Well I for one was completely surprised when George Bush came out publically in support of General Petraeus’s plan for Iraq.
Yeah, right.
Petraeus’s plan is nothing more than Bush administration propaganda designed to justify prolonging the war in Iraq. And Petraeus himself is nothing more than a figurehead, a puppet doing Bush’s bidding.
The 30,000 troop “drawdown” Petraeus proposes is a meaningless gesture designed to appease critics of the war. It’s not in any way a genuine move to end American involvement in Iraq.
The only words you will consistently hear from Bush and his cronies are, “more time.” The idea is that if the US has more time in Iraq to stabilize the situation, then everything will be roses. They’ll embrace the democratic form of government, and we’ll have a new stable ally in the mid-east.
This is a futile dream. It’s no more achievable than the goals we had in Viet Nam,
The French colonized Viet Nam in the late 1800’s. They were there 67 years, only giving it up as a lost cause finally in 1954. The US became involved at that time, and spent another 21 years and over 58,000 American lives in pursuit of the hopeless dream of turning South Viet Nam into a democratic nation.
When the “surge” was authorized, one of the main goals were for the Iraqi government to solidify support and end sectarian violence. In this respect, no progress whatsoever has been made. The fact of the matter is that the Maliki government is impotent and fractionalized; it’s powerless to end the civil war.
Yes, violence in Baghdad may be down somewhat. But with an American “cop” on every corner, what can you expect? And how long can we continue to pour troops into Baghdad to preserve this fragile peace? 67 years? 21 years? This peace will end as soon as our troops withdraw.
Iraq is in shambles. They have almost no water or power. Their economy is ruined. Their houses and cities are gutted, burned out hulks.
This is the legacy left them by the United States of America. And it shames me that this is so.
But prolonging US military presence in Iraq will in no way mitigate the disaster we have created. Not if we are there 21 years; not if we are there for 67 years. Not if we are there for 667 years.
They don’t want us there. They hate us – and rightfully so.
Our presence just exacerbates and prolongs the conflict. Our presence just puts off the inevitable conclusion – just as it did in Viet Nam.
Let’s get our troops out of Iraq NOW!