Military Planners Tell Bush Iraq War 'Cannot be Won'

[bemildred]

Yet while Bush remains stubbornly committed to the war, sources within the Pentagon say military planners tell the President the war cannot be won and the U.S. may have to look for a Vietnam-style withdrawal that will leave Iraq vulnerable to forces even more dangerous than the previous dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.

"Our present scenarios do not provide a successful outcome," admits a senior military planner. "We are not adequately equipped to prevail in this conflict."

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"We're losing and we have no contingency plan in place to turn this conflict around," the senior military planner said. "At the present time, we are engaged in a no-win scenario."

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The AP-Ipsos poll found that only 38 percent of Americans approve of Bush's handling of Iraq, the low point so far. A year ago, the public was evenly divided on Iraq, and confidence in Bush's stance on the war and terrorism helped him to election victory.

CapitolHillBlue

[Eloriel]

1. I wonder if Bush is actually getting the word?

I've been under the impression that his handlers keep bad news far, far away, as yes-men and -women are expected to do.

[rateyes]

3. Is there not one real patriot hero in the administration who will dare

tell * that he is wrong? Not one!

[moodforaday]

8. It's always a mark of a despot

No-one dared tell Saddam that they were getting their ass kicked by Iran. I recall watching a BBC documentary (Panorama, I think) on the iraq-Iran war. Saddam was determined to plough forward and never wanted to hear about defeat.

[BootinUp]

9. There were a few...before the purge.

prolly none left now. :(

[rodeodance]

14. Wonder if Rummy is spitting tacks!! -"souces within the Pentagon"-are

talking!!----his pentagon.

[geckosfeet]

2. Duh. Did we not know this going in? Shrubbish is in a spritual trance

and will fight on to the very last man,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[tabasco]

4. It's not supposed to be won.

That's something the neocons can't tell the generals. The war is supposed to go on forever to enrich the ruling class. It is really working out swell so far for Halliburton and the oil companies. Silly generals, they should tune in to the Limbaugh show to hear that the war is going great.

edit typo

[bread_and_roses]

7. Good point! (n/t)

[ktowntennesseedem]

10. Right. The "war on terror" is the only positive Chimp can point to.

And if I read right, his numbers are going in the tank on that one, too. But since Mr. "bring-em-on" doesn't look at poll numbers but just does whatever the hell he wants to, he's going to keep on playing his little war games. If the war is won, or concludes in anyway at all, our war-time president will have to find some other "hard work" to keep him occupied.

[yorkiemommie1]

5. " It seems to be I've Heard That Song Before "....

I've Heard That Song Before
------Frank Sinatra

Writer(s): Styne/Cahn


It seems to me I've heard that song before
It's from an old familiar score
I know it well, that melody....

[bread_and_roses]

6. We've seen similar reports before....

...over at least the past year, if not a bit longer. Do they get any play in the mainstream media? My impression is not, but that's just an impression, since I have to rely on others with stronger stomachs - I can't face MSM.

Certainly they are never reflected in the puerile sound-bites of the Puppet-in-Chief.

[wiggs]

11. They've known since the beginning

Remember Rumsfeld's "leaked" memo in which he expresses concern that things are not headed in the right direction?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. The Pentagon Papers redux.

Johnson and Nixon and MacNamara knew Vietnam couldn't be won, either. But they just kept going with it, for years and years and 58,000 dead Americans. WTF is wrong with these people?

[fighttheevilempire]

13. i'd hate to be the messenger...

hopefully this confrontation was done over the phone and/or internet. Otherwise those planners are unemployed, detained at Gitmo, dead, or any combo of the above.

[teryang]

15. It was a no-win tactical scenario before it started

<Bush said if terrorists think they can prevail in the Middle East, "they must not have understood the nature of our country. ... As I have told the American people, people like Zawahri have an ideology that is dark, dim, backwards.">

Bush's ideology is dark, dim, backwards. His projection capability is uncanny. "The nature of our country." Now that's a value system to die for. What inspiring words! Whose country is it?


<In Iraq, U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Donald Alston defended operations in western Iraq, where there has been a rash of recent American deaths.

"We still have deaths. We still have suicide car bombs," he said. "But the numbers we see indicate (the insurgents) can't generate the same tempo, and I think that's because we've had some degree of effect in interdicting these forces.">

Our loss in the war of attrition is inevitable. The focus on some carefully delimited category of attacks doesn't inspire confidence. "We've had some effect..."

We have to travel thousands of miles at the cost of hundreds of billions of dollars to get bombed and shot at, while pursuing an unethical mission, fraudulently conceived, with no chance of success.

But I hear defense stocks are up 92 percent!

[bemildred]

16. Yeah, I think the real problem is that it's falling apart much to fast,

and doing far too much damage in a number of areas that it was not "supposed" to. The rest of it (as you so eloquently describe it) is SOP, plenty of historical precedent for "a splendid little war" initiated for domestic political purposes.

[teryang]

17. This war is accelerating our decline

As you say "it's falling apart much to fast." Since July 25, the casualty rate has reached Vietnam war political crisis levels. That is why the propaganda has to react and say it can't be maintained. Because if it can be maintained, they are looking at a debacle.

Even if it goes up and down as it usually does, this imposes huge costs on us. Why should the resistance rise to every interdiction effort? They have an economy of scale and target radius that implicitly favors their cause over the long run. Demographics are vastly in their favor. I'm convinced that they are drawing material and financial support from the entire Islamic world, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. As if that wasn't predictable. Where does their money come from?

Bush contituencies, the energy corps and defense contractors aren't too distressed. Their profit increases are directly proportional to the increases in the trade deficit and national debt. Bush spends his time stumping to gut social security while marines are turned into hamburger.

[bemildred]

18. Yep, better to let us bleed out than be in a hurry anyway. nt