Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Apocalypse Now: The Coming Collapse of Baghdad -- Vol. 3 Issue 65

Let me see if I’ve got this right: Shiites are killing Sunnis, Sunnis are killing Iraqi Al Queda, Al Sadr’s Shiites are also killing splinter groups of Shiites, Kurds kill anyone who ventures into Kurdistan without permission and Shiites are also killing “foreign fighters” (whether they are men, women or children). Is that about right? Yes. Except that American soldiers and contractors are by far the favorite targets of all Iraqi groups. This week American troops in Iraq are dying at their fastest rate EVER. If you couple the “Surge” with our previous policy of inspiring Islamic terrorists to flock to Iraq, you have the formula for an imminent catastrophe throughout Iraq and the Middle East. It is easier to start a fire than to control one. We have inflamed the region and all hell is about to break loose.

Military analysts, some currently in the service and some having recently retired, are unanimous in their opinion that the situation in Iraq is NOT militarily winnable. See, Washington Post and Senate.gov. In the meantime, Bush-Cheney appointees like Homeland Security head, Michael Chertoff, blatantly manipulate terror “alerts,” thereby making sober reality-based thinking extremely rare among the Bushies. The list of Generals who have studied and reviewed our strategy in the “War of Terror” is long and distinguished. See, Vanity Fair. NOT ONE military expert believes “victory” (as commonly understood in military terms) can be achieved without a massive infusion of troops. The number usually mentioned is 400,000. Even if we thought it was right strategically and tactically, we don’t have the troops. Nor do we have allies willing to help us. The rapid rise in American dead and wounded places Bush’s intransigence in context. Perhaps he could be forgiven for placing too much faith in the Harvard-Yale Chicago Neocons? THAT misplaced faith was extended over 4 years ago. For Bush to be true to his folly now, is, well, UNFORGIVABLE. It’s one thing to lie our country into a war and still believe that War is just. It’s quite another, to insist on the same bad strategy when the damage is clear and the path ahead obviously leads to disaster.

God save the troops,

Savant