Tuesday, November 22, 2005
The Best Laid Plans...
gang aft a-gley, as Robert Burns put it.
And even more so the half-baked plans of power-maddened neocons...
What was the Iraq War to do?
1. Depose Saddam Hussein (success!)
2. Stop French and Russian development of Iraqi oil (success!)
3. Give the U.S. access to Iraqi oil, which would pay for the war and reconstruction (so far, failure)
4. Give the U.S. a new, friendly, permanent base in the Middle East -- to which overseas troops could be redeployed. (um, failure?)
5. Create a bastion of liberal democracy in the Muslim world that will shine as an example for the rest of the Muslim world (yeah, right)
6. Reduce terrorism and make the world safer. (hahahaha...only it isn't funny)
All of this done "on the cheap" with a far smaller invasion & occupation force than military experts knew was necessary.
Now we are bogged down in a mess in which the terrorists grow stronger ("Bring 'em on!"), Iraq teeters on the verge of civil war, and American blood, treasure, and credibility are increasingly drained on a daily basis.
Conservatives used to say nation-building and social engineering were folly. They were right.
Conservatives used to demand (with the military) that any military enterprise have a well-defined objective and timetable for completion. They were right.
Conservatives used to insist that government action be fiscally responsible. They were right.
But conservatives sold their souls to the Bush regime, trading principles for power. And now when conservatives say that opponents of the war are cowards...well, they are wrong.
And even more so the half-baked plans of power-maddened neocons...
What was the Iraq War to do?
1. Depose Saddam Hussein (success!)
2. Stop French and Russian development of Iraqi oil (success!)
3. Give the U.S. access to Iraqi oil, which would pay for the war and reconstruction (so far, failure)
4. Give the U.S. a new, friendly, permanent base in the Middle East -- to which overseas troops could be redeployed. (um, failure?)
5. Create a bastion of liberal democracy in the Muslim world that will shine as an example for the rest of the Muslim world (yeah, right)
6. Reduce terrorism and make the world safer. (hahahaha...only it isn't funny)
All of this done "on the cheap" with a far smaller invasion & occupation force than military experts knew was necessary.
Now we are bogged down in a mess in which the terrorists grow stronger ("Bring 'em on!"), Iraq teeters on the verge of civil war, and American blood, treasure, and credibility are increasingly drained on a daily basis.
Conservatives used to say nation-building and social engineering were folly. They were right.
Conservatives used to demand (with the military) that any military enterprise have a well-defined objective and timetable for completion. They were right.
Conservatives used to insist that government action be fiscally responsible. They were right.
But conservatives sold their souls to the Bush regime, trading principles for power. And now when conservatives say that opponents of the war are cowards...well, they are wrong.
