#77994 by Paolo on 6/14 at 10:18 am

Paolo - what new treatment do you suggest?

Ron Paul puts it very well: If you find you misdiagnosed a patient, you should change the treatment.

Continuing with the mess in Iraq is like continuing with open heart surgery after you find out the right diagnosis was gall stones.

Jon Stewart’s take on Reid’s (long) “Dr. Suess” quote on the senate floor was great. (6/12/07 show)

Nancy Pelosi supports Permanent US Bases in Iraq

ASK HER YOURSELF.  I have asked and received the answer from the Democratic Party Leaders that Permanent US Bases in Iraq are needed for the training and support of the Iraqi military. If the Democratic Party Leaders will not say they are against Permanent US Bases in Iraq, then they are for them!

There are at least four “super-bases” in Iraq, none of which have anything to do with “withdrawal” from that country. Quite the contrary, these bases have been constructed as little American islands of eternal order in an anarchic sea. Whatever top administration officials and Democratic Party leaders say - and they always deny that the US seeks “permanent” bases in Iraq - facts on the ground speak with another voice entirely. These bases practically scream “permanency”. One of the enduring mysteries of this war is that reporting on US bases in Iraq has been almost non-existent these past years

The Permanent US bases fit snugly with other Pentagon plans. For instance, Iraq’s 400,000-man military has been replaced by a 100,000-man, lightly armed military without armor or an air force. (In an otherwise heavily armed region, this ensured that any Iraqi government would be almost totally reliant on the US military and that the US Air Force would, by default, be the Iraqi Air Force for years to come.)

As long as the Pentagon keeps building them, making their facilities ever more enduring and ever more valuable, there can be no genuine “withdrawal” from Iraq, nor even an intention of doing so. The Democratic Party Leaders do not discuss them (other than to deny their permanency from time to time). No presidential speeches deal with them. No plans for them are debated in Congress. The opposition Democrats generally ignore them and the press won’t even put the words “base”, “permanent” and “Iraq” in the same paragraph. It may be hard to do, given the skimpy coverage, but keep your eyes directed at our “super-bases”. Until the Democratic Party Leaders blink on them, there will be no withdrawal from Iraq.

We are only about halfway through the surge Friedman Unit* (which is roughly 6 months), the trial balloons for the replacement (Korean strategy) are already being floated. It will take another few months before the failure of the surge is admitted, then the next Friedman Unit begins- along with it’s new tactical fiddle.

  But I suppose Halliburton, KBR, and Blackwater are continuing to make excellent profits, so all is well.

*  see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_(unit)

Talk of the surge as a failure is premature, since not all troops are in place yet and the strategists made clear from the start that an assessment of its value would be months away.  There will be a progress report in Sept..

As to Michael Boldin’s theory that it’s the administration’s desire to perpetuate an “endless war”; if that were true, then it would be a pretty stupid strategy since it’s only undermined support for the administration and already resulted in a power shift in Congress.  The administration is anything but suicidal.

Good point, Jonathan.  This was just another move to keep the “perpetual war” going on and on and on. 

The time to end this madness is now.  Not after the next election and not next fall.  Not next month.  Today.  Not tommorrow.  Now.

Maybe it’s crazy, but we just marched into Iraq, so why can’t we start marching right on out?

Some follow up reading:

“Top-Ten Reasons to Get out of Iraq. Now!”
http://www.populistamerica.com/top_ten_reasons_to_get_out_of_iraq_now

It is obvious even to non militarily minded individuals.
The surge is only a Bush whim to continue the Iraq war.
All this schuffeling and replacement of Generals and Admirals will accomplish nothing - because George Bush does not listen to his Generals. He just keeps on raving “we must stay the course”. And this will continue until the Bush administration is entirely replaced and we should start with George Bush.
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