Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

I've noticed some really interesting developments in the news regarding Iraq. I can't quite figure out what it all means but I think it spells good news for our soldiers on the ground and their loved-ones here at home. However, it leaves a great big, ominous question mark over the Iraqi people and their country.

Now we all know that according to the Bush administration (and that caustic, venomous Schmidt) that any talk about pulling the troops out of Iraq makes you a spineless, unpatriotic coward. They made their opinion perfectly clear when John Murtha stood before the press on November 17 and called for a plan to pull the troops out of Iraq. But the administration is also facing an election in less than a year and the majority of Americans now feel that Iraq was a mistake and are unhappy and uncertain about our presence there.

So, here are some observations.

According to Juan Cole we have already pulled our ground troops out of Najaf and Karbala and seem to be in the process of turning over various administrative buildings and such. There seems to be plans to further turn over other cities prior to the upcoming election on December 15, 2005. The troops pull back to an encampment outside the city and if all stays quiet they pick up and leave.

November 17, congressman John Murtha put forward his opinion and was consequently attacked by Cheney. (Murtha held his own though, he delivered Cheney a seriously deserved smackdown.)

Then on November 22 in an interview with Fox News, Condeleeza Rice said that we would not need to maintain our current troop levels very much longer.

Then yesterday, in the wake of strong public opposition to the war and calls for withdrawal and/or drawdown of troops by many within the senate and congress, the White House jumped on the bandwagon and said that they too have a withdrawal plan. In fact, they said that not only do they have a plan, but it happens to be almost exactly like a plan put forth by Senator Joseph Biden on November 21.


So, here is what I think is happening...

In the face of public opposition to the war, approval ratings in the toilet and an upcoming election the White House has decided to cut their losses and do what has to be done in order to save face and maintain Republican control after next November. They will continue to do exactly what they have maintained they would never do, they will cut and run. They will present it to the public in such a manner that makes it seem like this is the "course" that we have been "staying." They will say that the Iraqis have "stood up" so now we can "stand down."

Now, I don't claim to know what the best course of action would be in Iraq, although I think John Murtha would certainly know better than any of the other bozos who are playing armchair quarterback with the lives of our soldiers. It seems certain to me that once our troops are gone Iraq will fall into complete civil war. The Sunnis have been bombing the Shiites for months now and recent news has shown that Shia militia are taking their revenge on the Sunni population. I can see the definite possibility of political and social chaos perhaps ending in a repressive Shiite government closely allied to Iran and Syria.

So, what was the original goal of this war? Let's throw out the BS about WMD, I think we've beaten that dead horse enough for now. Get rid of Saddam? Yeah, he is a brutal man who tortured people and used chemical weapons against those who opposed him. However, since we've done the same things I don't think we get to bang the drum of moral indignation anymore where that is concerned. Bring democracy to Iraq? Okay, now we're getting somewhere.

The Bush Administration wanted Saddam out and they wanted a democratically elected (read "puppet") government installed. Bottom line, they wanted to free Iraq from Saddam and install a government that would allow us to exploit their oil resources.

Mission Accomplished?