Amsterdan

Cheney’s Victory on “Meet the Press”

Sunday, September 10, 2006
Russert: Mr. Vice President, I ask you again: What is victory? What is ‘staying the course’? What is winning?

Cheney: Tim, victory in Iraq will be a situation in which (1) there is a viable government, representative of the people of Iraq, elected under their constitution, and we’re part way there. It will be (2) an Iraq that is not a threat to the United States in terms of being a safe haven for terrorists. It will be (3) an Iraq where Al-Qaida has been pretty well eliminated, where, in fact, (4) the Iraqis are able to govern and deal with the difficult political situations obviously that exist inside Iraq, given their history. Those are all things that need to happen. But I think we’re well on our way to doing it….Saddam Hussein sits in jail today.

There. We have our victory metrics. Interestingly, the conditions described in Cheney’s victory metrics 2, 3 and 4 were status quo BEFORE we invaded Iraq. It was not a threat to the United States, according to the Conclusions section of the Senate Intelligence report just released Friday, September 8, 2006.

Al-Qaida was not operating there, despite Al Zarqawi having fled there after the invasion of Afghanistan. In fact, Saddam was no friend of Al-Qaida and recent reports suggest Al Zarqawi was being sought by Saddam’s security forces prior to the US invasion.

And the “difficult political situations” (the history of which the Bush Administration seemed to be unaware in planning for the post-invasion period) were under control by Saddam’s repression. The only thing that was not status quo BEFORE we invaded Iraq was “a viable government, representative of the people of Iraq.” It was a dictatorship, much like those that exist in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Pakistan today – though it does not seem likely that we will be invading those countries anytime soon, since they are our principal Arab partners in the War on Terror. Indeed, it is “governments, representative of the people” in Iran and Palestine (and likely soon in Lebanon) that are our principal foes in the Middle East. We have cleverly thrust Iraq into that club.

So Cheney’s No. 1 victory metric has been met (the only one not in place BEFORE the US invasion). But 2, 3 and 4 – which had been in effect BEFORE the invasion – are now reversed. One step forward, three steps back. Post-invasion Iraq is a haven for terrorists; Al-Qaida now has a firm foothold in Iraq, and the new Iraqi government is not effectively dealing with “the difficult political situations obviously that exist inside Iraq, given their history.”

Moreover, by the fumbling interventions of the Bush Administration on behalf of the American people, the region has been further destabilized. A Shia’a crescent running from Lebannon through Syria and Iraq and into Iran is rapidly firming, aided significantly by recent clubfooted military moves against Hezbollah, encouraged and supported by this Administration.

Our American military is literally stuck in Iraq hoping to stave off a full-out civil war. Stuck for probably ten more years, and unable to restrengthen or even recover for the next battle front in this War. Yes, it could get worse. We can not leave, just as we could not leave Viet Nam in the 1968 Tet Offensive. But, thanks to the ill-conceived invasion of Iraq, and more thanks to the incompetent post-invasion non-plan, we Americans are no longer in control of our own military destiny. We have ceded control to that other incompetent government, the one in Baghdad: “When they stand up; we will stand down.” And our $300 Billion loss will likely become a $500 Billion loss by the end of the Bush-Cheney watch in 2009. A wholesale squandering of treasure and lives.

But, hey, Saddam sits in jail. Heckuva job, Mr. Vice President.

posted by DanZ @ 1:09 PM