November 21, 2006
THERE IS NO IRAQ:
The Story Behind The Iraq Study Group: How Va. Lawmaker Pushed for Panel (Lyndsey Layton. 11/21/06, Washington Post)
"If you ordered an Erector Set and you were trying to build it before Christmas and you got stuck and someone else came along, they might just see immediately what needs to be done," [Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) ] said. "Or if you had a health-care problem, you'd want a second opinion. It's all about fresh eyes on a target."The result is the Iraq Study Group, led by Republican former secretary of state James A. Baker III and Democratic former congressman Lee H. Hamilton (Ind.), who was a vice chairman of the panel that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The group has taken on greater relevance after midterm elections marked by widespread voter dissatisfaction with Iraq, and it will play a decisive role in reshaping the U.S. position on Iraq, according to lawmakers and administration officials.
Initially, the White House was cool to the idea, Wolf said. But he was able to win over Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld followed, as did national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley. "Rice's support was key," Wolf said. "But I had to have the support of everybody or there would be no way to do this." [...]
Wolf got Congress to appropriate $1 million for the project. To select the panel's members, he turned to the U.S. Institute for Peace, an independent nonpartisan organization created and funded by Congress. One of its goals is to promote stability after a conflict.
The Realist preference for stability uber alles left the Soviets in control of Eastern Europe, which was an unmitigated disaster for all concerned. The point of war is to inflict instability--trying to reimpose stability before the process has run its course only leads to the next war. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 21, 2006 8:48 AM
I'm going to posit it one more time: Either Chimpy is the dumbest sack who ever walked the face of th earth, or he has pulled off a geopolitical brilliancy.
Final victory over Iraq, and it doesn't appear to have been planned. It's not the way I would have done it: I would have had the MEF do a Vorbeimarsch in Baghdad with the band playing "Green Grow the Lilacs." This way is actually better, however, even if not so immediately satisfying.
In the end Iraq will have been destroyed, and it will look as though it hadn't been the plan all along.
Posted by: Lou Gots at November 21, 2006 10:10 AM