Thursday, October 04, 2007

Some Hopeful War News

Today the McClatchy Press ran the following story:

"New military leaders question Iraq mission"

In short, despite the administrations repeated attempts over the years to promote only those who agree whole-heartedly with their position on Iraq, those who haven risen to the top are expressing deep doubts about the direction of the war on terror.

Additionlly, the story gives the following 6 reasons for some hope:

1. The Democratic takeover of the Senate and the House of Representatives last January.

2. Bush's choice of Gates to replace Rumsfeld, one of the main architects of the war. Gates was a member of the independent bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which called for the United States to reach out to Syria and Iran and "strongly urged" a drawdown in Iraq.

3. A shift, completed this week, in the military's top uniformed leadership from administration loyalists to officers who are more concerned about the growing strains on the military.

4. Mounting evidence, in a variety of official reports in recent weeks, that Iraqi forces won't be prepared to take over from American troops in significant numbers until late next year at the earliest, and that Iraqis have made little progress toward political reconciliation.

"Barring that, no amount of troops and no amount of time will make much of a difference," Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

5. Mounting evidence, most recently in a United Nations report, that the war against al Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan is faltering, in part because Iraq is tying down so many U.S. troops.

More forces are needed in Afghanistan, and "we can't send them because we're bogged down" in an "intractable civil war" in Iraq, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said Wednesday.

6. Bush's low approval ratings and popular discontent with the Iraq war, which have prompted some legislators to reconsider their support for the president's policy as next year's elections approach.

So the word for the day is "HOPE".

4 comments:

bjkeefe said...

Another comforting aspect: This time, the criticism is coming from the not-yet-retired generals.

As for your reason #1, however, I got my doubts.

John Evo said...

Oh, I agree 100%! These weren't MY reasons. They were the reasons stated in the article and I just reposted them as they ran.

I am very distressed about the lack of leadership and guts that we see on left. In fact, I know the Democrats are always reviled by the Republicans as being "liberal", but I don't think the party is liberal at all. They are about a half step to the left of the Republicans and they look awfully spineless to me.

See my recent comment on The Young Turks -

bjkeefe said...

I am very distressed about the lack of leadership and guts that we see on left.

Me, too, although I'd say "The Democratic Party" rather than "the left." I'm banking everything on their recent behavior being a political calculation to run the table in 2008. If they don't do that, or if they do but don't take advantage of it, I'll write them off forever.

Anonymous said...

I hope that you are right.

I also hope that the disengagement from Iraq isn't just aimed at freeing up fighters for war with Iran.