US Military No Longer Planning For "Victory" In Iraq.

Source: Newsweek

I guess when they pulled out that "Mission Accomplished" banner a while back, they were a bit hasty.

The Bush administration is now hoping for a low-level war that doesn't turn into a bloodbath similar to what happened in Bosnia. Even stopping Iraq from becoming a Middle East hot spot for terrorists is a major issue for which no one has an answer.

May 22, 2006 -- An old word is gaining new currency in Washington: containment. You may be hearing a lot more of it as the Bush administration hunkers down for its final two years. Containment of Iraq's low-level civil war, which shows every sign of persisting for years despite the new government inaugurated this week.

So the very best that can be hoped for in Iraq, probably for many years to come, will be a non-bloodbath, a low-level civil war that doesn't get worse than the current cycle of insurgent killings and Shiite death-squad reprisals. This is bad, but it could be much worse. Containment, says one Army officer involved in training in Iraq, is at least "doable." He adds: "The only real question is: How do we keep Iraq from becoming a permissive environment for terrorists."

I'm glad thrusting Iraq into instability and the throes of civil war was well worth the price of U.S. soldiers' lives and gaining control of Iraq's resources.

"We're sorry to inform you, ma'am, that your son died for a tank of gas that the big money oil companies are going to now gouge you for."

Parents of soldiers who have died get a nice double-dip of Bush administration failures.

War in Iraq: no plan going in, no plan during, and now, no plan or concrete exit strategy. Just another PR stunt to try to save Congress from flipping to the Dems in November.

Why exactly did we invade Iraq again? It all seems like a huge waste of both human lives and taxpayers' money at this point. It's this generation's version of Vietnam gone very bad.



Tags: [US Military No Longer Planning For "Victory" In Iraq], [Mission Accomplished?], [this generation's version of Vietnam], [instability], [civil war], [Bosnia], [Bush administration failures]