For nothing left to lose:
The British government sought today to defuse an embarrassing public debate over remarks by its top military commander that Britain should withdraw its troops from Iraq ‘’sometime soon.”
The comments were interpreted by some government critics as a challenge to the authority of Prime Minister Tony Blair since they seemed to be a direct contradiction of his insistence that a retreat from Iraq would be ”a craven act of surrender.”
The officer, General Sir Richard Dannatt, modified some of his remarks in a series of radio and television interviews to expand on his comments in The Daily Mail tabloid. But he did not completely retract his assessment that the presence of British forces in Iraq ‘’exacerbated” the violence there.
‘’I have withdrawn none of the comments that I have made,” he said in a radio interview. ‘’I have given a little more explanation about what I meant by ’sometime soon’; that’s not backtracking.”
It is over, folks. While some may pretend that Dannatt’s slight walkback from his more blunt earlier comments is evidence that the Brits are going to be with us till the end, they fail to recognize that this IS the end. We have have a fractured coalition, an American military that is weary, overstretched, and breaking, we have huge amounts of sectarian violence, no clear mission, no clear strategy, and no way to define ‘victory.’
In short, we are at the end of the experiment. And I am not the only one who thinks this:
A commission formed to assess the Iraq war and recommend a new course has ruled out the prospect of victory for America, according to draft policy options shared with The New York Sun by commission officials.
Currently, the 10-member commission — headed by a secretary of state for President George H.W. Bush, James Baker — is considering two option papers, “Stability First” and “Redeploy and Contain,” both of which rule out any prospect of making Iraq a stable democracy in the near term.
It is over, folks. The grand experiment has, at least in the short term, failed (you can hold out hope that perhaps after the imminent civil war a stable state may emerge. And hope is really all we have right now, as the new Iraq is splitting up before our very eyes). While military leaders and politicians put on a brave face and continue with plans to keep troops in the field until 2010 and beyond, the soldiers and the troops know the score:
All: I haven’t written very much from Iraq. There’s really not much to write about. More exactly, there’s not much I can write about because practically everything I do, read or hear is classified military information or is depressing to the point that I’d rather just forget about it, never mind write about it. The gaps in between all of that are filled with the pure tedium of daily life in an armed camp. So it’s a bit of a struggle to think of anything to put into a letter that’s worth reading. Worse, this place just consumes you. I work 18-20-hour days, every day. The quest to draw a clear picture of what the insurgents are up to never ends. Problems and frictions crop up faster than solutions. Every challenge demands a response. It’s like this every day. Before I know it, I can’t see straight, because it’s 0400 and I’ve been at work for 20 hours straight, somehow missing dinner again in the process. And once again I haven’t written to anyone. It starts all over again four hours later. It’s not really like Ground Hog Day, it’s more like a level from Dante’s Inferno.
***Most Memorable Scene — In the middle of the night, on a dusty airfield, watching the better part of a battalion of Marines packed up and ready to go home after over six months in al-Anbar, the relief etched in their young faces even in the moonlight. Then watching these same Marines exchange glances with a similar number of grunts loaded down with gear file past — their replacements. Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be said.
***Biggest Hassle — High-ranking visitors. More disruptive to work than a rocket attack. VIPs demand briefs and “battlefield” tours (we take them to quiet sections of Fallujah, which is plenty scary for them). Our briefs and commentary seem to have no affect on their preconceived notions of what’s going on in Iraq. Their trips allow them to say that they’ve been to Fallujah, which gives them an unfortunate degree of credibility in perpetuating their fantasies about the insurgency here. Biggest Outrage — Practically anything said by talking heads on TV about the war in Iraq, not that I get to watch much TV. Their thoughts are consistently both grossly simplistic and politically slanted. Biggest Offender: Bill O’Reilly.
This should come as no surprise- the reality on the ground is not what is being portrayed by our leaders and our pundits (the newest insight- grammar is to blame for Iraq failure) and our cheerleaders and our radio talk show hosts. Iraq is a bloody mess, there is little reason for optimism and fewer reason for calls to stay the course (other than delusion and domestic political priorities) and in essence, it is all over except the dying. And there will be plenty of that, as the inevitable drawdown is going to expose the people we ostensibly are helping to even more short-term trauma and devastation. I have complete faith that the administration that botched every detail of this war will find a way to make the withdrawal as painful as possible for everyone involved. I have, in short, complete faith in the incompetence of this administration.
