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GAO Report Faults Post-'Surge' Planning -- Are you Surprised there's No Post Plan?
The administration lacks an updated and comprehensive Iraq strategy to move beyond the "surge" of combat troops President Bush launched in January 2007 as an 18-month effort to curtail violence and build Iraqi democracy, government investigators said yesterday.
While agreeing with the administration that violence has decreased sharply, a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that many other goals Bush outlined a year and a half ago in the "New Way Forward" strategy remain unmet…
It’s kind of laughable that the GAO even bothers investigating a possible Post-‘Surge’ plan. Who in their right mind thought this administration or the Republican Party for that matter, even ‘cared’ about what happened ‘after’ the surge planned was initiated? Their ultimate goal was to curb the violence before November 2008 Election Day. Period!
Yes, even though we were told the ultimate goal was to curb the violence long enough to allow the Iraqi government breathing room to negotiate their political goals; the true reason for the ‘surge’ was to ‘hide’ the truth from the American people about Iraq’s stability long enough to get passed November's election day. What happens after that is up to the new administration.
How many Americans do you suppose will bother to read the GAO and the Defense Departments assessment of Iraq after the surge took place? How many will read the part that says, “"security, political and economic trends in Iraq continue to be positive, although they remain fragile, reversible and uneven."?
In other words folks, if we pull the additional 10,000 troops left from the original ‘surge’ of troops starting back in January of 2007, putting us back to the number (132,000) we had back then over there, Iraq may end up going back to the way it was in 2007. As John McCain predicts, we’ll have to sustain this force indefinitely if we continue with the same strategy he and the Bush administration has taken.
It still remains a fact folks, the Iraqi’s must be told – it’s time you stood up and we stood down, we can no longer hold your hand.
Comments (1)
The sole purpose of the Iraq invasion was, is, and always will be about acquiring Iraqi oil. The U.S. occupation is not built on some noble idea of protecting Iraqis or providing them with democracy, rather it is built on old fashioned greed.
The notion that Iraq must be told – "it’s time you stood up and we stood down, we can no longer hold your hand" is a false premise. First of all, it gives the warmongers a rationale for prolonging the occupation. Secondly, it suggests that Iraqis want and need the U.S. to remain there, and that our presence is somehow a benefit to them. I'm willing to bet that if all Iraqis were asked if they wanted the U.S. to stay or go, an overwhelming number would choose for the later.
Iraqis are not stupid. They know full well that the U.S. has its eyes on the oil fields. The Iraqi leadership have been unwilling to give in on the issue of oil, and this is the primary reason why the U.S. goals of the "New Way Forward" strategy remains unmet. At this point, it's become a game of chicken, with the U.S. suggesting that they will stay for a hundred years. Iraqis know better.
June 24, 2008 9:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
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