In an interview last night on the Charlie Rose Show, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pointedly said, “[O]ur friends in the [Middle East] need to know and the Iraqis need to know that we are not looking to leave Iraq.” “Ever?” Rose asked. Rice responded, “We are not going to leave an Iraq that is not capable of defending itself and with a foundation for future reconciliation.”
Rose then asked Rice if she believed she’ll have the support of the American people to continue the war. Rice claimed the American people are looking for “progress.” Rose replied, “But nobody can answer the question: If it doesn’t happen, what?” Avoiding discussion of a Plan B, Rice answered, “Charlie, because as the President said to you, we’re focused on having it happen.”…In the interview, Rose also noted that Rice once worked for President George H.W. Bush, who was “famous for insisting there be an exit strategy. [But] no one seems to know what’s the exit strategy [now],” he said. Rice responded that Iraq is “a long-term proposition.”When Rose asked Rice if the administration was “looking for a strategy for the United States to exit from Iraq.” Rice answered, “No, we’re looking for a strategy that is going to do what we went there to do.”
Last month, Rose similarly asked President Bush, “Can you imagine a circumstance in which you would have to say, we did our best, good men and good women sacrificed their life, but we can’t in the end do what we want to do, and we have to leave?” “No,” Bush replied. “I can’t imagine that, because I believe that with time, this Iraqi government is going to be able to reconcile and move forward.”
Rice tells Charlie Rose that we’re not leaving Iraq – ever.
Even though the Iraqis want us to leave, even though al-Maliki says they want to take over by the end of 2007, and even though experts say that we need to assure the Iraqis that we have no permanent claim to bases and their oil, the Bush Administration thinks it will help to calm things down by doing what Al Qaeda wants us to do: stay forever, or at least until January 2009.
If you wanted proof that we have made Iraq a colony and are dictating their future, this is it. If the al-Maliki government asked us to leave tomorrow or even by the end of 2007, Bush would not heed that request. And that is all the proof you need that we are engaged in an occupation against the wishes of the occupied, which I believe is against the UN resolution.
Clearly, from the above, the Surge was simply a way of not withdrawing. Equally as bad, Bush resisted calling the continued violence in Iraq a Civil War. It was something else – perhaps Al Qaeda, perhaps Insurgents, perhaps Iranians, but it wasn’t an Iraq Civil War. Now both President Bush and mouthpiece Condoleeza Rice use some form of the word reconcile. I think the verb to reconcile would be an action waring factions [as in people fighting a Civil War] might take. So, now our goal is to resolve the Civil War. Not that we’re talking to either side fighting in this Civil War.
If that weren’t enough, Rice says, "[O]ur friends in the [Middle East] need to know and the Iraqis need to know that we are not looking to leave Iraq." What friends need to know that [as if we have any friends in the Middle East]? Why do the Iraqis need to know such a thing? What in heaven’s name are they talking about? Bush and Rice are saying that we are remaining loyal to the Iraqis, not deserting them in their time of need. As Steve points out, it’s hard to even know who he’s referring to. We don’t seem to have any allies in Iraq – people who are glad we’re there or want us to stay.
And why? Why are we staying? Well, says Bush, "I believe that with time, this Iraqi government is going to be able to reconcile and move forward." We’re staying because Bush has a belief – maybe something like a hunch. I used to try to decide if he is unable to see reality because he can’t admit he was wrong, or if he still holds out that the U.S. is going to control the Iraqi Oil Fields. I don’t much care what his motives are any more. I wonder if he even knows himself. Now it’s down to stopping him in whatever way possible. He’s no longer functioning with our country’s needs in mind [if he ever was]. He’s off on a personal path of some kind.
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