By the Bushists' own terms for victory, it looks like we've ALREADY LOST

From pages 4-6 of the National Strategy:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/international/20051130military-text.pdf



THE CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE

�� If we and our Iraqi partners fail in Iraq, Iraq will become:

• A safe haven for terrorists as Afghanistan once was, only this time in some of the world’s most strategic territory, with vast natural resources to exploit and to use to fund future attacks.

• A country where oppression – and the brutal imposition of inhumane practices, such as those of the Taliban in Afghanistan – is pervasive.

• A failed state and source of instability for the entire Middle East, with all the attendant risks and incalculable costs for American security and prosperity.

�� Furthermore, if we and our Iraqi partners fail in Iraq, the terrorists will have:

• Won a decisive victory over the United States, vindicating their tactics of beheadings, suicide bombings, and ruthless intimidation of civilians, inviting more deadly attacks against Americans and other free people across the globe.

• Placed the American people in greater danger by destabilizing a vital region, weakening our friends, and clearing the way for terrorist attacks here at home. The terrorists will be emboldened in their belief that America cannot stand and fight, but will cut and run in the face of adversity.

• Called into question American credibility and commitment in the region and the world. Our friends and foes alike would doubt our staying power, and this would damage our efforts to counter other security threats and to advance other economic and political interests worldwide.

�� Since 1998, Al Qaida has repeatedly cited Vietnam, Beirut, and Somalia, as examples to encourage more attacks against America and our interests overseas. <Translation: We are allowing the terrorists to goad us into another quagmire.>

• Weakened the growing democratic impulses in the region. Middle East reformers would never again fully trust American assurances of support for democracy and pluralism in the region – a historic opportunity, central to America’s long-term security, forever lost. If we retreat from Iraq, the terrorists will pursue us and our allies, expanding the fight to the rest of the region and to our own shores.

Come out with a plan after you've messed it up to the point that there's really no hope. I'm waiting for the economic recovery plan ...

is that all these undesirable results are the direct consequence of the US entering Iraq in the first place. They were not inevitable until we went in. Now there's nothing we can do to stop it. It's so tragically hilarious.

:banghead:

Repubs will spin this until they are a whirling dirvish, but the facts will remain the same.

Great post! :thumbsup:

edit spelling

the U.S. FAILED. Mission Accomplished.