Army Gen. David Petraeus can’t be ignorant, so he must be an idiot. Or he thinks we’re idiots.
The so-called “surge” was supposed to give Iraq “breathing room” to get its political act together. Obviously, the troop build-up had nothing to do with the reduction in violence, as proven by what happened in Basra. It could happen again at any time, and there’s nothing the American military can do to prevent it.
There’s a power struggle in Iraq. The latest example happened to be between two Shiite factions, one of which is the alleged ruling government. Prime Minister al-Maliki took military action in an attempt to assert his political control over Muqtada al-Sadr, and even with our help he didn’t exactly win. Hey Petraeus, you know what this is called?? CIVIL WAR!
Petraeus knows that if he says a single word that isn’t in keeping with what George Bush wants to hear, his career is over. Bush says he listens to the generals and not politicians, but the generals who tried to speak the truth are gone. But ya know what Petraeus needs to think about? If McCain isn’t elected president, his career is over anyway.
The Bush-Cheney apologists are now reduced to making two weak and sorry points justifying our continued presence in Iraq:
- There was less mayhem for a while
- We broke it, so we have to fix it
BUT WE CAN’T FIX IT! The mess over there will play itself out whether or not we’re there. The first order of business for the next president must be to get us out of Iraq.
