The notion of the “Long War”, that we would be in the Middle East fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq (and eventually Iran and Pakistan and elsewhere) didn’t go over well with the Preznint’s “focus groups” over the last couple of years.
But several news items here in the dog days (Blue Dog days, maybe) of August have convinced me that the overall Bush plan is now once again to sell the Long War to America…and do it by any means necessary. The push for the Long War is already underway, and the hard sell begins in September. The only question in my mind is “How hard will the sell be?”
The war hawks have tipped their hand a number of times in just the last 72 hours about the overall game plan, and the method needed to sell it.
First, we have Gen. Petraeus with the goal:
Gen. David Petraeus told a congressional delegation visiting the Middle East that success in Iraq will require a U.S. military presence there for about a decade, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said Friday.
The commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, who will deliver a highly anticipated progress report next month, said the U.S. “will be in Iraq in some way for 9 or 10 years,” according to Schakowsky. The general also highlighted progress in Anbar province, where former Sunni insurgents have turned against Al Qaeda extremists in recent months.
Another decade, and that’s just in Iraq. How can that be possible? We certainly can’t handle that kind of extended operation, the trillion-dollar mess we’re paying for now is already coming apart. The answer? The Long War has to be packaged properly. First, the really bad news:
WASHINGTON (AP) – Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush’s new war adviser said Friday.
“I think it makes sense to certainly consider it,” Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.”
“And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation’s security by one means or another,” Lute added in his first interview since he was confirmed by the Senate in June.
Doesn’t sound to me like anyone’s making any plans to pull out of Iraq, does it? The “War Czar’s” first major interview and he’s saying the draft is in play. The Long War needs troops, because while a decade in Iraq is one thing, it’s not going to stop there:
Behind the scenes, however, the president’s top aides have been engaged in an intensive internal debate over how to respond to Iran’s support for Shiite Muslim groups in Iraq and its nuclear program. Vice President Dick Cheney several weeks ago proposed launching airstrikes at suspected training camps in Iran run by the Quds force, a special unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to two U.S. officials who are involved in Iran policy.
The debate has been accompanied by a growing drumbeat of allegations about Iranian meddling in Iraq from U.S. military officers, administration officials and administration allies outside government and in the news media. It isn’t clear whether the media campaign is intended to build support for limited military action against Iran, to pressure the Iranians to curb their support for Shiite groups in Iraq or both.
No, the Long War will expand out from Iraq into Iran. And we’re going to need those troops a draft would provide. But that’s political suicide. There’s no way the Long War can work without support from the home front. If only there were some way to draw us together as a nation…
In his Thursday column, Philadelphia Daily News scribe Stu Bykofsky seemingly wished for the tragic death of 3000+ Americans when he wrote that “another 9/11 would help America.”
A host of right-wing media outlets provided Bykofsky a national platform yesterday that largely served to give credence to the columnist’s ghoulish suggestion.
But that’s too horrible to consider, right? Ghoulish, as the guys over at TP suggest. Not all the wingnuts want to get on board that train:
Not only does Bykofsky have the wrong prescription, he has the wrong diagnosis. The problem isn’t a lack of unity in America; when have we ever been entirely of one mind? Americans thrive on diversity of thought and political opinion, on finding the best way forward by hashing out all of the options. It’s a strength and not a weakness.
The problem that Bykofsky just misses in this piece — and not by much — is the nature of a terrorist conflict. Americans simply haven’t shown the fortitude needed to fight one to the end, at least not since our attention spans shrunk from overexposure to cathode-ray tubes. We fought the Barbary Pirates for decades just after the nation’s birth, and we fought the Native Americans for decades before and after the Civil War (with little honor). Another attack on America would simply repeat the dynamic of 9/11, which would be that we commit to a fight for a couple of years, until everyone started complaining about costs and casualties to the point that Congress started demanding withdrawal.
Ahh, a three-pronged approach then. Ghoulish bloodletting for some (the ultimate I-told-you-so argument), shame and guilt to try to convince other that the real problem is America’s resolve (you can hear the Cap’n clucking his tongue), and then of course for the rest of us, there’s good ol’ fashioned fear this morning.
NEW YORK (CNN) — New York police officers screened vehicles Saturday near Wall Street with radiation detection devices as “a precautionary measure” after an unconfirmed Web report about a possible radiological attack on U.S. cities.
The report was based on chatter allegedly seen Thursday on al Qaeda Web sites, but the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and New York Police Department insist the threat is unsubstantiated.
To quote Alternet, “The Mix is the Message” here. It’s not just fear and duct tape this time. Selling the Long War in 2007 is now a mix of bloody Armageddon fantasy, armchair “24” chickenhawk patriotism lite, concern trolling, and good old fashioned white-knuckle fear. And that’s just this week’s “Clockwork Oranging”.
Millions of us are out there, asking for the endgame in Iraq. In reality, we’re being primed for the next game altogether. All it will take is The Event, the catalyst, the trigger. The next 9/11 or “unavoidable preemption attack” designed to stop it.
And then the Long War will begin in earnest. But first, the groundwork continues to be laid.
