Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Does Bush want to Cut and Run? You bet he does.
During his confirmation hearings Rummy's replacement Gates dropped a bomb on Bush by admitting we're not winning. Colin Powell said Iraq conflict can already be described as a civil war. Malaki cancelled a summet meeting with him, an unprecedented snub. The despised Democrats trounced his party on election day with the Iraq war as the polarizing issue. Tomorrow a long-awaited study will probably add to Bush's woes by calling for cooperation with Syria and Iran. Bush is finding it harder to suggest bombing Iran under the circumstances. And in the background, the resurgent Taliban are retaking control of Afghanistan except for Kabul.
Things are not going Bush's way. Of course he wants to put Iraq behind him.
Another way we can tell he wants out is that he still insists that our troops have to stay. He's such a consistent liar that we can interpret that to mean there will be some kind of pull back of troops.
But how to get out of the game without admitting he lost? The best way would be if someone would upset the chessboard so that playing the game is no longer an option. A raging civil war would do the trick, but there could be other scenarios.
American troops and mercenaries probably can't turn the Iraqi police force into peacekeepers. That's a police job, not a military job. American soldiers are perceived by Iraqis as murderers and torturers. Not the kind of models one wants. It doesn't matter if more troops should be added, they are the wrong people for the job, and so the job won't get done. Besides, each day sees more soldiers killed, and the magic number of 3,000 is approaching. The American public won't be too happy when that number is reached and there is no end to the killing in sight.
Perhaps the time is ripe to end the occupation and bring our troops home. Let's see what Bush does to preserve his legacy. Such as it is.
Things are not going Bush's way. Of course he wants to put Iraq behind him.
Another way we can tell he wants out is that he still insists that our troops have to stay. He's such a consistent liar that we can interpret that to mean there will be some kind of pull back of troops.
But how to get out of the game without admitting he lost? The best way would be if someone would upset the chessboard so that playing the game is no longer an option. A raging civil war would do the trick, but there could be other scenarios.
American troops and mercenaries probably can't turn the Iraqi police force into peacekeepers. That's a police job, not a military job. American soldiers are perceived by Iraqis as murderers and torturers. Not the kind of models one wants. It doesn't matter if more troops should be added, they are the wrong people for the job, and so the job won't get done. Besides, each day sees more soldiers killed, and the magic number of 3,000 is approaching. The American public won't be too happy when that number is reached and there is no end to the killing in sight.
Perhaps the time is ripe to end the occupation and bring our troops home. Let's see what Bush does to preserve his legacy. Such as it is.
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