From the Washington Post of 11 Feb 2007:
Quote:
Victory Is Not an Option
The Mission Can't Be Accomplished -- It's Time for a New Strategy
The new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq starkly delineates the gulf that separates President Bush's illusions from the realities of the war. Victory, as the president sees it, requires a stable liberal democracy in Iraq that is pro-American. The NIE describes a war that has no chance of producing that result. In this critical respect, the NIE, the consensus judgment of all the U.S. intelligence agencies, is a declaration of defeat.
Its gloomy implications -- hedged, as intelligence agencies prefer, in rubbery language that cannot soften its impact -- put the intelligence community and the American public on the same page. The public awakened to the reality of failure in Iraq last year and turned the Republicans out of control of Congress to wake it up. But a majority of its members are still asleep, or only half-awake to their new writ to end the war soon.
Perhaps this is not surprising. Americans do not warm to defeat or failure, and our politicians are famously reluctant to admit their own responsibility for anything resembling those un-American outcomes. So they beat around the bush, wringing hands and debating "nonbinding resolutions" that oppose the president's plan to increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.
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Those with feet in reality knew how bad Iraq is just by reading the Iraq Study Group report and 79 tasks necessary to get out. That report that said "Way Forward" will not work? George Jr pretends it does not exist. He can because, well, read George Jr, Cheney, et al are as divorced from reality as Ronald Cherrycoke.
How divorced from reality are our leaders? Just like in Vietnam, ever major intelligence service said the bombing would not work. So we continued a lost war anyway - since the American soldier is something to be sacrificed. Only 22 Senators had to the balls to vote as American patriots against "Mission Accomplished". Even Hilary Clinton will not fully admit her major leadership fubar. Recently the Republicans (and Henry Reid) voted to protect this mental midget's crusade.
From The Economist of 10 Feb 2007 - and this should concern everyone:
Quote:
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"We are not planning for a war with Iran." So said Robert Gates, America's new defence secretary, on February 2nd. You cannot be much clearer than that. With a weak and isolated president, and an army bogged down in the misery of Iraq, the American Congress and people are hardly in fighting mood. Nonetheless, and despite Mr Gate's calming words, Iran and American are heading for a collision. Although the risk is hard to quantify, there exists a real possibility that George Bush will order a military strike on Iran some time before he leave the White House two years from now.
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This is not a source to quibble with. The USS Eisenhower task force was surged to the Gulf recently. Now the USS Stennis is joining 'Ike' to conduct operations close to the Iranian coast.
Does that sound like a president listening to the people? Sounds just like Melvin Laird and Richard Nixon when they also claimed we had no plans to invade Cambodia. What resulted from that invasion? The Khmer Rouge and the killing fields.
Again: lessons from history. When a nation was obviously discontented with Vietnam (especially after Tet exposed the lies), then what did Nixon do? Nixon invaded Cambodia. We were only discontented. Deja vue. We are only discontented with "Mission Accomplished". So far, lessons of Vietnam strongly repeat in "Mission Accomplished". Why would a Cambodian invasion not reoccur as the 'Pearl Harboring' of Iran? After all, George Jr announced the countries he intends to fix - the axis of evil. Iran is next. You are only discontented.
How often would you ask a stranger "When do we go after bin Laden?" How often do you ask such embarrassing questions? Why not? By not doing so, we are tacitly encouraging the mental midget to expand on his legacy. He (actually Cheney) truly believe they are the good guys. Why would anyone dispute this? Even in the Cellar, the discontent is mild. Deja vue Vietnam - or why Nixon thought nothing of invading Cambodia.
"When do we go after bin Laden?"
The rhetoric has started to hype our 'big dics' into supporting more war. This Cover Story
scary picture is based in current facts AND from lessons of Vietnam: