The message to Bush, the defense specialist said, is that the U.S. cannot withdraw a substantial number of combat troops by early 2008, as suggested in the Iraq Study Group report, because the Iraqis will not be ready to assume control of their country.Whatever happened to the lie that our top generals, and Bush and Condi and Rummy and Cheney, kept selling us that Iraq could be ready to stand on its own in 6 months? Now we find out from Bush's carefully orchestrated "listening tour" that in fact that Iraqis won't be ready even in another year and a half. So what do Bush's carefully selected listenees tell him? That we must STAY in Iraq EVEN LONGER. Quelle surprise!
But just as importantly, the reason the Iraq Study Group suggested we start pulling out combat troops in early 2008 is two-fold. First, to give the Iraqis some impetus to get their act together. And second, I believe, to put a finite measure to this horrendously gone-wrong mission in Iraq. Part of the reason we're talking about leaving is expressly BECAUSE we've failed (well, Bush and the Republicans failed - we had nothing to do with this). We don't stay in Iraq even longer because we've failed. We get the hell out.
So what Bush is really telling us, via his carefully orchestrated experts, is that the longer Iraq fails, the longer the US will stay. If I were an Iraqi, I'd make damn sure I kept failing so the US soldiers could keep taking the bullet for me.
Now who's a puppet?
