ElHombre
06-09-2007, 01:07 AM
It seems even the mainstream media is finally getting the message that Bush has no f***ing idea (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19099768/site/newsweek) of what to do about Iraq besides dump it on the next admin.
Just how long is the issue of the day in Iraq-obsessed Washington. And frighteningly, no one seems more confused about the plan than Bush himself. In two separate appearances in the last week, he alternately invoked last fall’s Baker-Hamilton report—which envisioned a substantial pullout by early 2008—and America’s South Korea occupation, which has been a robust front-line presence for more than 50 years. Which is it?
Answer C: neither. The article then goes on to do something rather novel for the so-called liberal media: it actually analyzes what Bush is saying and tries to find out if he knows what he's talking about. As usual, the answer's no.
All of which brings us to Bush’s recent invocation of South Korea, where tens of thousands of U.S. troops have been stationed along or near the border since the truce that ended the Korean War—there is no peace treaty—54 years ago. But here the president apparently hasn’t thought things through either. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in an interview last week, told me that there was no Status of Forces Agreement with the Shiite-led government, which is increasingly dominated by the virulently anti-American Sadr, that would legally permit a long-term U.S. presence. <> Nor is there any sign of a truce between Sunnis and Shia. So Iraq really is nothing like South Korea.
And training the Iraqi Army has run into a problem. The troops needed to train the Iraqis are too busy fighting.
The big trade-off of the surge that few people are taking note of—what it really has cost us—is that it is taking precious time away from the program to bring the Iraqi Army to readiness. The surge is therefore ensuring that U.S. troops will have to remain longer on the front lines of an intractable sectarian war.
As many have noted, the first step in effectively dealing with the Iraq mess is getting rid of the folks who got us here in the first place. That means Bush, Cheney, and all their goons have to leave. The sooner, the better.
Just how long is the issue of the day in Iraq-obsessed Washington. And frighteningly, no one seems more confused about the plan than Bush himself. In two separate appearances in the last week, he alternately invoked last fall’s Baker-Hamilton report—which envisioned a substantial pullout by early 2008—and America’s South Korea occupation, which has been a robust front-line presence for more than 50 years. Which is it?
Answer C: neither. The article then goes on to do something rather novel for the so-called liberal media: it actually analyzes what Bush is saying and tries to find out if he knows what he's talking about. As usual, the answer's no.
All of which brings us to Bush’s recent invocation of South Korea, where tens of thousands of U.S. troops have been stationed along or near the border since the truce that ended the Korean War—there is no peace treaty—54 years ago. But here the president apparently hasn’t thought things through either. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in an interview last week, told me that there was no Status of Forces Agreement with the Shiite-led government, which is increasingly dominated by the virulently anti-American Sadr, that would legally permit a long-term U.S. presence. <> Nor is there any sign of a truce between Sunnis and Shia. So Iraq really is nothing like South Korea.
And training the Iraqi Army has run into a problem. The troops needed to train the Iraqis are too busy fighting.
The big trade-off of the surge that few people are taking note of—what it really has cost us—is that it is taking precious time away from the program to bring the Iraqi Army to readiness. The surge is therefore ensuring that U.S. troops will have to remain longer on the front lines of an intractable sectarian war.
As many have noted, the first step in effectively dealing with the Iraq mess is getting rid of the folks who got us here in the first place. That means Bush, Cheney, and all their goons have to leave. The sooner, the better.