George W. Bush is on the campaign trail, claiming that Democrats, if they triumph in the congressional elections, will forfeit the war in Iraq to "the terrorists." Such an assault might be effective--if American voters didn't already believe that Bush has been losing the war. The trendlines are moving in the wrong direction: more deaths (of US soldiers and Iraqi civilians), more attacks, more chaos within the Iraqi government. As Bush thumps his chest and says his "goal is to win," the reality there undercuts his rhetoric. Ponder the front-page of Tuesday's Washington Post. The top-of-the-page article reports that the Iraqi police are thoroughly infiltrated by the militias they are supposed to control. "How can we expect ordinary Iraqis to trust the police when we don't even trust them not to kill our own men," asked Captain Alexander Shaw, who works for a Washington-based military unit that oversees the training of police in Baghdad. Good question. Can Bush provide an answer?
And look at foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid's recent piece in the Post. Under the headline, "This is Baghdad. What could be worse?" he writes of a recent trip to Baghdad:
It had been almost a year since I was in the Iraqi capital, where I worked as a reporter in the days of Saddam Hussein, the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, and the occupation, guerrilla war and religious resurgence that followed. On my return, it was difficult to grasp how atomized and violent the 1,250-year-old city has become. Even on the worst days, I had always found Baghdad's most redeeming quality to be its resilience, a tenacious refusal among people I met over three years to surrender to the chaos unleashed when the Americans arrived. That resilience is gone, overwhelmed by civil war, anarchy or whatever term could possibly fit. Baghdad now is convulsed by hatred, paralyzed by suspicion; fear has forced many to leave. Carnage its rhythm and despair its mantra, the capital, it seems, no longer embraces life.
"A city of ghosts," a friend told me, her tone almost funereal.
What's the plan for de-ghosting Baghdad, Mr. President?
Recently, a former CIA officer who had worked on the Iraq invasion (and who heartily supported it) sent me this note after traveling in Iraq:
It is like a Mad Max movie now, just teetering on complete chaos in Baghdad, with the Maliki government on the ropes. It is hard to believe we have reached this point. Yet no one in our government is accountable or responsible for this policy failure? We sail along blissfully ignorant, chanting the refrain to stay the course, as the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down. I have some understanding now of what Lincoln must have been seeing and thinking when he said, "I fear for the republic."
I couldn't tell whether he was referring to their government or ours.
Posted by David Corn at October 31, 2006 11:19 AM
