It doesn’t really matter that the Iraq Study Group recommends that we get out of Iraq. The buck stops at Bush’s desk whether he likes it or not and he won’t leave. He’s got too much pride and hubris wrapped up in Iraq and the idea that Americans continue to die because of his policy doesn’t matter to him at all. The only way we get out of Iraq is with a Democratic president committed to ending the conflict once and for all and get us back in the business of killing terrorists.
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Bit like Andy Robinson, only his stubbornness was only killing English Rugby, not thousands of people.
Bush got his way out today. After making al-maliki his personal hand-puppet, he got him to say:
Iraqi forces can assume control in June
And then, we’ll be victorious and ready to focus solely on Iran.
–WKW
This would be the same al-Maliki that other Bush advisors have fretted is very sincere on his face and very enthusiastic about pleasing us, but simply doesn’t have the will or the way to make those things happen?
Look, let’s face it: Bush won’t leave Iraq no matter what any mortal being can say. He could convene a hundred different “study groups” and they could give him a hundred reasons why “staying until we have victory” is not a viable option, but he’d insist he’s still right. His dad could look him right in the eyes and tell him to get the troops out, and he’d tell his dad to stuff it. A contingent of Iraqi widows could come to the gates of the White House, wailing and begging for us to at least adopt a new strategy, and he’d grin boyishly and tell them the wonderful thing about freedom is that you can disagree with the president.
I’m no longer even sure that he’d leave if Jesus Christ himself came down from heaven and asked him to begin redeployment. The blinders are on, the tank is full, and he’s determined to make the mountain move with the sheer force of his forehead.
Meanwhile, al-Sadr has withdrawn his support of the coalition government. The 32 (?) members of his Shiite party have formed an alliance with Sunnis and Christians.
On the surface, doesn’t sound all that bad–except for the fact that al-Sadr is a radical pro-Iranian Shiite cleric. So now the U.S. is going to be put in a position to support a Shiite dominated government against the most powerful Shiite cleric who holds the reins of the most powerful Shiite militia.
And the Saudis are Sunnis. Light at the end of the tunnel, friends.
And the civil war becomes a regional one. And Republicans like Dugger will no doubt place the blame for it all at the feet of their fellow Americans for this result, instead of where it belongs: in the Oval Office.
Bush’s half a million dead Iraqis may just be the beginning.
The 32 (?) members of his Shiite party have formed an alliance with Sunnis and Christians.
That was sloppy. That should say:
The 32 members of parliament from his Shiite party…etc.
A little slap-down to the Iraq Study Group members that think we should be negotiating with Iran and Syria?
WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2006 — U.S. officials say they have found smoking-gun evidence of Iranian support for terrorists in Iraq: brand-new weapons fresh from Iranian factories. According to a senior defense official, coalition forces have recently seized Iranian-made weapons and munitions that bear manufacturing dates in 2006.
This suggests, say the sources, that the material is going directly from Iranian factories to Shia militias, rather than taking a roundabout path through the black market. “There is no way this could be done without (Iranian) government approval,” says a senior official.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/IraqCoverage/story?id=2688501
Remember when we claimed that Iran and Iraq were part of some imaginary “axis”? Doesn’t the mere concept of them being allies in evil seem somehow more quaint and comforting than the harsh and complicated new paradigm emerging here?