Have we run out of "turning points'" in Iraq?

[Cocoa]

this response from Casey is pretty familiar, except it's missing something. He explains it as an "anomaly" but he doesn't point to some event after which it will all get better.

As in, the insurgents are getting desperate as we head toward x, where x is in (fall of Baghdad, establishment of interim government, killing of Uday/Qusay, capture of Saddam, drafting of interim constitution, handover of sovereignty, any number of "crucial" elections, drafting of final constitution, too many more to remember...)


http://www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,17756244,00.html

WASHINGTON: The US yesterday played down a dramatic surge in violence in Iraq and said political progress would eventually defuse sectarian tensions in the country.

After one of Iraq's bloodiest days since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, a top US military officer said the violence would not trigger a civil war or disrupt political negotiations for a unity government.
General George Casey, commander of the US-led forces in Iraq, said the rise in insurgent attacks this week was "an anomaly".

"They're in a vulnerable period during the formation of the government, but I don't think it's on the brink of civil war," General Casey said in a televised interview.

"I think we can't let what's happened in the last few days distract us from the progress that's been made over the last year. That's what the terrorists want."

more...

[acmavm]

1. We were screwed when they dropped the first bomb on innocent people

right at the beginning of Shock and Awe.

We've turned so much that you can honestly call it spinning.

[hlthe2b]

2. We've "turned so many corners," that there is little doubt...

we have nothing left but a massive circular firing squad.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Almost as many turning points as there are #2 Al-Qaeda men.

[jobycom]

4. just means we're running in circles, and returning to where we started.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Don't be silly. There are an infinite number of "Turning Points" to come.

They will cease when the Iraqis thrown us out of their country. Then will begin the "We actually won" (just as we "won" the Tet Offensive) rationalizations. Then the "We could have won" revisionism. Followed by the "Stabbed in the back by the leftists". Then preparations for the next glorious attempt at colonialism under the guise of "protecting American interests".

[LynnTheDem]

6. So "DESPERATE" they killed 17 US troops this weekend.

The BETTER the resistance gets at killing their invaders, the more "DESPERATE" they are.

If ya get an A+ in school, ya must be REALLY REALLY "DESPERATE".

[ochazuke]

7. Remember the "window"?

After the invasion, many politicians said we have a window of only a few months at most to get it right. After that, there would be an irreversable decline into civil war and anti-American violence.

The window kept getting pushed open a little wider as months went by and they said "a few months, a few months".

Haven't heard anything about windows lately. Guess they finally shut.

[Cocoa]

8. I remember the window

I remember hearing about the window in the fall of 2003. Wolfowitz among others.

[yurbud]

9. Gallup poll in Spring 2004 said half saw us initially as liberators

but the overwhelming majority no longer felt that way.

I think the whole deal would have caused a resistance no matter what because it was so transparently about economic exploitation, but it might have been less intense. Maybe.