WINNING BY LOSING
Mr. Bush continues to talk about “winning” and “victory.”
“Winning what? Victory over what?
What, in fact, were we trying to win in the first place? What was the Victory
to be all about? Finding WMD that the inspectors had missed? . Discovering that Hussein was in league with El Qaeda? Finding and killing Hussein? Winning over the hearts and minds of Iraqis? Changing the power structure of a sovereign nation ages older than our own with many sectarian divisions, and only held together by the slimmest of threads—the gut fear of a dictator. What, or who made us think we were up to that? Yes, going in was deceptively easy just as Hussein said it would be. But he also told us that the real war would be fought in the streets and alleys of Baghdad. Wasn’t anybody paying attention?
What victory are we seeking? A democracy in a country where three different factions hate each other. What are we after? Their oil as some have suggested?
Why have we built an expensive sprawling compound, fortified and impenetrable if we don’t intend to stay in that country indefinitely? Why doesn’t anybody talk about it?
We were told that if civil war broke out, Americans would not be left in the middle of it.
So now it is not referred to as a civil war, it’s “on the verge of” or it is “at the tipping point.” Why can’t the men (and they are mainly men) in government and in the military speak truth to the power of the people? Are American kids dying, losing arms and legs, and eyesight, and Iraqis dying like cattle herded into the killing lot? Is this to save somebody’s face? Why is this permitted to go on?
Remember the halcyon days when Mr. Bush arrived on the aircraft carrier with a large banner unfurled behind him that announced, “Mission Accomplished?”
What exactly was the mission? Does anyone know? Does anyone remember?. The war lords, who are still in charge of this country, rely on our collective lack of memory for any event older than a week.
I guess the “mission” was to get into Baghdad. Was it the nation’s mission or George Bush’s personal mission—aided by burnt out warriors who wanted a second chance to be heroes--to show up his father for not taking it all the way, a pullback for which we should thank God.
Days and weeks of killings and kidnappings and blood and crying children and wailing women and still the men talk, and talk, and talk. Every day, every hour more meetings are held for more talk, all of which is regurgitated by more men on television, talk talk talk. We should have done all that talking before we attacked.
Yes, when we leave the Civil War we brought on in Iraq will continue, perhaps even in a more deadly fashion. The people will kill each other. But they are already killing each other.
Already the Kurds have retired to their haven. The other two factions will find their way back to their own turf. Eventually, there will be more peace in the land when we leave than there is while we are there.
We can only win by losing. We must leave the hell we created.
5:20:05 PM 
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