And yet another perspective on Iraq

I no longer have any idea what we should do about Iraq and I am convinced that no one else does either. I believe this is because no one seems to know what exactly is happening over there.

The information I am getting on Iraq from sources all across the political spectrum is increasingly contradictory, and four and a half years into one of the worst foreign policy blunders in this nation's history it is becoming evident to me that there is no one in power and politics or in the press with any sort of clear or comprehensive view of the highly complex problem we face there.

The adminstration of George W Bush and its staunchest war supporters clearly cannot be trusted to develop a critical and unvarnished assessment of reality with regards to Iraq. And if they somehow miraculously did they certainly could not be trusted to communicate that reality completely and honestly to the American public or develop a sensible strategy from it that would intimate any change from their pre-destinated course or the admission that they had somehow committed an error at some point in the past.

Those on the opposite side who have eagerly predicted and sometimes even sounded as though they were cheering for our complete failure in Iraq paint a picture colored in equal parts by an all-consuming antipathy towards Bush and a pathological incapacity to comprehend the long term consequences of conflict and the short term sacrifice that is sometimes necessary to minimize those consequences. Their solutions are all predicated on the immediate repudiation of every effort, strategy and tactic that the US has made under Bush's guidance regardless of whether any of it has been effective or exhibited any potential for success.

So is the surge working, and if not should we cut our losses and leave sooner rather than later? It seems the answer depends on who you ask and what their political leanings happen to be. Not a heartening situation for an average American like me that just wants to bring the Iraq fiasco to a close with the least adverse end result possible and who doesn't really care which political party gets the credit.

The following opinion piece, written by a team of non-commissioned officers from the 82nd airborne, provides their boots-on-the-ground assessment of our progress in Iraq and our chances of success. Are their opinions apolitical or even accurate? Who knows, but somewhere along the line they've been exposed to more Iraq reality than the President, the Congress and all the self-important pundits on cable and in the newspapers combined. Not to mention me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/opinion/19jayamaha.html?ex=1345176000&en=382d41dce944e5b2&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

-Ico