An Iraqi Mouthful

Trying to Contain the Iraq Disaster

No matter what President Bush says, the question is not whether America can win in Iraq. The only question is whether the United States can extricate itself without leaving behind an unending civil war that will spread more chaos and suffering throughout the Middle East, while spawning terrorism across the globe.

It seems that more and more people are beginning their editorials with the phrase, No matter what President Bush says.... In some ways I find this trend reassuring that more people are noticing that what Mr. Bush says is inherently questionable. However, it also strikes me that such statements reveal the fact that we have been dealing with extraordinary incompetence and entrenched ideology that has blocked any effort to brings matters under control.

The prospect of what happens after an American pullout haunts the debate on Iraq. The administration, for all its hints about new strategies and timetables, is obviously hoping to slog along for two more years and dump the problem on Mr. Bush’s successor. This fall’s election debates have educated very few voters because neither side is prepared to be honest about the terrible consequences of military withdrawal and the very long odds against success if American troops remain.

The recent efforts of the Bush administration to "revamp" the stay the course rhetoric seems to be all fluff and no real content. Many have seen the thin veil that Bush has tried to hide behind and called them on the fact that this revamping effort is nothing more (and nothing less) than a PR spin on the old entrenched approach. The shell game and "Three Card Monty" ripoff is fully exposed.

If an American military occupation could ever have achieved those [Bush administration] goals, that opportunity is gone. It is very clear that even with the best American effort, Iraq will remain at war with itself for years to come, its government weak and deeply divided, and its economy battered and still dependent on outside aid. The most the United States can do now is to try to build up Iraq’s security forces so they can contain the fighting — so it neither devours Iraqi society nor spills over to Iraq’s neighbors — and give Iraq’s leaders a start toward the political framework they would need if they chose to try to keep their country whole.

The problem is that the Bush administration's "de-Baathification policy" and disbanding of the Iraqi military essentially unravelled any and all government infrastructure and all organized enforcement capabilities, while also allowing weapons, ammunition and militarily-trained leaders to find insurgent and external agitators. As was illustrated in several PBS Frontline reports (i.e. A Lost Year In Iraq), the lack of a comprehensive, cohesive and effectively thought out plan has led to the current state of dysfunction, corruption and civil disturbance.

Regardless of what the Iraqi provisional government can or cannot do, we need to set a realistic timetable for our withdrawal and extrication from what is largely an internal problem for the Iraqi people and matters that we should have never been involved in ab initio. But even the larger portion of the Iraqi people are saying exactly the same thing.