THE SURGE

This sounds a little like some TV show but the severity and stupidity of it means that we wish it were a TV show. I can hardly believe that I am the only one in America who gets this: in Iraq, we are not in charge. Now I don't know some of the operational issues that might be involved but this is not like we are "calling the shots" and can made decisions about what we are going to do or not do. In case people have forgotten and apparently many have, Iraq has a democratically elected government for better or worse. Listening to the pundits, you would think that all we have to do is make a decision and execute it.

WANT AN EXAMPLE

One word: Saddam. From various reports, we know there was a big dispute in giving over Saddam to be executed. In the final analysis, the elected government made the decision. The Ambassador and General Casey (both were on vacation or something) had no real say in what happened. But, at some level, the Americans made the decision to turn him over to the Iraqis, i. e., the government. From reports, we learn that Saddam thought almost to the end that the Americans would save him, Chalk up one more "sorry about that" for trusting the Americans at crunch time. Think Vietnam and all those Vietnamese left behind when we abandoned them to the Communists. Had it been up to me: noway would I have turned him over. Not that we need to have sympathy for Saddam but again, the issue is that we are not calling the shots. We have to get this in our heads.

The difficulties of our present position in Iraq are so enormous that it is hard to single out two or three and zero in on them. Putting more soldiers in Baghdad won't hack it. Americans, myself included, love to fix things and in this case, politics wants to fix an impossible situation. Thus, we are getting ready for the Powers that be to present a new strategy in Iraq. I hear you.

Interjecting politics into an impossible scenario, I see the dilemma of the Democrats. And, I confess that I am thinking on this. How can they fulfill the very reason that they have assumed the majority: squaring away the Iraqi morase and yet come across as also supporting the soldier? It is tricky.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS

What I think we must reiterate over and over; in order for soldiers to be effective, they have to believe in their cause by in large. And, there is no doubt from everything I read that they do in fact, believe in what they are doing. They are surely doing their jobs. However, I still get emails, purportedly from soldiers touting the good and the difference we're making. I have no doubt to them, it is true. Recently someone sent me an email with a laundry lists of all the good things. I didn't verify it as I don't believe it totally anyway. There are still diehards who think we are winning in Iraq or if we stay long enough, we can win. These may be the same people who believe there was no holocaust or followers of ego maniac Pat Robertson. Who knows! Simply, we cannot win. We cannot defeat fanatics who will kill themselves, their family, their countrymen. Consequently, we cannot fix Iraq.

TAKING THE BROAD VIEW

Americans must take the broad view. I would compare it to responsible parents dealing with their children. Children don't often know what is best for them. They see pretty much what is in front of them. Therefore, parents have to do the right thing for their futures, their possibilities. This may involve decisions that are not popular with them, may OCCASIONALLY deepen the parental/child divide but the parent has to be the parent. This analogy seems to me to be appropriate to Iraq. We support the soldier, his sacrifice, his commitment and the fact that he/she is a professional, doing the job. But, a broader view must be taken.