December 18, 2006 at 13:49:09

Bush's Mad-dash to History's Dustbin

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By Mike Whitney (about the author) Page 1 of 5 page(s)

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For OpEdNews: Mike Whitney - Writer

Sometimes I'm struck by the sheer enormity of Bush's stupidity. It is truly breathtaking. After nearly 4 years of steadily-intensifying guerilla warfare with no end in sight, Bush has decided to expand the war.

Think I'm kidding?

As Robert Dreyfuss says, "The president is trying to cobble together, brick by brick, an Iraqi government that is able and willing to do what al Maliki's can't or won't do: break the back of Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army and redouble the offensive against the Sunni-led Iraqi resistance." ("Bush v. The Two Majorities" Robert Dreyfuss; uruknet.info)

So, now Bush figures that he's doing so well against the Sunni resistance that he's ready to take on the biggest Shiite militia in Iraq?

Makes sense, doesn't it?

After all, if you're already getting clobbered why not speed it up and get it over with fast.

This is mind-boggling!

Muqtada al-Sadr is the most powerful man in the country, the de-facto sovereign of Iraq. He oversees the 60,000 man Mahdi Army which currently poses no threat to US forces. If Bush turns on him, the occupation will become virtually untenable overnight. Al Sadr's men have infiltrated every area of the state security apparatus including the police force, the Interior Ministry and the fledgling Iraqi Army. He's capable of cutting off US supply lines to Baghdad, disrupting oil production, and coordinating attacks on the Green Zone.

Fighting al-Sadr is a "no-win" situation and anyone with any sense would steer clear of it.

So, why does Bush want to rouse this sleeping giant when his hands are already full?

He doesn't like al-Sadr?

What difference does it make if Bush doesn't like him? That's just gibberish. Franklin Roosevelt didn't like Stalin, but he didn't open up a two-front war to prove his point? This type of thinking is foolish and counterproductive especially when we're already embroiled in an "unwinnable" asymmetrical conflict.

It just shows, once again, that Bush is not a person that we can take seriously.

There are also reports that Bush is fine-tuning a plan to remove Prime Minister al-Maliki and replace him with an "iron-fisted" tyrant who'll go after the death squads which have turned Baghdad into an anarchic slaughterhouse.

This is another whacky idea. Al-Maliki has no power other than his connections to the armed militias. He doesn't control US forces and he's certainly not going to attack his own power-base; that's expecting too much of him.

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