The "Report"

So, the CG of Multi-National Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) has given his testimony to Congress. Bush did an excellent job of minimizing expectations, and predictably, the Democrats failed the country. Great. Looks like we're staying the course until January 20, 2009.

The thing that angers me is that this is such a colossal waste. Not just American lives, but hundreds of Iraqis are killed every week. The White House may direct that the statistics get massaged to reflect what they want, but Jesus, the situation isn't a whole lot better here. We still can't leave the base. They are still firing junk on our position. Guys are still dying. And what is happening in Washington? They're playing footsie under the bathroom stall. What a damn disgrace.

The surge has done such a great job, it's "working" so well, according to John McCain and others, that when we bid construction contracts they have to build a compound for these guys to live in for their safety. That's pretty standard. Amazing. We still run convoys with armed escorts up and down the roads. When will The Surge That Is Working end that practice? I was watching The News Hour on PBS over here and Jim Lehrer asked Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) if he thought Gen Petraeus was "spinning" the report to reflect what he wanted it to say. Lugar's response was very interesting. I am paraphrasing because it was like 14 hours ago that I saw it, but he basically said that Petraeus came prepared to deliver a point of view and he defended that point of view. To my ears, calling it a "point of view" was significant. Here is a Senator who is widely acknowledged to have credibility in foreign affairs saying that the guy was not presenting a balanced, objective report. I mean, hey, what would have happened if he reported that this is a total fiasco? He's have been awarded The Solid Brass Balls Award and been shown the door. Besides, they are all complicit in this mess and they truly want the chance to make right with it all. I can respect that. But damn, this mission is lost, folks. Lost.

So what do we do now? In my own humble opinion, I think that what we need to do is start making deals. We will never, ever create a government here that replicates our own. In fact, Sen. Lugar pointed out on the News Hour this morning that the Iraqi Constitution--the one we strong-armed them into creating--specifies that the central government does not have the sort of power that ours has; the power is decentralized. I think the conservatives would call this concept "States' Rights." Here it is done to acknowledge the power and influence in this culture of clan and tribal ties and lines of authority. Man, and the Neoconservatives that created this mess just thought that we could come in here, knock off Saddam, and all would be well. How childish. And people voted for them? I would be ashamed to have that much blood on my hands, I know that much. But I tend to think that Bush sleeps like a baby at night. He's got a place waiting for him when he goes to the next world.

Till next time, go to this website and read the Jones Report regarding the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF): http://forums.csis.org/isf.pdf


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