Chaos as a Strategy Against the U.S.: "President Bush was defiant today. He said: 'Every sign of progress in Iraq adds to the desperation of the terrorists and the remnants of Saddam's brutal regime. The civilized world will not be intimidated, and these killers will not determine the future of Iraq.'
Speaking at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., he added that the assailants were 'the enemies of every nation that seeks to help the Iraqi people.'
But the problem now posed for American forces in Iraq is an acute one. Put simply, if Iraqis are afraid and unconvinced that their situation is improving, their hostility to the United States may grow.
The attacks on foreign embassies and the headquarters of international organizations, as well as water and oil pipelines, appear specifically devised to halt improvements in the quality of life for average Iraqis.
'The goal is to deny the American occupation force the ability to pacify Iraq, to prevent the Americans from winning the hearts and minds of the people,' said Loren Thompson, a military affairs analyst with the Lexington Institute. 'If Iraq is in constant chaos, the United States can never move on to the next stage.'"

Bush really knows how to handle those terrorists. First he tells them to bring it on. And they clearly have. Now he says, from his holiday home, that they will not determine the future of Iraq. Wrong again. They are calling the shots.

Bush has put our troops on the ground in Iraq. Now our soldiers are terrorist targets. The UN has been in Iraq, feeding millions for years since 1991. Now the UN is a terrorist target. Now the former govt. of Iraq is destroying the infrastructure of its own nation in order to attack the US occupation. The Iraqi people are terrorist targets.

What does all that mean? It means the situation is spiralling out of control. It means we haven't won. We haven't defeated Saddam Hussein. We are still fighting him. Only now we have even more casualties. And our troops are panic-ing, shooting civilians and journalists. To furthur complicate matters, Arab terrorists are being drawn in by the prospect of being able to attack our troops on their home territory.

We haven't improved the lot of the people Bush said he would liberate. Their lives are much worse now than they were 6 months ago. And their prospects are worse for the forseeable future.
- posted by geoff @ #