The Fantasy World Of David Ignatius

By Big Tent Democrat, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Sun Oct 21, 2007 at 07:56:39 AM EST
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In a sense, we should be gratified that David Ignatius, in this column, the mouthpiece of Admiral William Fallon, is now writing of declaring victory and getting out of Iraq:

Let's assume that the numbers from Iraq are right and that there has been a significant reduction in violence there. Let's even agree that the Bush administration's strategy is finally showing some success. Isn't that an argument for accelerating the transfer of security to the Iraqis -- and speeding up the withdrawal of some U.S. support troops?

If that becomes the BushCo cover story for getting out of Iraq, so much the better. But Ignatius' "analysis" is bereft of reason and intelligence so one doubts whether he actually has good sources. For example:

The one certainty about Iraq is that a large U.S. troop presence isn't acceptable over the long run, for Iraqis or Americans. So U.S. military commanders are wise to examine how to use the remarkable success of recent months to create alternatives that rely less on U.S. firepower. That's really the challenge now in Iraq -- how to seize the moment, rather than maintain the status quo.

How to seize the moment? Does Ignatius really believe there is a moment to be seized? What does he expect for Iraq for the future? Stability, democracy and peace? My gawd, what a fantasy world he lives in. Nonetheless, let us hope he truly has the inside word from BushCo and significant troop withdrawals is their plan.

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The Fantasy World Of David Ignatius | 9 comments (9 topical)

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Yeah, that makes sense (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by scarshapedstar on Sun Oct 21, 2007 at 08:43:01 AM EST

After destroying the US military, their majority, and their party, the neocons will publicly admit defeat, pack it in and return home sans oil.

This isn't fantasy, they're just trying to string us along. Every 6 months they will issue a contrived report showing that violence is down ("Violent deaths no longer include shootings, bombings, beheadings, stabbings, burnings...") and claim that it proves we've gotta stay just a little longer.

The f*cked-up thing is that they're never even going to get the oil. The pipeline is too long to defend and it's sabotaged daily. They're just staying out of spite so that nobody else ever gets their hands on it.

Association Is Not Causation (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by john horse on Mon Oct 22, 2007 at 05:58:04 AM EST

Even if violence is down, it does not necessarily mean that it was due to the surge. Another reason that violence may be down is that people are chosing to leave rather than be a victim of ethnic cleansing. Currently there are over 2 million Iragi refugees who have left Iraq. The number of internal refugees is estimated at about 4 million. There isn't going to be a whole lot of violence after a place has been ethnically cleansed.

Not Too Mention (5.00 / 2) (#6)
by squeaky on Mon Oct 22, 2007 at 10:48:37 AM EST

That the US troops have moved from areas throughout the country to focus on Baghdad where the casualties and violence has increased. No coincidence that in places the occupiers leave the violence and casualties go down.

[ Parent ]

FYI (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by Edger on Mon Oct 22, 2007 at 11:24:44 AM EST

Monday, October 22, 2007
Riverbend:

Syria is a beautiful country- at least I think it is
...
The first evening we arrived, exhausted, dragging suitcases behind us, morale a little bit bruised, the Kurdish family sent over their representative - a 9 year old boy missing two front teeth, holding a lopsided cake, "We're Abu Mohammed's house- across from you- mama says if you need anything, just ask- this is our number. Abu Dalia's family live upstairs, this is their number. We're all Iraqi too... Welcome to the building."
I cried that night because for the first time in a long time, so far away from home, I felt the unity that had been stolen from us in 2003.

[ Parent ]

Thanks Edger (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by squeaky on Mon Oct 22, 2007 at 01:55:08 PM EST

For that link. I have missed her.

[ Parent ]

: It's quite a post....... :-) (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by Edger on Mon Oct 22, 2007 at 06:32:17 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Let's give Bush all the support we can give him. (none / 0) (#2)
by Edger on Sun Oct 21, 2007 at 09:14:23 AM EST

Works for me. After all, he lied the country into it.

Let him do what he does best, and lie the country out of it.

He is the president after all, and we should all line up, click our heels, salute, leave politics out of it, and get behind him.

Le's even take it a step further and pressure the Democratic Leadership into repealing the MCA next so that even detainees, who better treatment than the prisoners Bush has been torturing, are afforded equal justice under law.

Then make him a detainee. Arrest him.

Who will lay aside condemning Bush and the Democratic Leadership... and join me?

Actually, Ignatius favors the status quo (none / 0) (#3)
by daveb99 on Sun Oct 21, 2007 at 12:12:54 PM EST

Our strategy in Iraq is exactly the same today as it was on May 1, 2003, when George W. Bush stood on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and said, "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country." Nothing has changed. We are still engaged in securing and reconstructing Iraq.

The Bush long-term strategy is to (1) protect Israel by projecting a robust U.S. military presence in the Middle East and (2) secure Iraqi oil resources. That's it. According to some reports, regime change and reconstruction--for Israel and oil--were on Bush's mind in 1999. And if Bush has his way, Iraq will be an American colony for many years to come.

David Ignatius and other Beltway pundits consistently misuse the word "strategy." A strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. Strategy is differentiated from tactics in that a strategy is extensively premeditated and pursued with single-minded resoluteness. A "tactic" is a ground-level maneuver used in the service of a strategy.

Since 1980, America has had four distinct strategies in its relationship with Iraq:
*    1980-1990: We supported Saddam Hussein in his eight-year war against Iran. Iran was our chief adversary in the region. Iraq was our close ally.
*    1990-1991, Gulf War: We expelled Hussein from Kuwait.
*    1991-2003: We contained Hussein using sanctions and the no-fly zone.
*    2003-present: We removed Hussein from power and set up a puppet government. America is an occupying power. Bush is the de-facto ruler of Iraq. So-called reconstruction is on-going.

Speaking of reconstruction, how does a $592 million, 104-acre U.S. Embassy in Baghdad help the Iraqi people? Or the new gold-plated U.S. military bases? Or the proposed Oil Law, which is a blatant giveaway to western energy companies?

Ignatius ends his column with this absurd quote, "That's really the challenge now in Iraq--how to seize the moment, rather than maintain the status quo." No, Ignatius and others in the lapdog press are doing their best to condition the American people to accept the status quo, which is to maintain a Korea-style, long-term occupation of Iraq far into the future. Remember, the current strategy is designed to protect Israel and extract resources. There will not be a true change in strategy until we stop acting like a client state of Israel and we kick our oil habit.

http://oregonpundit.blogspot.com/

Ignatius (none / 0) (#4)
by koshembos on Mon Oct 22, 2007 at 02:55:14 AM EST

In the Kabuki dance performed by media stand outs such as Ignatius, facts are never the issue. It's the toeing the line stupid. BushCo is not about leaving Iraq any time soon. The surge is not a success either. But then, this is what the Washington wind whispers and this is what the famous Kabuki dancers Broder, Klein, Friedman and Ignatius will dance to.

In the long run, in 2009 Bush will demean only Texas, but we will be still stuck with the media Kabuki. Hopeless!!!