The Tiny Tim Approach to War

The Plan. According to McClatchey, President Bush's plan is to send 15,000 to 20,000 troops to Baghdad for 3 months. The upside is that a short-term effort avoids political fallout for the Republicans. The problem is that such a small bump in the military presence has little chance to succeed. This idea also has no support in the United States. By compromising between a larger surge and withdrawal, President Bush is doing what he's been doing for the last two years--sitting tight and hoping for more miracles like the capture of Saddam Hussein and the death of Zarqawi.

Could We Have Ever Won? In a feeble attempt at contrarian thinking, Slate editor Jacob Weisberg seeks to undercut assumptions that the U. S. could never have won in Iraq. But the chances for a successful occupation were always very small. The Bush administration made sure there was no chance with their wishful thinking about not needing to plan for the occupation, their "see no evil" approach to the first evidence of an insurgency, and their failure to do basic things like clean up the weapons dumps and secure the borders. It was all Tiny Tim "tip-toe through the tulips stuff." The Bush administration acted as though miracles were going to happen if only they thought happy thoughts about Iraq.

But that doesn't mean that we would have been more successful if the Bush administration had been more reality-centered. In fact, the whole American political and military establishment was completely unprepared to manage a successful occupation. American policy-makers had little practical knowledge of Iraqi society, there were relatively few Arabic speakers working for the American military and intelligence services, and neither the Army brass nor the troops on the ground had any training in occupying hostile foreign countries. Likewise, the American public was completely unprepared for the huge commitment of money (i. e., tax increases) and troops (the draft) needed for a full commitment to Iraq.

The U. S. had just as much chance to win in Iraq as the Confederates had to win the American Civil War. Unfortunately, the Bush administration and the American right is packed with spiritual descendants of the Confederate fire-eaters.