“Genocidal Bloodbath” Is Where?
NYT on multiple administration Iraq assessments underway, in competition with the Sept. 15 Petraeus-Crocker assessment:
The intent appears to be to give President Bush, who publicly puts great emphasis on listening to his field commanders, a wide range of options.
The assessments are likely to conclude that the Iraqi government has failed to use the troop increase for the purpose the president intended, to strike the political accommodations that he said would stabilize the country. That and other views expected in the various reports could also provide some rationale for beginning a reduction of troops in Iraq under conditions far short of the “victory” Mr. Bush, for the past four years, has said was his ultimate goal. He has used that word with far less frequency recently.
If this article is anything to go by, the assessments are taking place in a vacuum. The words “Iran,” “long-term U.S. strategic interests” and “genocidal bloodbath” do not appear in this article. Hopefully that just is just an oversight by the reporter, and does not reflect the myopia of the people actually conducting the assessments. We already know it reflects the myopia and wishful thinking of our Congressional leadership.
This article does underscore the myopia reflected by the Bush administration’s wasted opportunities under former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and the failure to substantially build the Army in the fall of 2001 or since, when it became apparent we would be using it. We reportedly don’t have sufficient troops to maintain current levels without extending deployments and shortening time at home. That may make drawdown next spring inevitable.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:25 am on Sunday, June 24, 2007
3 Responses to ““Genocidal Bloodbath” Is Where?”
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June 24th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
If the administration only had the one (Petraus-Crocker) assessment in the works, the NYTimes would criticize that too (ignores other important viewpoints).
Of course the NYTimes has already completed its assessment, former theater critic Lt. Gen. (Red Army Ret.) Frank Rich revealed today that we have already lost. Fortunately, that gem is behind the Time$elect paywall, so I won’t link it.
June 25th, 2007 at 2:52 am
You cannot win a war by appeasement. The two are mutually exclusive.
What a monumental waste and lost opportunity. We will pay dearly. Too bad the payment won’t only come out of the hides of those who have pushed for defeat from the beginning.
June 25th, 2007 at 10:55 am
Web Reconnaissance for 06/25/2007
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