Another Year Of Denial?
Don Monkerud 
July 06, 2007

    
Don Monkerud is an California-based writer who follows cultural, social
and political issues. He can be reached at monkerud@cruzio.com.

Rather than beginning at the beginning of the discredited "save the world
from WMD" invasion of Iraq, step back one year ago, when Bush went on the
offensive to help Republicans win midterm elections. Back then, Bush
claimed the capture of al-Zarqawi (remember him?) was "the turning point"
in Iraq and the tide was turning in favor of the U.S. Not the first time
for a tidal change since the infamous aircraft carrier "victory speech,"
but a starting point for an evaluation.

Described to be in "high spirits," Bush said the U.S. wouldn't "cut and
run," but would "complete the mission," to make Iraq a stable, functioning
democracy. Despite horrifically bad news pouring in from Iraq, the
president and the GOP declared the U.S. would be "victorious" because the
troops knew "their cause was noble." GOP House Speaker Hastert declared,
Democrats lacked "the will to win," suggested they were unpatriotic, and
guaranteed that 2006 was "a year of significant transition" in Iraq.

At the time he declared this turning of the tide, Bush ignored advice from
100 leading American foreign policy and military experts who judged the
"War on Terrorism" a failure. Eighty-six percent said the world has grown
more dangerous after Bush's invasion of Iraq. They gave his diplomatic
efforts to combat terrorism 1.8 out of 10; rated
the effectiveness of the Department of Homeland Security 2.9 out of 10;
and judged US intelligence changes "poor to fair." Iraq was "a perfect
training ground" for Islamic terrorists and they predicted "future
repercussions" for the U.S. Despite the loss of the midterm elections,
considered "a referendum" on the war, Bush continues to replay the same
victory speech.

After four years, the loss of almost nearly 4,300 American dead and 30,000
wounded, including military "contractors," and $500 billion dollars, the
promised victory remains elusive. Bush's approval rating has reached an
all-time low, reflecting discontent with his handling of the war. An
AP-Apsos poll in June reported 32 percent of Americans satisfied with his
overall job performance, down from 67 percent in January. A mere 21
percent believe the U.S. is headed in the right direction. A more recent
CBS poll found that 77 percent of Americans believe the war is going
badly, 66 percent want to decrease the number of troops in Iraq and 40
percent want all troops removed. Undeterred, Bush declares that history
will be his judge.

Meanwhile, a June Pew Global Attitudes poll discovered that
anti-Americanism since 2002 has increased around the world, "worsened
among America's European allies, and is very, very bad in the Muslim
world." A majority of the citizens of 43 out of the 47 countries polled
believe the U.S. should withdraw from Iraq "as soon as possible." In the
past year, support for the war against terrorism has dropped, even in
countries with recent terrorist attacks, and majorities around the world
believe that the U.S. only supports democracy in places where it will
further American interests.

Conditions in Iraq continue to grow worse. Foreign Policy magazine's 2007
Failed States Index found that Iraq deteriorated for the third year in a
row in "a range of social, economic, political and military indicators."
In April, Amnesty International warned of a new humanitarian crisis due to
the 3 million Iraqis displaced by the war. In May, Chatham House, a
British foreign policy think tank, found the Iraqi government "largely
powerless and irrelevant" and facing the "distinct possibility of collapse
and fragmentation." The former "coalition of the willing" appears to agree
with these assessments, for in the past year foreign troops helping the
U.S. occupy Iraq have declined from 20,000 to 12,000, almost half what it
was in 2003 and 40 percent fewer than last year.

The once-lofty goal of training the Iraqi Security Forces, which increased
from 266,000 to 349,000 in the past year, hasn't helped U.S. troops, who
continue to bear 90 percent of the burden of combating terrorists. Monthly
attacks surged from 3,500 in 2006 to 4,200 in 2007. Civilian deaths
declined slightly from a year ago but Iraqi lives didn't improve. Oil
production remained static, electricity production fell slightly,
unemployment remained at 33 percent and the annual GNP growth rate hasn't
budged over the past three years.

Even Retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of the
U.S. invasion force during it's first year of occupying Iraq, recently
said the U.S. can forget about "winning the war," and can now only hope to
salvage a stalemate to "starve off defeat."

Only Bush, Cheney and hardcore Republicans now believe the U.S. can
salvage anything from Iraq. The vast majority recognizes that it will take
years for the U.S. to dig out of the hole Bush has dug. Can the U.S.
afford another year of false promises? Or is it time for Congress to get
serious about impeachment?
 


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