DEFEAT AND DENIAL AFTER FIVE YEARS

There are three wars going on in Iraq. One is
for dominance among the Shia. It involves
the Mahdi army vs. the Badr organization.
Both are Shia militia, well armed and numbering
about 80,000 each. Then there's the battle
going on among Sunnis, also for political
control. The sheiks have turned against al
Qaida in Iraq, with our help. And then there's
the resistance against us (the insurgency)
which continues, and involves elements of all
the above.

None of them want us there, except for the
power elite that we are supporting, and who
live and rule in the Green Zone, but cannot
wander abroad among the general population,
or they'll be dead fairly quickly. 70% to %80
of Iraqis want us out of there now! (That's
according to several polls.)

We function there as a damper on the various
wars, without settling anything, and without
accomplishing much, other than that. It has
cost us 1,000 of ours dead since the surge
began a year ago, and $144 billion. So it's not
cheap, and not very smart. We have nothing
to show for it in political progress that comes
anywhere near justifying the horrendous
costs. Most of our people understand that,
but won't force the issue. That's denial and
defeat!

LIKE VIET NAM!

Like Viet Nam, the battle in Iraq is for hearts
and minds, and was lost before it began. Fol-
lowing the expulsion of the French from their
country, there was no chance the Vietnamese
would allow another western power to come in
and dictate who would govern them. We never
lost a battle in Viet Nam, and never had a chance
from day one of ever winning that war. The more
Vietnamese we killed (and we killed over two
million), the more resolute they became in
resisting us. Nothing could change that.

And so it was in Iraq: we lost any chance of
winning hearts and minds when we failed to
establish order at the outset, and stop the
looting. That cost us their respect, and enflamed
their anger. It showed them that we cared
nothing for them, their history, their institu-
tions, their pride of their feelings. 60% of Iraqis
think it's okay to kill our G. I.s That's why.

And it's why we have been losing ever since.
Again, we are winning every battle, and sinking
ever deeper in the quick sand. We can't get out!
To leave would be to admit it's a holding opera-
tion without resolution in sight. "No military
solution possible," our generals have kept
telling us over and over for years. But we keep
seeking that military solution we know to be
impossible. That's denial. And defeat! Live
with.

jgoodwin004@centurytel.net