Outsmarted again
It must be Al Qaeda because the Sunnis are working with the US now, right?
Think about the brilliant political monkey trap the Sunnis have constructed for the US.
They made "peace" with the US just long enough for "the successes in Anbar" to become a rhetorical anchor around the administration's neck, and now they're virtually immunized against any serious US troop increases or offensives.
What, is the Bush administration now going to admit the Anbar policy has failed?
Sunni extremists appear to have begun a systematic campaign to assassinate police chiefs, police officers and other Interior Ministry officials throughout Iraq, with at least 10 attacks in the last 48 hours.
Think about the brilliant political monkey trap the Sunnis have constructed for the US.
They made "peace" with the US just long enough for "the successes in Anbar" to become a rhetorical anchor around the administration's neck, and now they're virtually immunized against any serious US troop increases or offensives.
What, is the Bush administration now going to admit the Anbar policy has failed?
posted by mikevotes at
2:07 PM
12 Comments:
Looks like the Sunnis have made a deal with Al Quaida. A lot of them are the same guys anyway.
By
Anonymous, at 3:11 PM
Once you get past the foreigners, the dividing line is fairly arbitrary.
By
mikevotes, at 3:37 PM
Well let's put it this way....I'm sure there's a lot of cross-pollination.
By
Anonymous, at 6:21 PM
If this were a cartoon, Bush would be Wiley Coyote...
By
-epm, at 7:04 PM
The Iraqis are just much sharper at this. I don't know if it's because they know the ground better or are better because their lives are on the line.
(Or maybe it's because they operate in nuance, not some arbitrary, subjective division of good and evil.)
By
mikevotes, at 9:16 PM
Sure there's the difference between nuanced and binary thinking, but at the core, it's the difference between being reality-based and being delusion-based with regard to assessing the word around you and planning strategy. It seems to me, the Bushian crowd does as much strategy planning as a train barreling down a track.
By
-epm, at 6:07 AM
After the intricate masterplan to recreate Iraq as a model of democracy, how can you say that?
By
mikevotes, at 7:25 AM
You're not serious, are you?
Whatever pipe dream plan they had was based on delusion, wishful thinking, and bogus advice from bogus "experts." Still, that's the track we've been barreling down since then.
As Colbert said, Bush believes the same thing Wednesday that he did on Monday, no matter what happened on Tuesday. That is the model of US foreign policy.
By
-epm, at 8:13 AM
No, I'm not serious.
Sorry, I don't write sarcasm well. Maybe if I had a little emoticon with one raised eyebrow....
Hope you didn't pop a blood vessel.
By
mikevotes, at 8:17 AM
I think, with all due respect, it comes down to the fact that America is still a young, optimistic, forward looking country. Folks in the Middle East are much more set in their ways.
By
Anonymous, at 9:55 AM
Interesting broader question. Is America still forward looking and optimistic?
The "pro" case is well advertised, but we're beginning to develop the darker parts that seem to indicate a darker transition.
The anti-case, renditions/torture/eavesdropping as part of a broader struggle for control over people and populations, battling over a scarce resource, a and kind of a culture of death and threat. (Not in the abortion kinda way, but in the worship/fetishization of death like 9/11.)
I wonder how much that feeling of optimism will shift as the boomers start enacting their fears of their own deaths.
Not making the case, just thinking out loud.
By
mikevotes, at 1:41 PM
Yes Americans do seem to be getting more cynical these days. It's a shame but maybe it's a sign of maturity?
By
Anonymous, at 3:15 PM
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