http://www.theintelligencer.net/News/articles.asp?articleID=14776“The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word surge as, ‘a sudden large temporary increase.’ Note in particular the word temporary. President Bush’s rumored new strategy on Iraq — a surge of U.S. troops intended to quell the violence in Baghdad is wrongheaded and headed for failure. As outlined, the surge envisions clearing all violent factions out of Baghdad in an effort which is to be led by Iraqi security forces. Apparently U.S. forces will provide indiscriminate firepower in another attempt to establish democracy by brute force. This does not seem to me to be the way to win hearts and minds in Iraq.
“I oppose any ‘surge’î in Iraq. Only days ago we passed the grim milestone of 3,000 American dead in Iraq. There are few firm numbers on Iraqi lives lost, but estimates are in the tens of thousands. I am reminded of one definition of insanity — making the same mistake over and over while continuing to expect a different result. We have surged before. Still the violence in Iraq worsens!
“We are close to the beginning of the fifth year of a war which should never have been started by an Administration that fed the Congress and the public false information. This is an Administration that has learned nothing more about the country of Iraq than it knew before it launched an unprovoked U.S. attack.
“Our stated purpose for continuing to occupy Iraq is to help the Iraqi people build a stable democracy. But the difficulty of that task should have been clear before we invaded.”
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“Our blundering has inflamed and destabilized a critical region of the world, and yet we continue to single mindedly pursue the half-baked goal of forcing democracy on a country which is now embroiled in a civil war. Our blinders keep us from seeing the regional problems which are bubbling and soon may boil. The real damage to the United States is not only the loss of life and the billions expended, it is also the diminution of our credibility around the world as a country with the will and the vision to lead effectively. Serious diplomacy is clearly in order on the matters of Lebanon, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and on Iran. Multinational talks were part of the Iraq study group’s recommendations, but diplomacy usually ends up at the bottom of the Administration’s option list, and that is where it has landed again. If the ’shoot first’ crowd in the White House continues to stick its chin out and believe that bullets and bombast will carry the day, soon our ability to mediate the morass of difficulties in the Mid East and elsewhere may be permanently damaged. Pariahs don’t usually carry much weight at negotiating tables. If the lesson in Iraq teaches anything it is that military might has very great limitations. But then that is a lesson we should have learned many years ago – from Vietnam. “
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