Stand back and cover the children's ears...I'm pissed off again. (see previous blog "All I Know...). So the genteel and learned members of the Senate Panel passed their stupid resolution against the plan to drop the hammer on some bad guys in Iraq. It's nonbinding, so it doesn't really mean much, right. Just opinion, the expression of our right of free speech and expression. Democracy at work. Well, ain't that just so special?
I knew it was coming. So did the bad guys. They could hardly contain their glee at the polls before the election that showed a tightening race. They wrote letters and did interviews, openly expressing the hope that the Democrats would take the house and senate. They were very candid. In their expressed opinion, it would be a win for them. All the talk about a timetable, withdrawing our troops was exactly what they wanted. And, sheeple that we are, we did it for them. We quit, they win by default.
The reasoning is that if we start pulling back, the Iraqis will have to step up and take over. Think about this. You and a friend take a fellow camping, way out in the middle of nowhere. This fellow knows nothing about camping. You take him right up to the edge of a steep cliff. Two days later, while he is hanging over the edge by his fingernails, you stand over him and tell him he better, by god, start cutting firewood and toting his share of the water or you're gonna just leave him to rough it by himself. While he's hanging there over the precipice, facing sure death, routine camp chores mean little. And your friend, well, he hasn't contributed much either except following you around telling you how lazy that other fellow is. How that other fellow could save himself if he just would and you should lay down the law. That will get that fellow moving. Give him an ultimatum and then leave him to his own devices. How do you think that's gonna work for ya?
The Iraqis, in large numbers, have been stepping up. The citizens line up for jobs with the police and military, only to have terrorists blow them to bits. Police stations and barracks bombed. And still they keep coming, lining up to serve and protect their country. Citizens braved threats of death to stand in long lines and vote, proudly waving an ink-stained finger to show the hope they hold for democracy. Al Quaida actively recruits among the criminals loosed by Saddam before the invasion. Sunni and Shite death squads roam the neighbor hoods, killing to foment unrest and retaliation among the citizens which furthers the anarchy that will drive a civil war. These are the people with whom we are suppose to reach a political, diplomatic agreement.
So how is this suppose to work? We want the people of Iraq to point these bad guys out, take responsibility and fight back. We want them to stand up and make themselves and their families targets of the bad guys. Why would they do that? We sound like we are not going to be there to see this through. They better pick a side that can protect them when we bug out. Don't think they don't hear us talking about a time table for withdrawal. They remember when the Shites in the southern no fly zone staged a revolt, thinking we would back them up in the bid for freedom from Saddam. They thought we would swoop in from Kuwait and help them break free from tyranny because we were encouraging their actions. They were slaughtered, whole towns of them, and buried in mass graves we are still uncovering.
From the beginning, there has been a constant call for more "boots on the ground". And there was suppose to be, but, at the 11th hour, Turkey withdrew their permission to launch a significant portion of the troops to execute a classic pincher movement to that would have seen the Sunni Triangle surrounded by armies from both north and south. Time and again, we were told the Generals in charge said they didn't need more troops. Then came the whining and mewing for a new strategy. Well, now the situation has been re-evaluated and, due to lack of progress, the military leadership was changed. The call for more troops has been answered. Only now we hear the screeching and howling that it won't work. It really doesn't matter what the president decided, it would have been wrong. Hell, if he fell over dead at the state of the union address last night, he would have been criticized for falling in the wrong direction.
This war has been compared to Viet Nam from early on. It has been wishful thinking on the part of those drawing the comparison. There is constant negative coverage from the mainstream media, proving once again that a war can be won militarily and still lost by consensus. Now some talk of defunding the troops. Getting the sheeple in line, heading for the sheds. You know what happens to sheep, right? They all eventually get fleeced.
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