New Year - No Good News

As the New Year approaches, I find myself thinking as a nation we are in somewhat better shape than last year, but still in mortal peril. Not from terrorists, though they pose a threat, but from a delusional President who continues to march our young soldiers into an unwinnable war he started.

As General Abizaid calls 3500 troops into "call forward" status, I feel a sense of dread. Looks like Bush has already used the Iraq Study Group report as kindling for his Yule log, and now wants to throw gasoline on the fires in Iraq. Adding more troops to an already muddled situation will achieve only more chaos and resentment from Iraqis and more death for our troops.

The other problem with Bush’s "surge" idea is that it will only delay the Iraqis from taking responsibility for their own security. Of course that is a tenuous thing itself. Every day more bombings and death squad reports hit the press. Iraq may be hopelessly broken and it falls at the feet of Bush and his cronies. There is no easy answer, and in my opinion there is no winning this thing. I am reminded of the "Pottery Barn" analogy put forth at the war’s start. So, how do you reassemble a broken pot? Well you use glue and patience and what you end up with is a pot that never looks as good as it did before. That’s what we have in Iraq, a country that as far as quality of life will never be as good as it was before. Did I like Saddam? Hell no, but there were other less lethal ways of removing him than to have an all out assault on the country.

What to do now? Well, investigations and perhaps impeachment of Bush and Cheney for a start. Even though the Democrats seem reluctant to do it, it needs to be done. Meanwhile we need to begin drawing down troops in Iraq and finding ways to deal with our allies and enemies in the Middle East in more effective ways. That is why the present administration must go, they will never understand that.