Denying the obvious in Iraq. The "war" is lost.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

I just listened to a report on NPR about what reporters have to go through just to get into the "secure" Green Zone. This included some e-mails between military types who are in charge of security bewailing what will happen when they "bag" (their words) a reporter and what should be done to counter the bad press that would result.

Much is made of how we liberated Germany and Japan, installed democracy, and rebuilt those countries after the war. One thing is ignored by those who use those examples. The troops who occupied Germany and Japan weren't hunkered down in fortresses. They walked the streets of Berlin or Munich or Tokyo or Osaka freely and mingled with the population - unarmed. The "contractors" in Germany and Japan didn't carry guns or require protection.

In Iraq the "contractors" do carry guns, the troops only venture out of their fortresses in armored vehicles, and most of the country is a "no go" zone for Americans and their allies unless it is done in heavily armed convoys.

Another story on NPR was about the trial of Saddam and his cronies. In the "democracy" that we have set up, only the chief judge's name is known. There are good reasons for this. The "failed insurgency" is likely to kill them or their families.

Iraq is totally dependent on American financial support because the "failed insurgency" keeps blowing up the oil pipelines. Basic services are near non-existent for most Iraqis. The country is fragmenting and engaged in the opening stages of a civil war.

In the meantime, Bush and his fellow criminals continue to bray about how well things are going, the military announces "victories" when they kill "terrorists" by bombing "suspected" terrorist hangouts and use bodycounts (from a safe distance) as indications of victory. And, the Democratic "leadership" sits in almost mute compliance only venturing to complain about the "war" is being conducted.

When Berlin was surrounded by the Red Army in 1945 Goebbels kept telling the German people how "victory" was coming if they just held on. Now, the politicians of both parties tell us we must "stay the course".

The "war" is lost and it's past time to admit it and get out of Iraq.

[hang a left]

1. Well said.

Let's go pick up our boys. What do you say?

[LynnTheDem]

2. The "war" was lost the day the US became "that kind of country"

and launched the US version of Pearl Harbor on a sovereign nation that hadn't been doing anything whatsoever to anyone.

[TheFarseer]

3. I think democrats have got to say

We must either pull out or get a completely different strategy. No one wants to lose, but what we're doing isn't working.

[rkc3]

4. The war in Iraq is going as planned - there is no "plan" for

victory or withdrawal. The plan is to continue this fighting to increase the number of terrorists, install permanent bases in Iraq, and keep us there forever.

That can be the only reason why bush ignored all the advice from his team about the number of troops and supplies in the region. We're there for the oil and we'll continue to stay there as long as there are terrorists to fight.

[babylonsister]

5. All the more reason to throw the bums OUT! nt

[panader0]

6. Memories of Vietnam

We should have learned a longf time ago that while we may be able to beat an army, we cannot beat a paople. They hate us there. Come home boys and girls!

[Cactus44]

7. You're partly right.

'The "war" is lost and it's past time to admit it' True. We blew it in a big way.


'and get out of Iraq.' Nope. This is the bigger tragedy- we CAN'T get out. W're stuck there for a long, long time. If we leave alot worse things will happen than what we're dealing with today. A failed state in the Middle East is a disaster just waiting to happen, and it'll happen quickly. But before that happens there would be the economic fallout. If we pull out oil will go to $120/bbl and the global economy would go into a tailspin immediately.

The sad truth is that we broke it, we own it.

[prescole]

8. But Shock and Awe made for great TV

when we first bombed Baghdad, and later it made for great country music. Yeee-haw.

Few have been as spot-on about the war as our strange bedfellow, Pat Buchanan:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46907

Bush is under the illusion that not only are we better than the rest of the world, but that the rest of the world will realize this in a magical moment, creating a utopia of...er, a utopia of frat boy excess and arrogance, I suppose.

[TheFarseer]

9. Another thought

I wonder if you can look up casualties per month in WWII. I bet we were not losing over a troop a day in Germany and Japan in 1947.