By Jim Stanford on September 18, 2007
No well-thought-out plan for partitioning Iraq along ethnic and religious lines.
No effort to engage Iraq’s neighbors through diplomacy.
No end in sight to the U.S. occupation, and the squandering of blood and treasure.
Why?
Because “We’re kicking ass.”
Last week’s speech by President Bush on Iraq was so pathetically detached from reality — “an ally of the United States is fighting for its survival” — that it would have made the Soviet-era editors of Pravda blush.
To the long list of propaganda slogans we have been fed — Shock and Awe, Mission Accomplished, Plan for Victory, New Way Forward, The Surge — comes perhaps the most Orwellian of all: Return on Success.
Dan Froomkin of WashingtonPost.com has a particularly sharp evisceration of the fantastical fairy tale Bush spun of Iraq.
A sampling:
Said Bush: “One year ago, much of Baghdad was under siege. … Today, … ordinary life is beginning to return.”
To call anything in today’s Baghdad even vaguely normal is flatly outrageous.
“Now, because of the measure of success we are seeing in Iraq, we can begin seeing troops come home.”
Actually, he has no choice. Pentagon officials have long said Bush’s troop buildup could not be sustained past next summer without huge damage to the military.
“A free Iraq will marginalize extremists, unleash the talent of its people, and be an anchor of stability in the region.”
That’s what I think of when I think of Iraq: An anchor of stability.
Earth to Bush: “Iraq” as you know it has ceased to exist. A sane leader would try to salvage a solution that allows the major sects to coexist while governing themselves.
No, instead we will press ahead with a strategy equivalent to sticking together Yugoslavia.
Meanwhile, the drumbeat continues from the vice president’s office for war with Iran.
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If you have not seen the Tom Toles cartoon on Cheney’s latest plan, click here.
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Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal finally has added his voice to criticism of the war, albeit subtly. Gov Dave says U.S. foreign policy is draining resources we could be using to develop new energy sources at home, particularly so-called “clean” coal technology.
So far, the Iraq War has cost the taxpayers of Wyoming nearly $800 million.
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Meanwhile, over at Around the Campfire, Foster Friess appears to have thrown in the towel on his blog. The Republican champion who visited Iraq recently has not responded to his many critics in weeks.
Funny, on Aug. 29 he wrote: “I have found those who begin to see the validity of my points either change the subject or run from the discussion.”
Posted under Iraq war, dick cheney, george w. bush, politics
