i posted a memo that has emerged about the bushworld run-up to the war in iraq in another thread--the "positive dvelopements in iraq" on--the link to it is here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100723_pf.html
the fiasco that has been and is unfolding in iraq has to be linked directly to the bush administration itself--they had no plan. they apparently beleived the wolfowitz scenario for the war--and why wouldnt they--had it been connected in any way to reality, it would have required no plan, just invasion, triumph, get covered with flowers, do a few things and leave.
the point is that thousands and thousands of people--in and out of militaries---are now dead because of the incompetence and arrogance of this administration. that there is no real demand on the part of the public that this administration be held to account for this farce is shocking to me.
iraq could well be sliding toward civil war as a direct result of the incompetence of this administration.
i would think that such a disaster will become a matter for deep consideration by subsequent administrations--unless and endless chain of bush-like people get elected---which seems beyond unlikely. i think that a disaster like this will prompt deep reviews of process and will probably end up in the generation of different types of obstacles that would prevent any future administration from lying to itself by wrapping information around policy desires from the outset. i would think that this will raise profound questions about every dimension of the present reconfiguration of the military, from the reliance on contractors through the routinization of torture, from tactics to armaments. and perhaps a move away from the conservative fetishism of the corporate model of governance, which is top-down, operating with no necessary checks on the actions of the officers, without democratic processes built in, without the requirement for them.
what is clear is that this model is not adequately hedged round with safeguards to prevent the worst possible types of consequences following from idiots ascending to the helm.
there is no easy way out in part because of the mess--but the mess is the fault of the united states, of the administration running the show--they clearly had no idea what they were getting into, no understanding of or concern for the type of complexity they would be facing. no plan, no plan.