Officials in Mr. Sadr’s office in Sadr City would not comment Wednesday on whether the bombing campaign would provoke a resurgence of the Mahdi Army, though they declared that the continuing attacks underscored the failure of the security plan. “The security situation is worsening,” said Abdul Mehdi Mutayri, one of the top political officers for Mr. Sadr’s organization. “The security plan might have been declared a success in the media, but it has failed on the ground.”
As things continue to spiral out of control in Iraq, I think it is important that we; as concerned Americans remember those who are still in support of this debacle. The reason I say this is because every soldier that is sent to Iraq and every life that is lost from here on out is the responsibility of those supporting our continued presence there.
It is one thing to not know and believe. It is a far different thing to know and not care. Even though it is early in this new “surge” strategy, it is obvious it will work no better than the previous “surges”. What the supporters fail to understand is that the biggest issue facing Iraq is not going to be solved militarily. As soon as Saddam Hussein was toppled it was no longer a military operation. At that point it became political for the US as well as the Iraqi’s. It was at that moment that we lost the peace and the confidence of the Iraqi people. The mistakes made in those first days sealed the fate of this operation and we have never been able to be overcome them. We had great plans for the invasion and no plans for the peace. There were glimpses of opportunities to overcome the initial failings, but even those were not taken advantage of.
I hate to be the one to acknowledge what any reasonable person should be able to see, this thing is beyond our repair. I did not say that it is beyond repair, just beyond our ability to repair it. We no longer have the leverage or the political will to do what needs to be done. We should withdraw our troops to the perimeter border of Iraq; we should allow the process of reconciliation to be headed by the UN and the regional powers, and finally we should accept that freedom cannot be planned. If it were then it would no longer be freedom. This would defy the very definition of freedom. Iraq should show us that when you make an offer of freedom to a people you cannot control the outcome.
Discussing the Democratic approach on “The Charlie Rose Show” on PBS taped Tuesday, Mr. Bush was asked what evidence he had that a hard withdrawal date would have a negative impact in Iraq. “Just logic,” Mr. Bush replied. “I mean, you say we start moving troops out. Don’t you think an enemy is going to wait and adjust based upon an announced timetable of withdrawal?”
Mr. Bush continues to use his “fuzzy” logic to justify a failed policy. This administration continues to use the same old tried and true slogans to bolster this policy that was doomed from the start. According to Mr. Cheney the legislation now being considered will guarantee defeat, no Mr. Cheney what has guaranteed the defeat is false justification of the war, insufficient troop levels, and no plan for reconstruction. And of course all of these factors are the Democrats fault. When will this administration finally step up and accept responsibility for something, anything?
“What’s most troubling about Senator Reid’s comments yesterday is his defeatism,” said Mr. Cheney. “And the timetable legislation that he is now pursuing would guarantee defeat. Maybe it is a political calculation.”
When are these guys going to get it? At what cost must we pay for their continuing to promote this delusional thinking? Are there a certain number of deaths we must hit, before it is acceptable to change strategies? If there is then who determines that number? We keep hearing that our support is not open ended, but every chance these two get they are saying just the opposite.
The last election results in Iraq were the exact opposite of what we had predicted and desired. Instead of a secular government run by technocrats, we now have an Islamic partisan government headed by religious leaders. Some of whom have deep ideological positions with Iran. Could we have crafted a worse scenario?
The view that Iraq will become a blood bath in our absence is a smoke screen for continued involvement. No one wants to acknowledge the failure of our policies. Will there be continued violence in Iraq? Yes there will be, but we have that now. No one can stop the internal struggle that the Iraqis have chosen to participate in. All we are doing is prolonging the inevitable struggle that must take place for the Iraqis to decide the character of their nation. It is up to them to decide what the definition of their country will be and unfortunately that is going to require some violence. We need to accept that fact and stop believing that we or anyone else can prevent it. Our only hope at this point is to contain it as much as possible. As long as we stay there in the capacity we now hold, we are only preventing them from doing those things that must be done to recreate their nation.
Those who refuse to acknowledge these facts and want to continue to send our young men and women into the meat grinder that Iraq is becoming must and should be held accountable. We have become like the compulsive gambler that wants to continue spending “good money” after “bad”, hoping for that one big score to make everything right again. This administration is like the drug addict that believes against all evidence to the contrary that just one more pill, just one more hit will cure what ails him. We need to cut our losses and wait for the smoke to clear. At some point in the future we may be able to offer the Iraqis some reconstruction support, but this is not the time. Just as we had to decide the character of our nation during our civil war, the Iraqis must also do the same. We have opened this “Pandora’s Box” and there is no closing it. We must let those who want to continue to push this failed policy know that there is a cost. You cannot continue to knowingly maim and kill our kids. We must rise up and say enough is enough. Have you had enough?
