By Any Other Name

A Washington Post story detailing the "coalition"'s difficulties in "pacifying" Iraq lets the cat out of the bag in a few different places.

First, a former CentCom big-wig laments that, "If we don't get this operation moving soon, the opposition will continue to grow, and we will have a much larger problem." Does this sound like somebody who believes that the resistance is comprised only of "members of the old regime" on one hand, and "disgruntled Iraqis, upset about house searches or whatever" on the other?

Second, we learn that:

Because the war was so narrowly focused on Hussein's government in Baghdad, a large part of the Iraqi population does not feel as if it was defeated, said retired Army Col. Scott R. Feil. "As I heard one Iraqi say, the Americans defeated Saddam, but not the Iraqi people, so the psychology of the loser is not present," he said.

Ah, so the goal of the war was not to liberate the Iraqi population, but to defeat it. Well, that clears that up.

Meanwhile, the lovable Senator Lugar the other day thundered that, "The idea that we will be in just as long as we need to and not a day more -- we've got to get over that rhetoric. It is rubbish! We're going to be there a long time." Oooookay. That's pretty explicit. Not to be outdone, a "senior military official in Washington" opines that, "You have to go in and tell them: 'We're gonna do what we did in Germany and Japan. We're gonna write your constitution. We're gonna install your government. We're gonna write your laws. We're gonna watch your every move for a decade, and then maybe you'll get a chance to do it yourself.'" (He forgot to add the "stupid niggers" parting shot.) Any other pre- and post-war pretexts yet to be officially disabused? WMD? Check. Al Qaeda link? Check. Welcomed with open arms? Check. Taking great pains to protect the civilian population? Check. Making America safer and/or dismantling worldwide terrorist networks? Check and check. Putting the kibosh on the most destructive weapons ever devised? Check. It's nothing to do with oil? Check. And now we can once and for all put the liberation of the brave people of Iraq angle to bed as well.

Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Posted by Eddie Tews at June 29, 2003 07:34 PM