Rumsfeld backpedals, Bush flounders

Now that General Casey, one of our top "boots on the ground" in Iraq, has suggested that we should start pulling our troops out, but Bush has flatly rejected that proposal, you'd think that Don Rumsfeld would find himself between a rock and a hard place, wouldn't you? Well, never fear, dear readers. Rumsfeld proves that he's a much better politician than a military strategist when he manages to recommend both at the same time. That's right... the SecDef is flatly stating in no uncertain terms that we must maintain our current troop levels... until the December elections. (Hint... that's three weeks from now.)

[Rumsfeld] said today that any paring down of the forces there would depend on military and security conditions, and that current troop levels must be maintained at least until the December elections in Iraq.

Speaking on the Sunday morning public affairs programs, Mr. Rumsfeld appeared to want to deliver the final word on the recent uproar sparked by a call for an expedited withdrawal of American troops issued by a Democratic congressman who has long been influential on military matters on both sides of the partisan divide.

The bottom line is that the party which keeps accusing the Democrats of "playing politics" with the Iraq war is actually the one doing exactly that. It's no longer anything to do with fictitious weapons of mass destruction, or the flowering of a democracy which is looking more each day like an Iranian controlled puppet theocracy. This is about Bush and the Republicans, faced with overwhelming national opposition to this fiasco and facing midterm elections in less than a year, finding some way to pull their foot out of the grave and minimize the political damage.

Congressman Murtha nailed the situation in Iraq perfectly, and it resonates with the American public. Iraq is going to find its own path to follow sooner or later, most likely involving an expanded civil war, but the sooner that happens the sooner Americans stop dying and Iraqis can start taking control of their futures. Unfortunately, that would translate into a tacit admission of failure by Bush and his supporters, so a new spin has to be found. The man who kept chanting "stay the course" for all this time can't afford to simply turn around, say "oops" and pull out of Iraq. Hence this week's doublespeak. Bush will continue to slightly modify his message, which has abandoned "victory" and "success" in favor of "a satisfactory resolution", while his SecDef prepares to do exactly what they knew they would have to do all along - get the hell out of Dodge.

Iraq's present day "government" is still full of people like Chalabi - corrupt politicians who are intent on lining their own pockets and selling favors to well placed supporters while socking away American "rebuilding" cash as fast as they can. Their military and police, in many cases, are more likely to shake down (or shoot down) members of opposing religious sects than they are to pursue insurgents, and don't seem to have much inclination to battle their fellow Iraqis at the behest of American commanders. We can pull out tomorrow, next month, next year or five years from now and the result is going to be essentially the same. As Murtha pointed out, the only thing we are really providing the Iraqis at this point is a central enemy to rally against.

It's time for Bush to fess up to the disaster he personally created over there and bring our folks back home.