"Victory"? Forget it: By Sidney Blumenthal

[kpete]

"Victory"? Forget it
Bush is trying to keep Americans from abandoning his disastrous war by claiming victory is at hand. But even his own generals know that's a lie.
By Sidney Blumenthal

May. 25, 2006 | When new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamel al-Maliki unveiled his government last week, five months after his country's elections, and was unable to appoint ministers of defense and interior, President Bush hailed it as a "turning point." And that was just one month after Maliki's mentor, former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari, to whom he had been loyal deputy, installed in the position through the support of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, was forced to relinquish his office through U.S. pressure.

Bush has been proclaiming Iraq at a turning point for years. "Turning point" is a frequent and recurring talking point, often taken up by the full chorus of the president ("We've reached another great turning point," Nov. 6, 2003; "A turning point will come in less than two weeks," June 18, 2004), vice president ("I think about when we look back and get some historical perspective on this period, I'll believe that the period we were in through 2005 was, in fact, a turning point," Feb. 7, 2006), secretary of state and secretary of defense, and ringing down the echo chamber.

This latest "turning point" reveals an Iraqi state without a social contract, a government without a center, a prime minister without power and an American president without a strategy. Each sectarian group maintains its own militia. Each leader's influence rests on these armed bands, separate armies of tens of thousands of men. The militias have infiltrated and taken over key units of the Iraqi army and local police, using them as death squads, protection rackets and deterrent forces against enemies. Reliable statistics are impossible, but knowledgeable reporters estimate there are about 40 assassinations a day in Iraq. Ethnic cleansing is sweeping the country. From Kirkuk in the north to Baghdad in the middle to Basra in the south, Kurds are driving out Turkmen and Arabs, Shiites are killing Sunnis, and the insurgency enjoys near unanimous support among Sunnis. Contrary to Bush's blanket rhetoric about "terrorists" and constant reference to the insurgency as "the enemy," "foreign fighters are a small component of the insurgency," according to Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

more at:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2006/05/25/bush_iraq/print.html

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Everything over there is a damn "turning point"

Over here it will be the end of RW rule come this November.

[Philosoraptor]

2. Our nation is at a turning point, a bad one.

A turn southward.

[bryant69]

3. At this point we are trying to find a way to withdraw with honor

And even that seems like a lost cause.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Jim__]

4. The tragedy in Iraq is just beginning.

We may be able to do something to alleviate it - I think an international peace-keeping force to keep the various ethnic groups apart may be a beginning. But bush can't even acknowledge that things have gone tragically wrong there. Instead he repeatedly proclaims that we are at a turning point and victory is just around the corner. Every day, the potential for absolete disaster increases.

We need to get rid of bush. He is an incompetent fool and is dragging this country and the entire world to the bring of disaster.