Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - "support our troops" offensive to troops?

roachboy · 02-06-2007, 08:50 AM

one thing that i take to be bizarre about this discussion when it addresses elements of, say, the biden plan, is the way in which the options are posed: either one fumbles along the path layed out by the bush administration or one withdraws all american troops immediately from iraq. that is an idiotic framework that functions mostly--if not entirely--from a viewpoint informed by the administration's choices, as if these choices were the legitimate center of any debate.

the question is not increase troop numbers or pull out right away: it is more about strategic direction. the americans need to find a way to internationalize this farce so they can begin rolling out of its center. the americans are a faction within a civil war and are not in a position to be other than a faction within a civil war--the problem then is the american presence itself at this point. replacing the americans with an international coalition of peacekeepers (say--for the sake of being able to point to something in this context--no doubt the actual nature and goals of such a force would be determined collectively) seems the only way out.
this would require extensive diplomatic work, which HAS TO BE PART OF THE STRATEGY that informs a coherent withdrawal of american military forces from iraq. so american military actions have to be linked to diplomatic action in the context of a lucid overall strategy. this seems beyond the abilities of the bushpeople to manage. and it is this failing that makes me wish that the americans had a no=-confidence mechanism that could clear these people out of power.

the bush people have obviously created about the worst possible climate for this diplomatic project--but they really have to suck it up, eat some shit and deal with it---- and this they seem wholly unwilling or unable to do--and it is here that the extent to which american options have been boxed in by the disaster that is neocon-influenced policy remains fully in force. instead of a coherent diplomatic strategy that worked in tandem with the military deployment, you get dickwaving in the direction of iran--a dickwaving that is at this point the best friend of ahmadinejad (whose administration is in a vry very weak position, likely to fall but for american dickwaving--and i would have thought that the administration considers him to be a problem rather than a kind of screwy tactical asset--if he is a problem, then maybe not doing things that prop him up, that help keep him in power, might be a good idea--but not in bushworld--go figure).

fact is that the bush administration appears to reject the notion of coupling a diplomatic strategy--which is the condition of possibility for a coherent withdrawal--to its military strategy. and it is because this administration has made this choice that all options seem to be equally zero-sum.

the problem is the bush administration itself.

02-06-2007, 08:50 AM	#148 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	one thing that i take to be bizarre about this discussion when it addresses elements of, say, the biden plan, is the way in which the options are posed: either one fumbles along the path layed out by the bush administration or one withdraws all american troops immediately from iraq. that is an idiotic framework that functions mostly--if not entirely--from a viewpoint informed by the administration's choices, as if these choices were the legitimate center of any debate. the question is not increase troop numbers or pull out right away: it is more about strategic direction. the americans need to find a way to internationalize this farce so they can begin rolling out of its center. the americans are a faction within a civil war and are not in a position to be other than a faction within a civil war--the problem then is the american presence itself at this point. replacing the americans with an international coalition of peacekeepers (say--for the sake of being able to point to something in this context--no doubt the actual nature and goals of such a force would be determined collectively) seems the only way out. this would require extensive diplomatic work, which HAS TO BE PART OF THE STRATEGY that informs a coherent withdrawal of american military forces from iraq. so american military actions have to be linked to diplomatic action in the context of a lucid overall strategy. this seems beyond the abilities of the bushpeople to manage. and it is this failing that makes me wish that the americans had a no=-confidence mechanism that could clear these people out of power. the bush people have obviously created about the worst possible climate for this diplomatic project--but they really have to suck it up, eat some shit and deal with it---- and this they seem wholly unwilling or unable to do--and it is here that the extent to which american options have been boxed in by the disaster that is neocon-influenced policy remains fully in force. instead of a coherent diplomatic strategy that worked in tandem with the military deployment, you get dickwaving in the direction of iran--a dickwaving that is at this point the best friend of ahmadinejad (whose administration is in a vry very weak position, likely to fall but for american dickwaving--and i would have thought that the administration considers him to be a problem rather than a kind of screwy tactical asset--if he is a problem, then maybe not doing things that prop him up, that help keep him in power, might be a good idea--but not in bushworld--go figure). fact is that the bush administration appears to reject the notion of coupling a diplomatic strategy--which is the condition of possibility for a coherent withdrawal--to its military strategy. and it is because this administration has made this choice that all options seem to be equally zero-sum. the problem is the bush administration itself. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 02-06-2007 at 08:55 AM..