It Can’t Be Won Militarily; So, Send More Troops?

http://english.alarabonline.org/display.asp?fname=2006%5C12%5C12-21%5Czopinionz%5C961.htm&dismode=x&ts=21/12/2006%2004:09:54%20%C3%A3

As Robert Gates takes the helm at the Pentagon this week, he can be in no doubt that Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush remain determined to stay the course in Iraq (without using those words) for the next two years. What Gates probably does not realize is that the U.S. military is about to commit hara-kiri.

The media are abuzz with trial balloons leaking word that President George W. Bush is about to approve a “surge” in US troop strength in Iraq by tens of thousands. At the same time, surge advocate Sen. Lindsay Graham (R, SC), just back from a brief visit to the Green Zone with fellow surgers John McCain (R, AZ) and Joe Lieberman (D, CT), has warned that “the amount of troops will make no difference” if Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki avoids taking “bold” moves. The three pretend to be unaware that the most important move for which they pressed—breaking with radical Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr—would amount to political suicide for Maliki.

Incoming Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D, NV), who owes his position to the popular revolt in November against the war, has said he can “go along” with a surge, but only for two to three months and only as part of a broader strategy to bring combat forces home by early 2008. Meanwhile, says Reid, Democrats will “give the military anything they want.”

Is it conceivable that Reid doesn’t know that this is about the next two years—not months? Former Army vice chief of staff Gen. Jack Keane, one of the anointed retired generals who have Bush’s ear, is urging him to send 30,000 to 40,000 more troops and has already dismissed the possibility of a time-frame shorter than one and a half years. Egged on by “full-speed-ahead” Cheney, Bush is determined that the war not be lost while he is president. But events are fast overtaking White House preferences and moving toward denouement well before two more years are up.

Perhaps it was not quite the way he meant it, but Bush has gotten one thing right; there will indeed be no “graceful exit.” And that goes in spades, if he sends still more troops to the quagmire.

Oxymoron

Let’s send more troops to Iraq so we can pull our troops out of Iraq. A generation from now, our grandchildren will have difficulty writing history papers on this oxymoronic debate on how to surge/withdraw our troops into/from the quagmire in Iraq. snip

Admit that the war isn't going so well, get rid of donald and put in a guy that says Iraq's failing and then implement the exact same plan you had from the beginning! These damn pr tactics just piss me off, we (the average american) are not that stupid BUSH! We know when we are being fed bullshit because it tastes like pickles! ewww

Didn't the French army essentially give up in 1917 or early 1918 after years of essentially being run through a shredder? Granted, our casualties in Iraq don't compare with those of WWI, but it's hard to see where this sort of misuse and abuse won't have consequences (especially if The Decider goes ahead with the attack on Iran he seems to be itching for).

P.S.: It's hard for me to shake the impression that Harry Reid is a bit of a numbnuts. Sorry I can't be more constructive, but there it is.

The Turks, the Italians vs. the Austro-Hungarians, the Serbs vs. the Austro-Hungarians, the Franco-Empire vs. Germany, Bulgaria vs. Romania, Romania vs. Hungary, Russia vs. Germany/Austria. It was a madhouse, and most of the crowned heads were bloody cousins!

Russia gave up first in the Peace of Brest-Livostok -- status quo ante bellum.

Romania was occupied by the Germans. Italy was in the Tyrol and part of the Adriadic Coast. Belgium and Poland were destroyed. The Brits and the Germans were getting very hungry by 1918 and everyone was tired as hell.

The pod people all talk this way, just walk by and don't make eye contact.

Great plan, throw gas on the fire. Oh well, at least gas is relatively cheap now.

whenever you find yourself in a hole."
old Republican proverb

Bush is creating jobs in Iraq!

I love reading LTTE's about how Bush will be remembered-these clearly one step removed from astroturf letters as they all claim not just greatness for him but the ultimate greatestest ever status.

Basically the same letters are written for whatever the distracting topic of the week is for the rabble. Then they are slapped in the face with it (gay marriage, Schiavo, swearing on Korans, etc.) they forget/ignore it and move on. This is no different.

Bush is going to be paid off by the people who benefitted when he used the military to cover start costs in their ME operation whether it is a new operation or not.

That is why the supposed roe between Baker and Bush et al was so funny-they both have the same client or customer-the Saudis.