What are we going to do about Iraq?

The war in Iraq involves two questionable decisions. The first was whether we should have invaded or not. Right or wrong, that decision was made and acted on. Now it is in the past. The Bush administration may have to answer for it, but we can't change it.

The second set of decisions was how to deal with the occupation of Iraq. Again, much of that consists of decisions already made that cannot be unmade. Of the two decisions, the second set seems to be the worst. The Bush administration has been incompetent in Iraq. [Click on "Losing Iraq: Inside the Post-war Reconstruction Fiasco" on the right side of this blog.]

What can be changed is the set of decisions yet to be made in Iraq. Essentially we have to get out while leaving behind a nation that does not collapse into civil war or become a Shiite-controlled theocracy. The indications are that the Bush Administration has no real clue how to do that.

So what does Cheney's recent statement that the insurgency is in its' final throes do to the debate?

It highlights the fact that the Bush administration, acting in perpetual political campaign mode, has either lied or shaded the Truth so much that they retain little or no credibility. Cheney's statements are completely outside of the facts we get from other sources, and his previous statements have repeatedly been demonstrated to be propaganda rather than honest Truth.

Now when we hear a statement from Cheney that doesn't square with what we hear from other sources, we grab our wallets and ask what he wants us to do because he only makes statements like that when things are not going well for the administration. Both Cheney and Rove have now made recent statements that make it clear they are feeling the heat and don't really know what to do next.

In the meantime, the polls show that public support for the war in Iraq is rapidly falling. That means that the options for successful American action in Iraq are rapidly narrowing.

This from the LA Times article:

"We will lose this war if we leave too soon. And what is likely to make us do that? The public going south," Graham told Rumsfeld. "And that is happening, and that worries me greatly."

Several recent polls have found that a majority of Americans now believe that the United States made a mistake in going to war in Iraq, and increasing numbers - but not a majority - said they want U.S. troops to be withdrawn immediately.

"What's interesting in this decline in support for the war is that it has sprung from the public itself," said pollster Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center. "It wasn't led by politicians or by an antiwar movement. It started back in May, when the focus in Washington was on other issues."

Bush acknowledged Saturday that maintaining U.S. public support for the war was critical. "The terrorists' objective is to break the will of America and of the Iraqi people before democracy can take root," he said.

This isn't just a question of whether our over-stretched troops can successfully do what is needed in Iraq. Frankly I think they can.

The question is, does the Bush administration retain the credibility needed to successfully prosecute the war they started? This administration has failed to prosecute the war successfully on the political front in every way up to now. The failures of the CPA are clear, but the political failures of the administration here in America are only now coming home to roost.

Yet they still see the criticism of their actions as partisan political attacks by those who want their jobs, not as the result of perceptions of how they themselves have acted and continue to act. I seriously doubt that they can turn it around. They really need help from all Americans and from many foreign nations. Even if they realize that, they have burned their bridges. Who is left to trust them? I know for a fact that any politician they get to work with them now they will turn on in the most vicious ways (Max Cleland, anyone?)in the next election. Any Democrat who trusts members of the Republican Party for 10 seconds is a fool, and most Democrats are NOT fools.

The LA Times asks if they retain any credibility. I think it is deeper. I don't think anyone trusts them.

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[For more on trusting the Bush Administration, read Kevin Drum and his discussion on how the administration treated our allies the Italians.]