New Strategy in Iraq?
I listened to the President’s speech on Iraq. The speech that promised to layout his new strategy for winning in Iraq. The result of months of consultation and careful deliberation. So I listened to the President’s speech to see what the new strategy would be.
I must say first off, this was probably the best speech George Bush has given in years. He sounded reasonable and he even wore a blue tie. And the best part was when he admitted that things had not gone well in Iraq and that any mistakes made were his responsibility.
But the content left me speechless. There was no new strategy. There were a few minor tactical tweaks made and apparently some fresh arm twisting of the Iraqi Prime Minister, but new strategy? No. This speech was “Stay the Course” disguised as new strategy. The only strategy being employed was one of delay—delay changing anything significantly until Mr. Bush is out of the White House and the horrible problems he created in Iraq are someone else’s responsibility to clean up.
The “surge” of new troops does not even return U.S. troop levels to what they were only 18 months ago. More troops did not make a difference then. There is no indication that more troops will make a difference now. The level of troops that military experts say would make a difference would require hundreds of thousands of new troops, not tens of thousands. We cannot muster enough troops to reach effective levels of security in Iraq.
The new plan by the Iraqi government is really the new plan that Bush has forced the Iraqi’s to endorse. So there is little evidence to suggest that Iraqi forces will change strategies or take on more responsibility. Continued U.S. troops gives the Iraqi’s a cheap and easy target to blame for everything that is wrong in Iraq, (and much of the problem is our fault) but the U.S. is not causing this religious and sectarian violence which everyone refuses to call A Civil War.
The U.S. should never have invaded Iraq. But staying is not solving the current political, religious, and racial problems. The U.S. won the war in Iraq. But we are losing the occupation of Iraq. We need to stop trying to force a military solution to these religious, sectarian, political and racial problems. We should admit our ineffectiveness, work with Iraq’s neighbors to secure the borders, and get out of the middle of the Iraqi Civil War.
When you have a bucket full of muddy water, you don’t clarify it by stirring it with a stick. You stop and wait and let the sediments fall to the bottom. You don’t calm a situation by throwing more violence into the middle of it.
There are many new strategies that could be taken in Iraq. But what President Bush proposed in his speech was not new and it was not strategic. It was pathetic and dangerous. Time will tell if the new Democratic Congress has the balls to withdraw support and authorization for Bush’s Iraqi policies. I hope they do.
I must say first off, this was probably the best speech George Bush has given in years. He sounded reasonable and he even wore a blue tie. And the best part was when he admitted that things had not gone well in Iraq and that any mistakes made were his responsibility.
But the content left me speechless. There was no new strategy. There were a few minor tactical tweaks made and apparently some fresh arm twisting of the Iraqi Prime Minister, but new strategy? No. This speech was “Stay the Course” disguised as new strategy. The only strategy being employed was one of delay—delay changing anything significantly until Mr. Bush is out of the White House and the horrible problems he created in Iraq are someone else’s responsibility to clean up.
The “surge” of new troops does not even return U.S. troop levels to what they were only 18 months ago. More troops did not make a difference then. There is no indication that more troops will make a difference now. The level of troops that military experts say would make a difference would require hundreds of thousands of new troops, not tens of thousands. We cannot muster enough troops to reach effective levels of security in Iraq.
The new plan by the Iraqi government is really the new plan that Bush has forced the Iraqi’s to endorse. So there is little evidence to suggest that Iraqi forces will change strategies or take on more responsibility. Continued U.S. troops gives the Iraqi’s a cheap and easy target to blame for everything that is wrong in Iraq, (and much of the problem is our fault) but the U.S. is not causing this religious and sectarian violence which everyone refuses to call A Civil War.
The U.S. should never have invaded Iraq. But staying is not solving the current political, religious, and racial problems. The U.S. won the war in Iraq. But we are losing the occupation of Iraq. We need to stop trying to force a military solution to these religious, sectarian, political and racial problems. We should admit our ineffectiveness, work with Iraq’s neighbors to secure the borders, and get out of the middle of the Iraqi Civil War.
When you have a bucket full of muddy water, you don’t clarify it by stirring it with a stick. You stop and wait and let the sediments fall to the bottom. You don’t calm a situation by throwing more violence into the middle of it.
There are many new strategies that could be taken in Iraq. But what President Bush proposed in his speech was not new and it was not strategic. It was pathetic and dangerous. Time will tell if the new Democratic Congress has the balls to withdraw support and authorization for Bush’s Iraqi policies. I hope they do.
posted by Jay Larsen at 2:58 PM
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