I wish I was wrong. Hell, I wish I was as wrong about this being over as I was wrong about virtually EVERY OTHER detail of the Iraq war, ranging from the ability of this administration to wage a war and reconstruct Iraq, the evidence of WMD, the reaction the Iraqi populace would have to alliance forces- you name it, I got it wrong. Tragically, I am afraid that when we look back in a few years, about the only thing I will have been right about this war was recognizing the end. The world truly is unfair- the only price I have to pay for my complicity and arrogance is guilt. I got off light.
Pb
Cheer up, John, I’m sure you’ll be wrong again some day. But thank you for being honest enough to admit it when you learn that you were wrong. I was wrong too, in 2000, and in 2001–back in 2000, I figured Bush couldn’t screw things up too badly, and I didn’t vote. And in 2001, after 9/11, I thought that Bush might actually work to catch Osama bin Laden and unite the country. I guess you could say I misunderestimated him.
scarshapedstar
Tragically, I am afraid that when we look back in a few years, about the only thing I will have been right about this war was recognizing the end.
Hate to burst your bubble, John, but you’re wrong on that one, too. This war isn’t ending a day before November 5th, 2008. I know, it’s lunacy, but I can’t see Bush ending his little Iraqi playdate unless he’s ordered to at gunpoint, and probably not even then. Even if somebody sets off a nuke in Baghdad and 30% of our troops die, he’ll continue blathering about the Freedom Agenda like he has for the past three-odd years.
Pb
Or possibly January 20th, 2009?
neil
The most efficient way to transition from being wrong to being right is to change your mind.
neil
…our leaders and…our cheerleaders…
Perry Como
Unlike you moonbats, President Bush has convictions. The Iraq War may be a failed war, but I don’t see any Democrat plans for screwing up Iraq. Where’s the Democrat plan to destroy US credibility in the world?
That’s why you Lefties can’t be trusted with national security.
Faux News
Cue scs, Darrell, and MacBuckets who will announce that the Iraqis WILL be greeting US soliders with “dancing and flowers”. We just haven’t hit that stage yet.
I recently read the book “Imperial Life in the Emerald City” a devestating account on the establishment and failure of the Coalition Provisional Authority in which employment to rebuild Iraq was based soley on ties to the GOP rather than to knowledge, skills, and experience. A must read for everyone. Except of course the 3 Kool Aid drinkers named above.
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600193.htmlin
zzyzx
There are few things that I wish I were more wrong about than the Iraq war. I was one of those who saw this coming, knew it was a mistake, knew that there was little that could be done to stop it, but held out hope that the people who disagreed with him were right…
croatoan
“the 10-member commission…is considering two option papers, ‘Stability First’ and ‘Redeploy and Contain’.”
As opposed to the current situation, “Apocalypse Now.”
Why does “redeploy” sound familiar? Oh, yeah, John Murtha suggested it almost a year ago. We’ve had over 650 fatalities and 4700 wounded since then.
ThymeZone
I know the feeling. I said the same thing on March 20 2003, vehemently opposed to the war as I was on that day.
I said, I hope we win quickly and get out of there with a minimum of damage to them and to our troops, and Iraq lives happily ever after. There is absolutely no satisfaction in being right about something like this.
SeesThroughIt
I’m in this club as well. I really wanted to be wrong, but sadly, I haven’t been wrong. And like TZ points out above, there’s no satisfaction in being right about this.
Davebo
Good post John.
Everyone is wrong from time to time though admittedly there are normally less dire consequences.
But you own up to it and that’s to be admired.
But the above commenters are right. It’s not over yet. If the dems can take one house of congress they can end it but I’m not positive they have the will to do so.
Here’s hoping they have the sense to correct the mistake (withdraw) before they begin the investigations into how it was made.
ThymeZone
There is no guilt in having been wrong then. The people weren’t given the information needed to judge it correctly.
I never would have guessed at the depth of ineptitude shown by our government, and I’m a Yellow Dog Democrat by upbringing.
George Lehman
Amen, TZ. As I supported the war in the beginning, I feel especially bad, knowing what I do now. We have thousands dead and tens of thousands seriously wounded, but the people I feel most sad for are the Iraqis themselves. I can’t help think that perhaps this mission could have been at least partly accomplished, but for the massive incompetence and ideology of greed which seems to have taken complete control of the Party of Torture.
John, you are on fire lately. You are a fine example of a thinking conservative, and I believe all us lefties here are proud of you.
