The Liberty Papers

I’ve read a lot of news and blogosphere analysis of the President’s Iraq speech this morning, but the one by Cicero at Winds of Change seems to be the only one that really hits the nail on the head:

The President’s Iraq plan assumes that there is a cogent, non-sectarian, uncorrupted Iraqi national government to partner with. I propose that this is an illusion, laid bare by Saddam’s mob-like execution at the hands of revenging Shi’a. There is no real national government in Iraq that represents all the factions. I don’t believe it is possible at this hour.

We’re pouring 20,000 more of our forces to go “door-to-door to gain the trust of Baghdad residents”. Translation: We’re going to unwittingly assist one side of this sectarian conflict suppress the other. We will be taking sides in a conflict that goes back more than a millennium.

It has become inordinately difficult to see how our token force of 20,000 additional troops embedded in Iraq’s sectarian war will turn the tide in the Global War on Terror.

For that matter, except for the fact that four years of bumbling have turned Iraq into the new Afghanistan, I don’t see what this war ever had to do with the War on Terror to begin with.

Previous Posts:

Stuck In Iraq Longer Than WWII ?
The Iraq Study Group Is Right: It’s Time For Us To Go
The War In Iraq: One Big Fiasco
The Surge Is A Fait Accompli
Thoughts On the Surge