The Bush Republicans seem to be playing a very cynical political game concerning the Iraq policy debate. The overwhelming majority of policy experts and the American public has already concluded that the Bush White House policies pursued in Iraq have been complete failures. The policies were ill-conceived in design and executed poorly at the political level.
While our military performed very well, they were sent on a mission that could not be achieved solely by the use of military force. Policy experts did not plan for the aftermath of the military collapse of Saddam Hussein's armies. Although this writer was one of many who predicted that the Baathist forces would quickly revert to unconventional warfare when faced by the overwhelming military superiority of American forces, this development seems to have caught the Bush White House by surprise.
A prolonged stay by our forces eventually turned a largely grateful Iraqi population against American occupation. Any student of psychology would have predicted that outcome. We do not share the same religious or ethnic background with any of the elements who compromise the Iraqi people. Largely, we do not share the same racial background or history. We do not speak the same language. Our cultures are completely different. We were and are outsiders imposing our views and policies on them. Gratitude for getting rid of Saddam Hussein only goes so far and only lasts so long. The Bush Administration simply failed to understand Iraq or the Iraqis.
The corruption rampant in the awarding and execution of Iraq reconstruction contracts created resentment by Iraqis. It meant that goods and services went undelivered or were of poor quality. The Iraqis were not given enough control of their own reconstruction. We failed to provide enough good paying jobs. We did not use enough Iraq businesses and instead awarded contracts to large Republican connected corporations. It was a poor way to execute the reconstruction of Iraq. It was a recipe for failure. Our taxpayers were financially raped in the process. We will be paying the costs of these failures for generations.
The Bush Republicans seemed obsessed with Iraqi Oil and the use of military force to control it. They still seem to be playing that game while hiding behind empty words and slogans.
We cannot build a true American-leaning democracy in Iraq. The possibility once existed but the Bush Republicans blew it with a combination of greed and incompetence. The Iraqis may be able to eventually find their own solutions once we leave but I find it unlikely that the eventual outcome will be one that we truly desire. We have lost the peace thanks to Bush and his political supporters in the Republican Party.
The escalation plan put forwarded by Bush and McCain seems to be designed to simply run out the clock until Bush leaves office. The Bush Republicans want the final collapse to occur under the next President (likely a Democrat.) Bush and McCain probably believe in the plan but they are fooling themselves. Neither man is good at admitting mistakes. The rest of their Republican supporters in Congress and the Senate know better. They are playing politics with the lives of American soldiers in an effort to retain their political offices.
Republican politicians are trying to create a political myth about Iraq. They are falsely claiming that Bush's failure in Iraq is somehow the result of Democrats facing reality. After we withdraw, Republicans will falsely claim that Democrats are to blame because they finally faced the reality that Bush's Iraq War was a mistake from beginning to end. Bush has lost in Iraq already as far as achieving his public goals for the mission.
The public knows the truth but the Republican Spin Machine will always claim that failure in Iraq was because Democrats betrayed the mission. We can see the effort in action by listening to the Republican talking points spewing forth from Republican members of Congress like Marsha Blackburn, Joe Wilson, Virginia Foxx and others during the "troop surge" escalation debate. Republicans are trying to create an alternative history completely divorced from reality.
The Republican Iraq Blame Game is a truly sick tactic by a truly sick political movement. I hope thinking Republicans will leave their Party in disgust over it.
Written by Stephen Crockett (co-host of Democratic Talk Radio http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com .) Mail: P.O. Box 283, Earleville, Maryland 21919. Email: midsouthcm@aol.com . Phone: 443-907-2367.
