We learned in Woodward's book "State of Denial" that Henry Kissinger had become an influential adviser to Bush on Iraq. Now, as if he played no role in the mess, Kissinger is telling the Brits that not only is Iraq in a civil war, but we can't have a military victory there. One wonders if he's shared that insight with Bush:
"If you mean by 'military victory' an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible," [Kissinger] told the British Broadcasting Corp.But, he's got no solution besides leaving U.S. troops in Iraq to die:
But Kissinger, an architect of the Vietnam war who has advised President Bush about Iraq, warned against a rapid withdrawal of coalition troops, saying it could destabilize Iraq's neighbors and cause a long-lasting conflict.Note to Dr. K.: we've already destabilized the region, thank you very much. There are already going to be disastrous consequences. Right now, those consequences involve death and injury to U.S. soldiers.
"A dramatic collapse of Iraq - whatever we think about how the situation was created - would have disastrous consequences for which we would pay for many years and which would bring us back, one way or another, into the region," he said.
Kissinger's student, George Bush, never had a plan for Iraq. Clearly, whatever advice Kissinger gave to Bush has exacerbated the situation. He's got no plan either, except to leave U.S. troops in the middle of a civil war. Kissinger makes grand pronouncements like he has no blood on his hands. But he does, just like Bush and everyone else who got us in to this quagmire.