Croaton, you must mean the traitor John Murtha, right? The one who some people here claimed was a fake war hero. The “cut and run” guy. The names of those 650 fatalities and thousands of wounded should be tatooed on Mr. McFlightSuit’s balls with a rusty needle.
TZ, I think you are right on the money about Chimpy being on the bottle again. How else to explain his increasingly embarassing performances lately?
norbizness
So it’s created more worldwide terrorism and killed more people a year than Saddam (with a full-blown tripartite civil war still having not happened, apparently), while locking down our resources away from Afghanistan and those other naughty countries. I think you are forgetting something very important: they painted a rescued kitten purple to symbolize their commitment to democracy. Anti-kitten-painters, the lot of you.
Steve
Here’s a good idea that would probably help the people of Iraq out, at least a little bit.
carolh
John, I have lurked here for a long time and seldom post but I have been glad to see that you realize how wrong you were about the war. Really, though, how could you have been so blind, misled, gullible, I don’t know, take your pick. I knew this war was a mistake from the moment it started, and I’m just a regular working woman who follows the news, not any kind of expert or deep thinker. The problem is my son wanted to be a soldier and since he was an adult I supported his decision to join the Army since I couldn’t stop it. He’s in Ramadi now and I just hope and pray he comes home safe and whole from this ghastly misadventure. I was fortunate enough to talk to him last week and I told him that Condileeza Rice had been over there. He said “Here, in Ramadi?” and I said no, in Baghdad. He said, “Oh, no one ever comes here, it’s too dangerous.” Of course it is too dangerous for her and the people who sent him there but not for him, alas.
Mike
Hey, that’s right. David Safavian, Jack Abramoff, James Tobin, Claude Allen, damn, they were all convicted. Thanks for pointing that out Perry.
canuckistani
You didn’t get off lightly, John. You are bearing the guilt for the errors you committed, like a man. The ones who are getting off lightly are the ones who don’t see their role in the debacle, and blame others – the liberals, the French, the Canadians – for their own errors. And we’ll wait a month to see if any cynical politicians who never cared about the mayhem they caused will get off lightly. Is there a politician alive who won’t vote to impeach Bush when that last helicopter leaves the embassy roof?
JoeTx
This is from a recent email exchange with a so called friend regarding how Bush used Christians. This is exactly why our country is going to the shitter. A bunch of sheep with their heads so throughly lodged in the sand they cannot grasp reality. I’ve had more stimulating exchanges with brick walls than with many of these people.
mrmobi
Very good post, John. You are a principled conservative. We need more like you.
Like most on the left, I don’t take any satisfaction from the realization that Iraq is lost. It might have been the most ill-considered foreign-policy ever, but I wish, for the sake of the Iraqis themselves, that we could have succeeded at some level. Now their fate is unknown. I’m ashamed for my governments incompetence and greed in this matter.
Croaton is exactly right. I believe John Murtha proposed some of the moves the Presidential Commission almost a year ago. You know, the one some here said wasn’t a war hero, the “cut and runner.”
It’s past time to wake up and smell the reality. Time to elect Democrats and start changing these disastrous policies.
Andrew
Ha ha, but he said Okinawa!
Oh shit, that’s near North Korea? Hmmm. It actually sounds like a good idea now, damnit.
Andrew
In other news, David Broder has descended from stupid moron to completely evil fuck head. From today’s wapo chat:
Pb
What about a mistaken policy *of* deliberate deception?
ThymeZone
Oh come now, Pb. It isn’t “deception.” These things are just little white lies when you can live by the Ends Justify Means rule.
When Ends Justify Means, you do what you have to do. That’s the the whole point. If The World Is Going To Be Better Without Saddam, it doesn’t matter what you say, or do, to make that happen. The Better World justifies it.
As Tom Tomorrow said, the reason we had a war is that The World Is Better Off Without Saddam. Unless we find WMDs, in which case they’re the reason again.
Steve
It’s worse to lie, than to make a mistake that costs 600,000 lives. That’s not exactly what my moral compass says.
Gregory
Good post, sir. You deserve credit for behing honest and honorable enough to admit you were wrong. I wish that more could do likewise.
Tsulagi
But..but..but..Bushy is infallible. Dobson had a vision that confirmed it. To that naysaying soldier you quoted, well, he just doesn’t have the steel of the 101st Fighting Keyboardists backed by the 82nd Parrot Troopers. They’re the true brave patriot warriors. Stay the course.
/snark
Yeah, just about any previous hints of possible troop level reductions has been a sham. The Coalition of the Willing has steadily become the Coalition of the Gone. Another reason why some units are already in their third or even fourth tours. Our units have had to fill in where others have left.
