http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122506Y.shtml
Troop "Surge" in Iraq Would Be Another Mistake
By W. Patrick Lang and Ray McGovern
The Miami Herald
W. Patrick Lang, a retired Army colonel, served with Special Forces in
Vietnam, as a professor at West Point and as defense intelligence officer
for the Middle East. Ray McGovern was also an Army infantry/intelligence
officer before his 27-year career as a CIA analyst. Both are with Veteran
Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.
Sunday 24 December 2006
Robert Gates' report to the White House on his discussions in Iraq this
past week is likely to provide the missing ingredient for the troop "surge"
into Iraq favored by the "decider" team of Vice President Dick Cheney and
President George W. Bush.
When the understandable misgivings voiced by top U.S. military officials
made it obvious that the surge cart had been put before the
mission-objective horse, the president was forced to concede, as he did at
his press conference on Wednesday, ``There's got to be a specific mission
that can be accomplished with the addition of more troops, before I agree on
that strategy."
The president had led off the press conference by heightening
expectations for the Gates visit to Iraq, noting that "Secretary Gates is
going to be an important voice in the Iraq strategy review that's under
way." No doubt Gates was given the job of hammering out a "specific mission"
with U.S. generals and Iraqi leaders, and he is past master at sensing and
delivering on his bosses' wishes.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's aides have given Western reporters an
outline of what the "specific mission" may look like. It is likely to be
cast as implementation of Maliki's "new vision," under which U.S. troops
would target primarily Sunni insurgents in outer Baghdad neighborhoods,
while Iraqi forces would battle for control of inner Baghdad. A prescription
for bloodbath, it has the advantage, from the White House perspective, of
preventing the Iraqi capital from total disintegration until Bush and Cheney
are out of office.
Well before Tuesday, when Gates flew off to Iraq, it was clear that
Cheney and Bush remained determined to stay the course (without using those
words) for the next two years. And the president's Washington Post interview
on Tuesday, as well has his press conference Wednesday strengthened that
impression. In his prepared statement for the Post, Bush cast the conflict
in Iraq as an enduring "ideological struggle," the context in which he
disclosed that he is now ``inclined to believe that we do need to increase
our troops, the Army and Marines."
Inconsistent Message
Lest the Post reporters miss the point, the president added, "I'm going
to keep repeating this over and over again, that I believe we're in an
ideological struggle ... that our country will be dealing with for a long
time." In the same interview, he described "sectarian violence" in Iraq as
``obviously the real problem we face."
At his press conference the next day, the president repeated the same
dual, inconsistent message, which went unchallenged by the White House press
corps. Pick your poison: Do you prefer "sectarian violence" as the real
problem? Or is it "ideological struggle?" The White House seems to be
depending on a credulous press and Christmas-party eggnog to get by on this.
Incoming Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said last Sunday
that he could "go along" with the widely predicted surge in U.S. troops in
Iraq, but for only two or three months. Is it conceivable that Reid doesn't
know that this is about the next two years - not months? Egged on by
"full-speed-ahead" Cheney, Bush is determined that the war not be lost while
he is president. And he is commander-in-chief. Events, however, are fast
overtaking White House preferences and are moving toward denouement well
before two more years are up.
"Get With the Program"
Virtually everyone concedes that the war cannot be won militarily. And
yet the so-called "neoconservatives" whom Bush has listened to in the past
are arguing strongly for a surge in troop strength. A generation from now,
our grandchildren will have difficulty writing history papers on the
oxymoronic debate now raging on how to surge/withdraw our troops into/from
the quagmire in Iraq.
The generals in Iraq may have already been ordered by the White House to
"get with the program" on surging. Just as they "never asked for more
troops" at earlier stages of the war, they are likely to be instant devotees
of a surge, once they smell the breezes from Washington. As for Gates, it is
a safe bet that whatever personal input he may dare to offer will be dwarfed
by Cheney's. Taking issue with "deciders" has never been Gates' strong suit.
Whether Gates realizes it or not, the U.S. military is about to commit
hara-kiri by "surge." The generals should know that, once an "all or
nothing" offensive like the "surge" apparently contemplated has begun, there
is no turning back.
It will be "victory" over the insurgents and the Shiite militias or
palpable defeat, recognizable by all in Iraq and across the world. Any
conceivable "surge" would not turn the tide - would not even stem it. We saw
that last summer when the dispatch of 7,000 U.S. troops to reinforce Baghdad
brought a fierce counter-surge - the highest level of violence since the
Pentagon began issuing quarterly reports in 2005.
A major buildup would commit the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to decisive
combat in which there would be no more strategic reserves to be sent to the
front. As Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway pointed out Monday, ``If
you commit your reserve for something other than a decisive win, or to stave
off defeat, then you have essentially shot your bolt."
It will be a matter of win or die in the attempt. In that situation,
everyone in uniform on the ground will commit every ounce of their being to
"victory," and few measures will be shrunk from.
