#2 commander in Iraq speaks up
No. 2 US Commander In Iraq: "Surge" Not Enough To Save Iraq...
"In his first wide-ranging interview, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq conceded Sunday that a military "surge" escalation would not be enough to rescue Iraq, advocating economic and political changes as well, as top Democratic lawmakers in Washington stiffened their opposition to any escalation of U.S. troop strength.
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said he believed that a combination of jobs, provincial elections, anti-militia legislation and stronger Iraqi security forces could stop the nation's plunge toward all-out civil war. Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, his predecessor, spelled out the same approach before his departure one month ago.[..]
This opinion will be deemed irrelevant because it does not meet the necessary standards of loyal sycophancy. George W. Bush doesn't listen to generals on the ground .. he only listens to "god."
Goodbye Odierno, hope you enjoy your "early retirement" .. to paraphrase Henry II, there must be *someone* who will "rid us of these meddlesome" generals.
And save Iraq from what? Muslims killing each other? Nobody seems to understand that they live in the Middle Ages as well as the Middle East .. they seem to like killing each other even more than killing us.
Yesterday the Iraqi government said 23,000 Iraqi civilians and police officers died in that country last year. If that's not a sectarian bloodbath I don't know what is.
We can't force the Iraqis to sit down and make peace with one another. We can't force them to take control of their security. We can't force them to take control of their government, or balance out the power in that country.
Just you wait, as soon as we leave, whether it's now or in 10 years, someone like Saddam or the president of Iran will seize power. The Iraqis will get what they deserve for not taking the opportunity for freedom and democracy that we tried to give them. I guess it's more difficult than we think -- entering the 21st century from the 12th century.
Meanwhile, our soldiers are sitting ducks .. "patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day," (Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.) Our military will clean up a village .. then, as soon as they leave, the insurgency returns to regain a stronghold. Iraqi security forces don't keep the village secure because they are more concerned with tribal affiliations.
This war is being carried out in our names, with our money, with our blood, against our will. Polls consistently show that 70% of us want it to come to an end. Now.
Congress is limited in what they can do to bring Bush to heel. They won't cut off funding for the war because that might prove harmful to troops already deployed. They could impose a funding cap .. like the one used to limit US military involvement in Latin America. More likely though, Congress will conduct hearings. Lots of hearings.
Or .. Congress could call for a series of no confidence votes on the president and the war. Democrats tried this before--a no-confidence vote on Rumsfeld--but they were in the minority and it never made it to the floor.
I'm reminded of that Seinfeld episode where George pisses off everybody at his workplace .. but they can't seem to fire him .. so they ask him to resign .. yet he keeps showing up every day, out of spite.
Is that what is going on with Bush? His party just got dumped in the elections, everybody knows his Iraq policy has failed, and everybody wants us to get out of Iraq as soon as possible .. yet he does exactly the opposite of what most of Congress, the generals, and we the people want.
Will he go ahead and "surge" out of spite? And we should stop calling an escalation a "surge" .. it reminds me of what happened to the levees in New Orleans.
