So does this mean we lost the war?

[The Doctor.]

Now that we have to negotiate with the 'enemy'?

"Bush Seeks His Enemies' Help in Iraq
by Gareth Porter

WASHINGTON - To avoid failure of its mission in Iraq, the George W. Bush administration has been driven to seek the help of two major enemies -- the Sunni insurgents and the government of Iran -- but both initiatives have failed to make progress because officials were not given any real negotiating authority.

U.S. officials in Baghdad are now pursuing contacts with both declared enemies, with the aim of obtaining their cooperation in overcoming otherwise seemingly insurmountable obstacles to success in Iraq. In both cases, however, the White House has been unwilling to approve concessions required to reach a deal benefiting both sides.

Administration policymakers have apparently recognised that, without the help of Iran and the Sunni insurgent leaders, it faces the likelihood of spiraling sectarian violence, undiminished Sunni armed resistance, al Qaeda terrorist havens and predominant Iranian political influence.

Some U.S. officials came to realise in 2005 that U.S. policy was leading to consequences that contradicted its larger interests. Its main Iraqi allies, the militant Shiite parties, were aligned with its main enemy, Iran, while U.S. forces were fighting against Sunni insurgent organisations whose longer term interests lay in opposing both al Qaeda and Iran.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0117-03.htm

[GrpCaptMandrake]

1. Not exactly.

The fact that we started the war means we lost the war. It happened simultaneously.

[JohnnyRingo]

2. Don't confuse defeat with political desparation.

I'm sure McClellan can explain it best by blaming the Democrats for emboldening the enemy.

I bet this throws a wrench in the whole War On Terror. What will happen if all the world's terrorists decide to leave Iraq? Then we'll have to hunt them down one at a time in other countries!

GW's probably trying to negotiate a deal where they all stay in the Central Front.
He's a military "jeenius".

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. The War in Error.... Amerika's new cottage industry, franchises

available upon request, drones and unarmored humvees sold separately.

[The Doctor.]

5. And that puts all the cards in Iran's hands then...

Iran's ties to the Shiites in Iraq will undoubtedly prosper as a result of the US negotiating with them. Iran will have little difficulty raising the stakes at will, thereby maintaining Iraq as a viable political and military buffer while acheiving small concessions from the US.

If they play it right, there will be mutually beneficial war for years.

[jimshoes]

4. FUBAR

comes readily to mind.

[Deja Q]

6. But we've been told time and again we've been made safer.

And how come US "intelligence" couldn't fathom out all this? They've got resources and experts none of us could dream of.

[The Doctor.]

8. Well the simple answer is they did fathom it out...

But it didn't jibe with the fantasy world the BA needed to create to get the war rolling.
Just like that fateful day I realized, "we're screwed", when I watched Rumsfeld talk down to his own Four-Star General...

They believed what they wanted to believe.

This is the most criminally incompetent administration ever.

[Johnyawl]

7. Same thing Nixon did to get us out of Vietnam

1) secretly negotiate with your "enemy", and those who support them
2) continue to wage war and talk beligerently,
3) all the while harshly condemning those who call for an end to the war
4) negotiate, and sign a peace treaty with the "enemy"
5) Declare victory and run for home
6) Pass out the Nobel Peace Prizes
7) Stand idly by while the former "enemy" destroys the puppet government you abandoned
8) Blame the Democrats for losing