Swompdonkey

Iraqracy

Newsweek has a great interview with General Petraeus, the man who will never admit victory --a wise strategy, given the history of "mission accomplished" in the Iraq War.

It is clear by now to even the most ardent advocate of American withdrawal from Iraq that Petraeus' surge transformed the situation on the ground. While the political settlement remains tenuous, nearly all serious observers of the conflict are saying that the bulk of American forces in Iraq could and should go... it is now a matter of when and how America makes its exit that occupies the discourse --A remarkable thing, when you consider the dire state of affairs in that country two years ago.

Watching the Democratic Convention, it is indeed interesting to see how the narrative of this war has been transformed from that of a "lost war" to one of an "unecessary and costly war" that America must extricate itself from so that it may redirect the $10 billion a month it is costing somewhere else... a sum particularly galling to many when one considers the almost grotesque gobs of oil money that the government of Iraq is now raking in.

Meanwhile, politicians from every part of the political and ideological spectrum are congratulating themselves on their shrewdness and foresight, cherry-picking their own statements and nuances to demonstrate their wisdom and foreign policy acumen in advocating "the surge" or "timetables" or "staying the course" or whatever, cheerfully disregarding anything they got somewhat or utterly wrong.

And through it all, the American military, cast adrift by the politicians and foresaken by a significant part of the populace, continues to do what it has done throughout the hard months of the surge, competently and professionally executing the mission laid out by superiors and through dogged stubborness and the use of intelligent counterinsurgency tactics, snatching success from the jaws of failure and ignominy.

My favourite bit of the interview is this:

Petraeus: I think it's true that they are past Al Qaeda. They are past ... an organization that embraces an extremist ideology, employs indiscriminate violence, and practices oppressive social actions such as forced marriage or cutting fingers off smokers.

Newsweek:Forget that, no smoking ...

Petraeus: That was the tipping point when they cut the fingers off the first person who was smoking. I mean, can you imagine an Anbar sheik being told he can't smoke?

Will historians in decades to come say that Al Qaeda was defeated because of its opposition to tobacco use? As someone with personal experience in the matter, I can tell you that an Arab having a nicotine fit is a fearsome adversary!