Sir, I don't know if the Iraq war makes America safer...
That was the most honest thing he said.
All I really heard was -- give us another year, a couple hundred billion more dollars, oh and several hundred more soldiers' lives, so Bush won't have to take the blame for his own eff-up.
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gen. David Petraeus' report of progress in Iraq may have bought George W. Bush more time to pursue the war while blunting Democrats' immediate hopes of imposing a timetable for a U.S. pullout.
Anticipation by Democrats that the Petraeus report would prompt a sea change in policy have dissipated, even as Americans overwhelmingly tell pollsters they are ready for the troops to come home. [..]"
The Democrats tried to keep it real .. just overdid the speechifying a bit. But hey, so did the Republicans .. who fluffed up and fawned all over Petraeus .. oh my general how wonderful you are .. oh general you are the greatest American hero ever .. oh general may I touch your medals?
I wish he could've said the truth:
"Bush and the neo-cons under-manned and under-planned at the start of this war .. they had no backup plan when the flowers and chocolates didn't appear .. they decided we should guard the oil fields instead of the museums and ammo dumps .. they disbanded the army, as well as the top 20 percent of society, and told them all they could never be rehired.
Then Bush and the neo-cons were surprised when those people got upset and banded into sectarian groups and fought back. What was originally touted by the neo-cons in charge as lasting "6 days, 6 weeks, I doubt 6 months" and costing upwards of $50 billion (the $200 billion number was dismissed as way off), is almost in its 6th YEAR, and will cost over TWENTY TIMES the original estimates .. probably closer to forty times.
While Anbar has quieted a bit .. overall, violence is at about the same level. After the president left the other day, 4 more soldiers were killed and 2 bridges were blown up.
Iraqi police are just as likely to be loyal to their tribe as the force. There are more "no-go" zones where tribal leaders are the law. No US administration official has been able to make an announced trip to Iraq since the invasion. The road from the Baghdad airport to the Green Zone is still a suicide drive.
Senators, there is no end in sight of our occupation of Iraq."
Wouldn't that be refreshing?
Another thing .. since so many of the Iraqi people in formerly populated areas are already dead, and millions more have done the refugee thing in Syria, there are just fewer people left in Iraq.
Maybe this is why they think the surge is working.
