the planning in the Pentagon and when Cheney shredded the plans at State. In fact, the war was always un-winnable with the 'leadership' that lied to us to start the whole thing.
So more than four years later, it's slipped beyond any possibility of control. We are solidly in the realm of mitigation.
Why? Because we are, in the cruelest and most extreme sense of the word, illegitimate. Disastrously, we allowed the country to slip into anarchy under our condescending noses. We knew better about everything - and yet did nothing that worked. Worse - when something did work (like providing local security) we immediately stopped doing it.
We have provided no rebuilding that is appreciable. We can't keep the lights and air conditioning going (except in our cushy Green Zone).
And we have allowed - through sheer pig-ignorance - the forces of violence and extremism to take control of the country. It was a Bush-Cheney-Rummy-Rove operation that has produced the kind of results you'd expect from what must surely be the worst management team in the history of the world.
So surge me no surges. As usual, the rightist understanding is about a millimeter deep. A half-hour's pause and they're ready to declare victory. A few more boots on the ground and the deep underlying causes of the catastrophe are magically dealt with.
I think the best we can hope for is a positive Vietnamization. That is, a healing period of separation where the government become extreme in their ideology, followed much later by a government that embraces economic reform and limited political reform.
Any hopes greater than that are made of magic pony manure.
My point, however, is this: there is still no way to 'win' Iraq, no matter how many sporadic outbreaks of peace there may be. The war was lost in 2002 when Rummy shredded the planning in the Pentagon and when Cheney shredded the plans at State. In fact, the war was always un-winnable with the 'leadership' that lied to us to start the whole thing.
So more than four years later, it's slipped beyond any possibility of control. We are solidly in the realm of mitigation.
Why? Because we are, in the cruelest and most extreme sense of the word, illegitimate. Disastrously, we allowed the country to slip into anarchy under our condescending noses. We knew better about everything - and yet did nothing that worked. Worse - when something did work (like providing local security) we immediately stopped doing it.
We have provided no rebuilding that is appreciable. We can't keep the lights and air conditioning going (except in our cushy Green Zone).
And we have allowed - through sheer pig-ignorance - the forces of violence and extremism to take control of the country. It was a Bush-Cheney-Rummy-Rove operation that has produced the kind of results you'd expect from what must surely be the worst management team in the history of the world.
So surge me no surges. As usual, the rightist understanding is about a millimeter deep. A half-hour's pause and they're ready to declare victory. A few more boots on the ground and the deep underlying causes of the catastrophe are magically dealt with.
I think the best we can hope for is a positive Vietnamization. That is, a healing period of separation where the government become extreme in their ideology, followed much later by a government that embraces economic reform and limited political reform.
Any hopes greater than that are made of magic pony manure.
posted by fiduciary at 8:52 AM
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