Peter Galbraith on the “Surge”
Posted March 1, 2007 on 6:59 pm | In the category Press, Iraq, U.S. Foreign Policy | by JeffPeter Galbraith discusses at length Bush’s “surge” strategy in Iraq in the current issue of the New York Review of Books. He is not optimistic and presents a convincing argument that the “war” as defined by Bush is lost and that everything from now on is a delay that will cost lives and bring us no closer to an acceptable solution. One small point in the Galbraith piece is a reminder of the unwillingness of Bush to take responsibility for his actions (not unusual given his personal history) and, more significantly, his ability to blame the victim – in this instance the Iraqi people. Galbraith quotes Bush when asked whether he owed the Iraqi people an apology for not providing adequate post- invasion security:
“Well I don’t, that we didn’t do a better job or they didn’t do a better job?… I think I am proud of the efforts we did. We liberated that country from a tyrant. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude. That’s the problem here in America. They wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that’s significant enough in Iraq.”
The article provides a detailed analysis of the situation in Iraq that is very different from what we are being told by the administration. Read it and make your own decision and think about what we are getting from not only the administration but also the mainstream press who are giving the “surge” the benefit of the doubt in the face of a lot of evidence that it is doomed to fail.
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That Bush quote is so infuriating and yet so typical. It displays an ignorant, selfish, narrow, and even stupid mind. We destroyed Iraq. We killed its main bad guy and his two sons, but we destroyed the country. Now, the President may not be able to apologize for the disaster and still keep up appearances [i.e., that he has a clue], but there still would be nothing wrong in Bush saying, “we are doing our best to fix what has become a totally unacceptable situation.” But no-o-o, our guy says, “I think I am proud of the efforts we did. …. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude.” What can anyone say to that?
Comment by John — March 5, 2007 #
Well, you could say, “thank Dog” that his tenure is almost over. Or you could say, “bring in the clowns” - which would be redundant. Or you could ask yourself how the hell he got elected twice - well appointed once and then elected - thanks to the old “Swiftboats for Bush”. But end of the day it seems to me that there really is not much to say - we elected an incompetent psychologically screwed up mess for president gave him a whacked off second daddy for vice president and then watched it all go to shit. We cannot even begin to calculate the damage.
Comment by jeff — March 6, 2007 #