With politicians focused on the military, is the military now leading on the political side??

[Sparkly]

I found this VERY interesting...

US eyes cease-fires to end Iraq violence

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 1 minute ago

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military is working more aggressively to forge cease-fires with Iraqi militants and quell the violence around Baghdad, judging that 80 percent of enemy combatants are "reconcilable," a top U.S. commander said Thursday.

(snip)

Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, told Pentagon reporters by video conference that he is pressing his military officers to reach out to the tribes, to some small insurgent groups and to religious and political leaders to push them to stop the violence.

"We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces," Odierno said from Camp Victory in Baghdad. "We believe a large majority of groups within Iraq are reconcilable and are now interested in engaging with us. But more importantly, they want to engage and become a part of the government of Iraq."

Stemming the violence in and around the capital city is key to giving the Iraqi government time to stabilize and move toward reconciliation with the warring sectarian factions. That would then allow the U.S. to begin withdrawing troops.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070531/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq

So with all of Washington talking incessantly about the military side of the Iraq fiasco -- troop levels, deployments, rotations, etc.-- and with nobody in the Bush administration doing anything except relying on the military to "win," the military is left to forge the political resolution required, as well. Where are the diplomats, the advisers, the state department?? Apparently, the military is left to handle EVERYthing. (Way to "support the troops." :eyes:)

This is the language of diplomacy: cease-fire, reconcile, engage, sign... It doesn't just give the government "time to stabilize and move toward reconciliation," it IS a big piece of that work. The problem the government has is the violence, and the violence is a reaction to the government.

Well, I guess we can hope they'll do what politicians and BushCo's cabinet should have been doing for years now.

[jeff30997]

1. " is the military now leading on the political side??"

Yes.

[jody]

2. The only hope for peace is if warring factions agree to stop fighting. Bush/Cheney don't understand

that simple truth.