The British have been filling in too, but this British general sees Iraq is done. So do our boots and generals. But they will remain for Bush the Retard’s ego. So he can exit as a brave wartime president.
This thing has been way, Way, WAY over the heads of Bush and the Coalition of the Idiots in this administration since day one.
Pb
ThymeZone,
Yeah, I wrote up a nice long post about that ‘rule’ years ago (1/22/2003), but unfortunately and for whatever reason my audience at the time didn’t appreciate it. Here are a couple of the relevant issues I mentioned then…
Punchy
I really don’t know how you folks deal with this. I’m guessing every time the phone rings, you jump up and your heart races. I’m guessing if it rings hours after the news reports more US fatalities, you go borderline freakout until you know it’s not the military on the other end. I’m guessing when the military does call–for some unrelated reason–and they use the first few seconds to I.D. themselves, you flip out until you know why they’re calling.
Seriously, knowing ANY phone call could be “THE” call…then having that thing ring 4-5 times a day…holy shit. I just cannot imagine.
This is why I give Mr. Cole so much crediblity in these posts…you ought NOT be able to blog about the military unless you’ve strapped on the vest and boots and loaded the M-16…which he has.
tBone
Too bad our leaders aren’t capable of that kind of self-reflection. Great post, John. You’ve been on a tear for the past few weeks.
And I wouldn’t say you got off light. Now that you’ve probably destroyed whatever credibility you have left with the Coalition of the Shilling (Darrell, Buckets, Sherard, et al), you’re stuck with us dishonest Leftist whackjobs. Sorry.
ThymeZone
That’s really not fair. The man steps up and does a better job than we’ve done outlining the reality here … and who is he left with? Us. That’s pretty bad.
Now we owe a pledge in return, that when the Dems are fucking up the government right and left a few years from now, we step up when it’s our turn.
And they will, one way or the other. Power breeds crappy behavior in Washington DC — I hope there is noone out there who doesn’t know that by now. You have to watch whoever is in charge all the damned time.
tBone
That was my point, actually. You, being a dishonest Leftist whackjob yourself, misconstrued it.
Absolutely.
ThymeZone
Thank you, sir!
{ sticks out foot }
Have a nice trip.
etc.
tBone
You got the line wrong. It’s “Thank you sir! May I have another?”
John S.
Fuck YES.
No way in hell I’m gonna go the way of the Darrells, Buckets and Sherards of the world.
Pb
And get the John Coles of the right to run? “They may be wrong sometimes, but they aren’t crooks“? I could get behind that.
Andrei
FWIW — and please don’t take this the wrong way because I know you have served and have done more for your country than many of us posting to the comments section here — the reason why so many of us call rightwing war mongerers “chickenhawks” is precisely because guilt should *NOT* be the only price paid for things of this nature. And yet, when the only investment one has into a war is theorectical and not personal — like fighting on the front lines or having a close family member on the front lines — it allows people to get off light.
Any decision that results in the death of your fellow human beings is not a decision to ever be made or promoted without due diligence. If the only punishment Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Malkin, O’Reilly, Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, Frist and the whole lot of GOP power mongers ever receive over their actions and behavior in promoting this atrocity is guilt on their conscience, then that would be a travesty of the worst kind.
Andrei
The easiest way to make sure you don’t become the effective partisan opposite of Darrell is to register as an independent, and then treat politicians in the same way your treat commerical purchases: You vote for the best thing at the time. That way, you aren’t beholden to anyone or any philosophy simply because it’s how you label yourself. IMHO.
No politician will ever get my vote simply because they have a D or R next to their name.
ThymeZone
Me either. My vote goes to the highest bidder from now on.
Kidding.
Krista
Thymezone’s vote. Gently used, but in excellent condition. Only one available. On sale!
$6,000,000$5,000,000.{add to cart}
Carol H
I really don’t know how you folks deal with this. I’m guessing every time the phone rings, you jump up and your heart races. I’m guessing if it rings hours after the news reports more US fatalities, you go borderline freakout until you know it’s not the military on the other end. I’m guessing when the military does call—for some unrelated reason—and they use the first few seconds to I.D. themselves, you flip out until you know why they’re calling.
Seriously, knowing ANY phone call could be “THE” call…then having that thing ring 4-5 times a day…holy shit. I just cannot imagine.
This is why I give Mr. Cole so much crediblity in these posts…you ought NOT be able to blog about the military unless you’ve strapped on the vest and boots and loaded the M-16…which he has.
