US tempers its view of victory in Iraq ("war is not winnable short term")

[Barrett808]

US tempers its view of victory in Iraq
By Mark Sappenfield, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Fri Sep 16, 4:00 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Since the day in May 2003 when President Bush stood beneath a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," the course of the conflict in Iraq has been one of optimism followed by revision.

From the earliest battle plans, which called for the quick return home of tens of thousands of troops, to the campaign in Fallujah and national elections that followed, the

Pentagon had hoped it could largely eliminate lingering unrest before turning security over to Iraqis.

The increasingly bracing tone from the White House and Pentagon, however, points to a new calculus. The persistence of the attacks, as well as their undiminished capacity - witnessed by Wednesday's bombings in Baghdad, which killed more than 150 Iraqis - seems to have confirmed that the insurgency will probably outlast the American occupation.

Indeed, the inability of American forces to defeat the insurgency through strikes such as the current offensive in Tal Afar raises doubts about the possibility of any clear victory for the administration. And it could leave the Iraqis with a years-long task that many planners had not anticipated.

"There has been a clear realization that this war is not winnable in the short term," says Seth Jones, a terrorism expert at RAND Corp. in Arlington, Va.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/csm/20050916/ts_csm/avictory

[indepat]

1. Shocking considering "mission accomplished."

[wtmusic]

2. I wonder how much Seth gets paid as a terrorism "expert" for RAND

I'll give him a great tip for free--the war is not winnable in the long term either, Seth. It's a loser, top to bottom.

Take me out to lunch sometime.

[neweurope]

3. "And it could leave the Iraqis with a years-long task that many

planners had not anticipated."
What BS. The WHOLE WORLD had forseen this - and warned about it!

---------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[teryang]

4. So now we've gone from "not tactically significant" to...

..."military balance." Now the resistance merits consideration as an effective counterweight in military struggle. They don't use the Orwellian euphemism "winning the peace" anymore? The military truth emerges gradually amidst a never ending avalanche of propaganda, spin, and killing journalists.

This quagmire was what the defense contractors and energy companies and those who are heavily invested in them needed for their bottom lines. Short term it was both profitable and expedient to conceal the political illegitimacy of the bush regime.

If this war could not be won short term, it could not be won period. The real victory was the con job on the American public by the corporate controlled media. The twentieth century has proven the fundamental absurdity of invading the heartland of an advanced foreign culture and expecting to subdue it by force. Landwar in Asia by an expeditionary force. Yeah, right, where do I sign up?

[PurityOfEssence]

5. Hmmm...since the only thing we think about is short term, dat am a problem

The current conservatives in this country are short-sighted that their interests don't seem to extend past the current fiscal quarter.

The idiocy is breathtaking.