Operation Infinite Failure

Sojo has good news:

"Last week, a bipartisan group of members of Congress, led by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) and Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), introduced the "Withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq Resolution." It calls for the administration to announce a plan by the end of the year for troop withdrawal - and to initiate the plan as soon as possible."

Sadly it is only the first step in the long process of ending the deadlocked and failed war, and last time in Vietnam it took at least two presidential terms to end the conflict. But the numbers are finally coming around in the US:

"This week, Gallup released a new poll showing 59 percent of Americans oppose the war. In another poll released two weeks ago by the Associated Press, 52% of U.S. citizens said they disapproved of the way the Bush administration has handled the so-called war on terrorism - and 56% disapprove of the administration's handling of the war in Iraq."

On the other hand, there are obvious and not so obvious political problems: the reason Vietnam is so keenly remembered and reviled is arguably not because of the loss of human life or the dubious motives involved but because the USA - the planet's policeman - lost a fight. According to H.S.Thompson, nothing is more loathed by American voters than a loser. Between a corrupt, criminally insane, butcher and a loser (either politically or militarily) it seems the crook is often preferable. So clearly Bush would be hard pressed to make a withdrawal look good but it may be that even a change of administration wouldn't necessarily clear the way for withdrawal. Hence, why Kerry was so adamant that he would "hunt down and kill the terrorists" and not withdraw from the war.

There's a possibility that Bush's wars on two fronts (one against the Iraqi people and one against an emotion) might provide a resolution. If a candidate could convince the American people that he was withdrawing from Iraq for strategic reasons regarding the 'War on Terror', ie. in order to actually do something about terrorism other than provide a breeding ground for it, and also persuade them he was not withdrawing because the war was a futile waste of life and resources, ie. the US is actually largely losing. Of course no one seems to gain by mentioning that the whole charade was solely designed to provide cover for US corporate interests to rape the natural and economic resources of a sovereign nation.

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