While Bush was busy smiling and pimping the "gradual but important progress" being made in Iraq to a friendly American Legion crowd, the massacres in Iraq continued. Tuesday's gruesome totals: 10 GIs, 215 Iraqis Killed; 4 GIs, 406 Iraqis Wounded
That's "progress"?
The Bush/Petraeus plan of focusing in on Baghdad is definitely having ramifications in other communities:
"There's growing confusion at the Hillah hospital and we might ask for additional troops from Baghdad," he said in a phone interview. "There are no doctors, no medical staff available at the hospital."
That concern is also being expressed by military commanders:
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Six U.S. soldiers were killed by a blast north of Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said on Tuesday, in one of the single deadliest ground attacks against American forces in Iraq in months.
[...]
Iraqi and U.S. forces are in the third week of a security crackdown in Baghdad aimed at stemming sectarian violence. U.S. military commanders have expressed concerns that insurgents could step up attacks outside Baghdad.
Bush says he listens to his military commanders. What's he going to do about this situation? And can Petraeus, the supposed last best hope for Iraq, convince Bush listen to him when he says he needs more troops? Or is this Petraeus' legacy?
Most of us know to have a backup plan for things that matter. We do such things as apply to more than one college, try to purchase health insurance and draw up pre-nuptial agreements, all in an effort to diminish negative impact on our lives should things not go as planned. When we're behaving recklessly, we don't create contingency plans and, sad to say, behaving with such stupidity and hubris has become the American way, especially when it comes to international policy. So we weren't surprised to hear that there is no backup plan for Iraq.
The Washington Post reported that the White House and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a group of governors that there's only one plan for Iraq, and that "Plan B was to make Plan A work." To put it in terms that would appeal to the masses: We're in it to win it. Except that we're not winning, because there's nothing to "win" in Iraq. With the troop surge and all, we'd be lucky to get out of there some time in the next five years without igniting further war in the region.
Related:
Containing Iraq's Civil War Is Not the Answer
How to stop genocide in Iraq (h/t arcturus)
Mr. Bush Needs to Sell this War ... to the Highest Bidder!
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