Saturday, August 25, 2007
What next for Iraq
Three reports in the NY Times underscore the great confusion in Iraq that just won't get any better. The first explores the division between the generals on the ground and in the Pentagon as to when troops should leave. Curiously, the ones on the ground are the ones who want to go slow. Their point is that withdrawal would endanger the military gains that they have made so far. The Pentagon generals want a speedier drawdown because they are more aware of the state of the Army as well as the political vacuum that fails to support the military gains.
The second report give a look at the swirling milieu of politics in Iraq. With power and influence deeply divided and parochial, any attempt to find a common ground is like the proverbial herding cats. No one yet has the security of place to reach out to others and probably not the vision to do so, either.
And the final report, on the increased numbers of detainees since the surge began, illustrates why there will be no end in sight for the fighting. So long as we keep sending people to insurgency school, we will have to keep fighting.
But none of it will matter until Our Dear Embattled Leader rides off into the sunset, his legacy forever etched in headstones, and someone else has to finally try to clean up the mess of George W Bush's Glorious War.
The second report give a look at the swirling milieu of politics in Iraq. With power and influence deeply divided and parochial, any attempt to find a common ground is like the proverbial herding cats. No one yet has the security of place to reach out to others and probably not the vision to do so, either.
And the final report, on the increased numbers of detainees since the surge began, illustrates why there will be no end in sight for the fighting. So long as we keep sending people to insurgency school, we will have to keep fighting.
But none of it will matter until Our Dear Embattled Leader rides off into the sunset, his legacy forever etched in headstones, and someone else has to finally try to clean up the mess of George W Bush's Glorious War.
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