Carol H
Sorry about the last post but I don’t know how do to the block-quote thing. Instruction would be appreciated. Yes, Punchy, it is like you descibe, but I mainly worry about my son’s young wife. She just turned 22 and they married in June, two months before he deployed. She is living near his base and I worry about her being alone when she gets the phone call or the visit. I am glad that John Cole has seen the light, I just wish it had happened a few years ago.
lard lad
Let’s all remember that it takes a big man to stand up and admit an error of this magnitude, especially without trailing a raft of excuses and rationalizations behind.
Great post, John. The GOP doesn’t deserve you.
As for the Iraq pullout, read this odious pile of crap, in which a hardline conservative throws up his hands and declares that, you know what? Those darn Iraqis simply don’t deserve our precious gift of democracy!
The rapist accuses his victim of being frigid. Nice.
mrmobi
TZ:
God, you are so right. I don’t want to appear overconfident, but things seem to be swinging our direction now. That is no reason to be complacent. The same flawed system exists in the electoral process, as well as the lobbying process.
If you think Dems are immune, think again.
I sincerely believe I’ll be in here a couple of years from now, complaining loudly about Democratic excesses and complicity in wrong-headed policy designed to enrich themselves. Otherwise, I invite you to call me MrDarrell. Please.
Barry
lard lad, note that ‘Drsanity’ is so far out of touch with reality that he can’t see it from where he is. Incredible Freudian projection.
Bruce Moomaw
Look, John. I fell for Bush’s Iraq war initially, too — because, and only because, I figured that while he was a fool, he was being managed by two people (Cheney and Rumsfeld) who — however venal they might be — were at least reasonably intelligent and non-suicidal and therefore would not do anything to put the nation and themselves in greater danger. (Had that third jetliner hit the Pentagon a few hundred feet to one side, Rummy would today be firmly ensconced in the land of Known Unknowns.) So I figured that they couldn’t possibly be lying when they said that there was strong evidence that Saddam did still have an active nuclear program going.
I never dreamed — and nobody who knows them (including Brent Scowcroft) seems able to explain — how they completely lost their marbles. But it became apparent very quickly that they had — starting with their utter failure to make any adequate preparations at all for the immediate post-invasion period, INCLUDING EVEN GUARDING IRAQ’S LIKELY DEPOTS FOR BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS. I STILL cannot explain the behavior of these two men — it’s as though they have been possessed by evil aliens.
And what I do bear a grudge against you for is taking so damned long to see THAT, when it was excruciatingly clear just two months into the damned occupation. Your one excuse, I think, is that most of the Democrats — and certainly Kerry — seemed to have no better idea of what to do about the situation; I ended up voting for him in 2004 because I figured that he wouldn’t actually be worse than Bush on the national-security issue, and I thought (and still think) his domestic polices would be tremendously better.
Chuck Butcher
John,
I re-read your last paragraph several times and there’s a guilt thing I can’t shake, also.
From the run up to the war I called “foul” and went on and on about cherry picked intelligence, oil, corporate profiteering, etc and gained for myself a great deal of disdain. So, I was right, you were wrong and I also am really very sorry to have been right. Being right means I am a part of a nation that has wasted some of its most valuable members. It means that because I’m of the Vietnam War generation I’m old enough that some kid with a lot of future does the dirty work and I enjoy the good ole USA, I’m not eligible to take one’s place.
I cannot gloat, I share the responsibility, that’s part of the deal of being a citizen. It’s the same reason I can’t support capital punishment, it’s part of the deal of being a citizen, I’m a leftwing Democrat, but this is my government. What it does, I am a part of. Lately I’ve been feeling very ill, some of the things I’m a part of are really revolting. I don’t like that feeling. I do what I can for change, but that doesn’t make me not-American.
I don’t know if this makes you feel any better, but I don’t see how any of us get out free.
Tsulagi
Carol H said…
Just above the top left corner of the text box where you type your comment, you see a button with “>>” on it. Click that and a tool bar will expand. Then one of the button selections will be labeled “B-Quote.” Put your cursor at the beginning of the text you wish to block quote and click that button. The proper code will be inserted and appear in the text box. Plus the B-Quote button you clicked will then immediately change to “/B-Quote” Place your cursor at the end of the text you want to quote then click that /B-Quote button.
You should then be able to see your text block-quoted in the preview area. Sometimes you have to move your cursor away from the block quote for it to show in the preview pane.