It was a year ago today
All the papers are taking stock of our progress in Iraq one year after Georgie boy called "Mission Accomplished" in that highly staged macho-fest on the Lincoln. Here's the Washington Post, for example, but I could grasp at any number of publications with a simple google of the words.
Reuters Article in the Post More interesting are the editorials we'll see in the coming days. Still, there are a couple items that caught my eye. First, from that Reuters article.
It appears the clumsy way we handled Fallujah has made the Iraqi insurgents think they have won. This isn't normal battle here. They can draw the idea of winning from the smallest thing, and that will charge them up even more. Why did we attack Fallujah? I would argue it was done out of pure emotional reaction to the bodies hanging from that bridge a month ago. What is the result? Could it be the first victory for the insurgents? How often will we continue to give them what they see as moral victories?
No, the mission is not accomplished. I'm struck also today that there is no mention of Al Qaeda or of Osama Bin Laden. I'm not claiming the hunt for him has been abandoned, but it is important to note that the quicksand of the Iraqi desert has so caught us that we don't appear to remember the real reason for the war on terror. Bush has gotten us into a deep hole.
I have a vintage bottle of Scope here which might help you rinse and spit.
