As BUSH Hypes Surge - PENTAGON SECRETLY PREPARING FOR FAILURE IN IRAQ

[kpete]

The Pentagon's not-so-little secret
As the president and Republicans continue to hype the surge -- and stifle debate about it -- Bush's own war planners are preparing for failure in Iraq.

By Sidney Blumenthal

Feb. 8, 2007 |

Deep within the bowels of the Pentagon, policy planners are conducting secret meetings to discuss what to do in the worst-case scenario in Iraq about a year from today if and when President Bush's escalation of more than 20,000 troops fails, a participant in those discussions told me. None of those who are taking part in these exercises, shielded from the public view and the immediate scrutiny of the White House, believes that the so-called surge will succeed. On the contrary, everyone thinks it will not only fail to achieve its aims but also accelerate instability by providing a glaring example of U.S. incapacity and incompetence.

The profoundly pessimistic thinking that permeates the senior military and the intelligence community, however, is forbidden in the sanitized atmosphere of mind-cure boosterism that surrounds Bush. "He's tried this two times -- it's failed twice," Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said on Jan. 24 about the "surge" tactic. "I asked him at the White House, 'Mr. President, why do you think this time it's going to work?' And he said, 'Because I told them it had to.'" She repeated his words: "'I told them that they had to.' That was the end of it. That's the way it is."

more at:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/02/08/gop_iraq/

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. Obviously, Hussein was a better leader than Bush.

If you go for simple comparisons such as civil war/no civil war, that is.

Looks like failure isn't an option, it's a fact, and may have been a for-profit plan.

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. Perhaps it took a brutal bastard to subdue a brutal bastard place.

I'll bet that subject has come up a few times down in the bowels too.

[rodeodance]

2. Plan B (the one Condi did not want to talk of)

[Dogmudgeon]

4. There isn't enough oil to stay for

Back in 2001, we thought there was 300 billion barrels in the Caspian Basin, concentrated in Iraq and Kazakhstan.

Turns out there's more like 30 billion, most of which is difficult to extract, and highly acidic at that.

Very literally, the enterprise has gone sour.

--p!

[Shadoobie]

5. Insanity

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results - Albert Einstein

Insanity = Stay the course

Greg

[sweetheart]

6. failure is victory!

peace is war!

[Robeson]

7. In other words: "No retreat! We will hold Stalingrad!!...."

...the last sentence you highlighted, really shows he is unhinged.

[cui bono]

8. What a weird pic they have up...

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. The last paragraph says it all

The Senate Republicans' vote to suppress the resolution on the war was the moment when they irrevocably aligned themselves completely with a president who rejects objective analysis. Unable to shield him or themselves from the inevitable consequences, they have made a conscious decision to place the president's delusions above the welfare not only of the Republican Party but also of the troops sent into the deadly labyrinth of Baghdad. Quietly and calmly, as the Republicans hype the "surge," the war planners prepare for the worst.

[kansasblue]

10. 'because I told them it had to.' then the Pelosi follow-up.

'Mr. President, why do you think this time it's going to work?' And he said, 'Because I told them it had to.'" She repeated his words: "'I told them that they had to.' That was the end of it. That's the way it is."


I understood the the full conversation then included Pelosi saying:

'Why didn't you tell them that the first time?'


http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/25/because-i-told-them-it-had-to/

[Morgana LaFey]

11. Asking our loved ones and Iraqis to die for delusions is

more than irresponsible, it's more than immoral. It's barbaric, and possibly evil. Those military men who KNOW this won't work need to have resigned their commissions in protest, just to save lives. Shame upon them. Their hands will be bloody unto eternity. May they rot in their own self-made hell.

[spanone]

12. ..but they're willing to shove more bodies in the ground for 'WHAT?'

[Kurovski]

13. Kick.(nt)

[libodem]

14. Now they can fail and have someone to blame

They have no one to blame but themselves. This war was ill conceived and incompetently executed. They are insane pin heads. To the World Court with them.