Analogies come to mind: Stalingrad, the Bulge, Dien Bien Phu, the Battle
of Algiers.
It will be total war with the likelihood of all the excesses and mass
casualties that come with total war. To force such a strategy on our armed
forces would be nothing short of immoral, in view of predictable troop
losses and the huge number of Iraqis who would meet violent injury and
death. If adopted, the "surge" strategy will turn out to be something we
will spend a generation living down.
Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., spoke for many of us on Sunday when George
Stephanopoulos asked him to explain why Smith had said on the Senate floor
that U.S. policy on Iraq may be ``criminal:"
``You can use any adjective you want, George. But I have long believed
in a military context, when you do the same thing over and over again,
without a clear strategy for victory, at the expense of your young people in
arms, that is dereliction. That is deeply immoral."
***
And So This Is Christmas
By Cindy Sheehan
t r u t h o u t | Guest Contributor
Monday 25 December 2006
And so this is Christmas,
And what have you done?
Another year over,
A new one just begun.
- John Lennon
Today is the 21st birthday of my youngest child, Janey. It is the third
birthday that she has "celebrated" since her oldest sibling, Casey, was
killed in Iraq. My other son, Andy, turned 21 the year Casey was killed.
Carly, my oldest daughter, turned 24 the year after Casey was killed ... the
same age he was when BushCo sent him to die in their oil war for profit. In
the one letter that Casey was writing three days before he was killed in the
ambush that took the lives of six other soldiers, he expressed regret that
he wouldn't be home for Janey's high school graduation that June. Little did
we know that he would be home, buried in his "final resting place," forever.
Christmas 2006 will be the third Christmas that our family has endured
since the death of Casey. The holiday season is hard for so many people as
evidenced by the skyrocketing number of suicides and suicide attempts. Many
people feel lonely and separated from joyous events, and the orgy of
consumerism that now is the "reason for the season." Especially since
Christmas 2003 was the last time we saw Casey alive, this season is so
difficult for our family. Imagine getting out the boxes of Christmas
decorations and pulling out your dead child's stocking or "Baby's First
Christmas, 1979" ornament. Well, the Sheehan family and almost 3,000 other
American families don't have to imagine the pain - we deal with the trauma
24/7; Christmas, birthdays, graduations, weddings, births, anniversaries,
will never, ever, be the same for us again.
2006 was a year of ups and downs for our family and for the nation.
Despite the facts, the criminal and corrupt occupation of Iraq continues
unabated, and in fact - worsens on an hourly basis. Body bags are coming
home from the Middle East in the dark of night at a steady clip, and our
troops are being grievously wounded for no other reason than to reward the
CEOs of the war profiteers with phenomenal holiday bonuses. Our children are
being sacrificed like Christmas turkeys so the turkeys in the White House
can strut around and posture like dictators of banana republics.
With the transfer of power in the legislative branch of Congress, our
nation has a unique opportunity for true change in 2007. But with the
Democratic leadership cozying up to the killers who have led our country
down a path of destruction in the name of "bipartisanship" - which in this
case can only be truthfully called criminal collusion - we have little hope
of the change that we the people voted overwhelmingly for this past
November.
The best holiday presents for my family, our nation and the world, would
be for the troops to speedily and safely exit from Iraq and for BushCo to be
held accountable for their crimes against our Constitution and humanity.
These gifts, however, will not be realized unless the grassroots community
who put the Democrats back in power redouble our efforts for peace and
accountability.
A very Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year,
Let's hope it's a good one,
Without any fear.
As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear
itself." An out-of-control Executive Branch, threatening to send more troops
to Iraq and another battleship group to the Persian Gulf - to intimidate
Iran and perhaps incite an attack from that country that would justify
another war - is not the only thing the world has to fear. I am also afraid
that the recent electoral victory of the Democratic Party will lead to
complacency in the grassroots movement. May I remind everyone that the
Democrats have started more wars in the last century than the Republicans -
and all war is wrong, no matter what political party or which politician
starts it. We have to do more than "hope" for a good 2007. We have to stay
vigilant and motivated, and constantly remind our employees in DC who they
work for and what we expect from them. The Democrats cannot be afraid to end
the monstrosity that BushCo has perpetrated on the world. Our nation and the
nation of Iraq demand heroes.
We have to be the ones who give our leaders the courage to do the right
thing.
War is over, if you want it,
War is over, if you want it.
War is over, war is over,
If YOU work for peace.
Join Gold Star Families for Peace and a coalition of Peace and Justice
Groups in our Walk for Change when Congress reconvenes on the 3rd and 4th of
January.
Support peace groups who are on the frontlines struggling against the
war machine.
In Search of Peace is a series of reflections on Cindy's journey toward
peace.
Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Spc. Casey Sheehan, who was killed in
Bush's war of terror on 04/04/04. She is the co-founder and president of
Gold Star Families for Peace and the Camp Casey Peace Institute. She is the
author of three books; the most recent is Peace Mom: A Mother's Journey
Through Heartache to Activism.
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