"There's a lot of people — good, decent people — saying `withdraw now.' They're absolutely wrong. ... We're not leaving, so long as I'm the president. That would be a huge mistake."
George W. Bush
"These are challenging times, and they're difficult times, and they're straining the psyche of our country. I understand that. You know, nobody likes to see innocent people die. Nobody wants to turn on their TV on a daily basis and see havoc wrought by terrorists."
George W. Bush
***
American bombs keep falling on Iraq.
But Americans don't hear them or read about them.
The bombs, just like WMDs, are hidden from the American public's consciousness.
The Decider doesn't want to strain the psyches of our country any more than he has to.
But the huge military bases keep getting built.
And the largest embassy on the planet (the George W. Bush Palace) will have its own clean water and electricity.
All of the things that Iraqis wish they had.
The warring sects want to move in and move the Americans out of their comfortable abodes.
But not without a fight, even though Henry Kissinger has joined the chorus of voices by telling us that victory is not at hand in Iraq.
But like the Long War President he also said that America cannot leave Iraq.
Dr. Kissinger, of course, is speaking on the Decider's behalf, telling us that the War must continue, even though it is a losing proposition.
Makes sense, doesn't it?
If you live on the dark side of Pluto.
***
At the moment, all sorts of Iraqi "redeployment" or "phased withdrawal" plans are floating in the air in Washington, most aimed at "stabilizing" the woeful Iraqi government embedded in Baghdad's well-fortified Green Zone and keep the US in that country in some scaled-down form. The fact is, with such goals, American troop levels simply cannot be slowly drawn-down without -- as in Vietnam -- some increase in the use of air power. And yet, you can look far and wide and find no indication of any public discussion of this at the White House, in Congress, or in what we know of the deliberations of James A. Baker's Iraq Study Group. And yet, as the Iraqi chaos and strife grows while the American public increasingly withdraws its support for the war, air power will be one answer. You can count on that. And air power--especially in or "near" cities--simply means civilian carnage. It will be called "collateral damage" (if anyone bothers to call it anything at all), but--make no mistake--it will be at the heart of any new strategy that calls for "redeployment" without meaning to get us out of Iraq.
The Uncovered War: Air Power in Iraq
Tom Engelhardt
Blog Posted 11/20/2006 @ 09:06am
The Nation
August Dallas Morning News editorial, Fortress America: New Embassy Sends Wrong Message to Iraqis: "America certainly needs a decent, well-defended embassy in Baghdad. But not as much as ordinary Iraqis need electricity and water. That our government doesn't seem to understand that reality could explain a lot about why the U.S. mission is in such trouble."
George W. Bush
"These are challenging times, and they're difficult times, and they're straining the psyche of our country. I understand that. You know, nobody likes to see innocent people die. Nobody wants to turn on their TV on a daily basis and see havoc wrought by terrorists."
George W. Bush
***
American bombs keep falling on Iraq.
But Americans don't hear them or read about them.
The bombs, just like WMDs, are hidden from the American public's consciousness.
The Decider doesn't want to strain the psyches of our country any more than he has to.
But the huge military bases keep getting built.
And the largest embassy on the planet (the George W. Bush Palace) will have its own clean water and electricity.
All of the things that Iraqis wish they had.
The warring sects want to move in and move the Americans out of their comfortable abodes.
But not without a fight, even though Henry Kissinger has joined the chorus of voices by telling us that victory is not at hand in Iraq.
But like the Long War President he also said that America cannot leave Iraq.
Dr. Kissinger, of course, is speaking on the Decider's behalf, telling us that the War must continue, even though it is a losing proposition.
Makes sense, doesn't it?
If you live on the dark side of Pluto.
***
At the moment, all sorts of Iraqi "redeployment" or "phased withdrawal" plans are floating in the air in Washington, most aimed at "stabilizing" the woeful Iraqi government embedded in Baghdad's well-fortified Green Zone and keep the US in that country in some scaled-down form. The fact is, with such goals, American troop levels simply cannot be slowly drawn-down without -- as in Vietnam -- some increase in the use of air power. And yet, you can look far and wide and find no indication of any public discussion of this at the White House, in Congress, or in what we know of the deliberations of James A. Baker's Iraq Study Group. And yet, as the Iraqi chaos and strife grows while the American public increasingly withdraws its support for the war, air power will be one answer. You can count on that. And air power--especially in or "near" cities--simply means civilian carnage. It will be called "collateral damage" (if anyone bothers to call it anything at all), but--make no mistake--it will be at the heart of any new strategy that calls for "redeployment" without meaning to get us out of Iraq.
The Uncovered War: Air Power in Iraq
Tom Engelhardt
Blog Posted 11/20/2006 @ 09:06am
The Nation
August Dallas Morning News editorial, Fortress America: New Embassy Sends Wrong Message to Iraqis: "America certainly needs a decent, well-defended embassy in Baghdad. But not as much as ordinary Iraqis need electricity and water. That our government doesn't seem to understand that reality could explain a lot about why the U.S. mission is in such trouble."
No comments:
Post a Comment