The perverse logic of Bush's war

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IA11Ak01.html

President George W Bush's plan to escalate US military involvement in Iraq, to be announced on Wednesday night (Washington, DC, time), reflects a perverse political logic that prevents US administrations from being able to reverse imperial military adventures once they have begun.

The iron law governing the politics of these imperial debacles seems to be that the leaders who commit the country to war realize at some point that they have seriously miscalculated and that the war cannot be won, but by then they figure it is already too late; they must act as though they are aiming at victory, because of the fear of admitting the truth.

If the plan to add as many as 20,000 more troops to US military presence in Iraq does go into effect in the coming weeks, it will be without any sense that the military or national-security bureaucracy believes in it. It is now clear that Bush had to replace the commanders he had in place in Iraq in order to push through an escalation of US troops presence, because General George Casey and General John Abizaid recognized that adding more US troops in Iraq would make matters worse, not better.

And even some high officials of the Bush administration have been privately saying it is a big mistake. The Washington Post reported on Sunday that "senior military and administration officials privately admit their deep concerns that the troop increase will backfire - and leave the United States with no options left in six to eight months".

[Olney Blue]

1. The insane chimp's plan has got to be stopped.

[atreides1]

3. Yes it does

But it would seem that Congress lacks the courage to do anything but try to pass a symbolic bill, that won't be worth the paper and ink that will be wasted on it.

If Bush does this and more troops die, it will the Democrats who will share in the blame come 2008,
because people will remember that they failed to stop this mamdman in the White House.

[nuxvomica]

2. There seem to be two narratives about the escalation

There's this one about *'s stubbornness and cluelessness and the one put forth by Chris Floyd that it's being done to keep the current government stable long enough to pass a lucrative hydrocarbon law that not only gives US companies generous terms but allows disputes to be handled by international arbitration.

[irislake]

4. The oil issue

needs to get big headlines. The American people need to protest otherwise there will be no sympathy for America if there are future terrorist attacks. If the American government and Big Oil steal Iraqi oil who can blame Iraqis who become terrorists in future?

[BurtWorm]

5. Very perceptive article.

It's painfully obvious that Bush's game now is to "stick to his guns," not because he or anyone else believes his course of action is correct, but because they believe he personally can't lose if he is perceived to be "steadfast" and "strong." He is all game now. Nothing he does anymore has any connection with reality. It's all fake legacy politics. Disgusting!