Stoopid Stuff

Somebody Needs to be Committed

So how did everyone, all of us collectively, bloggers and journalists alike, miss this? It's the answer. The whole, honest answer. Not to the "why", of course, but to the "what will happen" question. The whole "exit strategy" thing.

I like General Petraeus. I like his clear-eyed honesty, the zen-warrior calm that seems to envelop him, the understanding that it is not 1945 and the world has not only changed, but continues to change.

So a week or so ago, testifying before congress, when he told us everything we needed to know to understand the end game, it was widely reported. But oddly, I never saw anybody comment, even in passing, on the ramifications of the statement. Here's what he said:

"It is an endeavor that clearly is going to require enormous commitment and commitment over time," he said, adding that he didn't want to predict how many troops might be involved or when.

Now you simply have to ask yourself. Can you truly see the American People making "an enormous commitment over time"? Even the Republicans are saying that they will begin to reassess their blind, unquestioning support of the disastrous Iraq occupation after September. Four months does not an enormous commitment make.

This is why there should have been a great deal of discussion about this information. It is a glaring example of the massive disconnect between the Administration's desire to stay in Iraq permanently and the American people's unwillingness to waste any more blood or treasure in a futile, meaningless exercise. Once Gen. Petraeus made this statement, the only question that remained is "what then do you need, General, to execute a safe, methodical with drawl and redeployment of American Combat troops from Iraq.

Because if the only way to get to the end is a Massive Commitment over Time, and the Americans are unwilling to support a Massive Commitment over Time, then it becomes obvious that America will begin withdrawing forces soon, perhaps within months. So that means that EVERY life lost is, even more than those that have preceded it, a life wasted...

posted by mikey @ 2:57 PM