Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Just a reminder: the war in Iraq has gone absolutely to hell
A year ago today, Richard Perle said:
I wonder if he really is surprised.
This post rounds up things I've read in the last week. I'm not advancing a complicated argument; just pointing out what is increasingly obvious: the Iraq war is turning into a non-negotiable disaster. Freedom is not on the march, peace is not around the corner, and the troops are not coming home any time soon.
Internally, the military is admitting that things are falling apart, with civil war a strong possibility. It is difficult to see how any of the moves Bush and Allawi are making will help.
US casualties are going through the roof. One friend hears that if it weren't for modern body armor, we'd be facing Vietnam level death tolls.
Casualties may be spiking because we're losing control of the country. Even Baghdad is no longer secure in any sense. When our troops leave base, they get bombed and shot at.
Our current tactic for dealing with this is attacking "rebel cities" like Falluja and Najaf. When we start defining whole cities as the enemy, we have lost the battle for the people of Iraq, and thus the whole war. We can't build democracy by force: all we do is turn the people against us, and into the hands of anyone who will fight us.
Once more, for the record, there were no WMD. This fact is leading Bush to ever more laughable justifications. And the Bush administration continues to try to confuse Saddam with Osama---again, going to laughable lengths. But the truth is that we have gotten nothing out of this war. Thousands have died for a pack of lies.
We're locked in a death struggle with people in places like Falluja, Najaf, and Sadr City that did nothing to harm us until we invaded their country. (The atrocities we committed in Abu Ghraib? At least we're not as bad as our enemies, says Rumsfield. With an attitude like that, we're never going to turn an occupation into cooperation, and we'll be lucky to avoid civil war).
Saddam is gone, but every few days I read about another Iraqi child, husband, or wife who has lost a family due to the violence we have unleashed. I think it is now clear that what we have made Iraq a worse place to live. An impressive accomplishment, considering the competition.
The war is a failure, and it is going to get worse. It's time to hold those responsible to account.
"A year from now, I'll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush."
I wonder if he really is surprised.
This post rounds up things I've read in the last week. I'm not advancing a complicated argument; just pointing out what is increasingly obvious: the Iraq war is turning into a non-negotiable disaster. Freedom is not on the march, peace is not around the corner, and the troops are not coming home any time soon.
Internally, the military is admitting that things are falling apart, with civil war a strong possibility. It is difficult to see how any of the moves Bush and Allawi are making will help.
US casualties are going through the roof. One friend hears that if it weren't for modern body armor, we'd be facing Vietnam level death tolls.
Casualties may be spiking because we're losing control of the country. Even Baghdad is no longer secure in any sense. When our troops leave base, they get bombed and shot at.
Our current tactic for dealing with this is attacking "rebel cities" like Falluja and Najaf. When we start defining whole cities as the enemy, we have lost the battle for the people of Iraq, and thus the whole war. We can't build democracy by force: all we do is turn the people against us, and into the hands of anyone who will fight us.
Once more, for the record, there were no WMD. This fact is leading Bush to ever more laughable justifications. And the Bush administration continues to try to confuse Saddam with Osama---again, going to laughable lengths. But the truth is that we have gotten nothing out of this war. Thousands have died for a pack of lies.
We're locked in a death struggle with people in places like Falluja, Najaf, and Sadr City that did nothing to harm us until we invaded their country. (The atrocities we committed in Abu Ghraib? At least we're not as bad as our enemies, says Rumsfield. With an attitude like that, we're never going to turn an occupation into cooperation, and we'll be lucky to avoid civil war).
Saddam is gone, but every few days I read about another Iraqi child, husband, or wife who has lost a family due to the violence we have unleashed. I think it is now clear that what we have made Iraq a worse place to live. An impressive accomplishment, considering the competition.
The war is a failure, and it is going to get worse. It's time to hold those responsible to account.
