The End Of A Wicked War

02/16/2007

Paul Munnis

You would never know it from all of the shouting and yelling in political circles but the War in Iraq is about to wind down and come to an abrupt end. I've seen this twice before, once at the end of the Korean War and once at the end of the Vietnam War. The symptoms of an end to the Iraq War are all present.

There are several things legislating the ending and its not all Congressional doing.

There is the GOP Party who cannot afford any more blood letting. They are starting to fail as a Party and are in danger of political suicide if they don’t wind down the war. This should be evident by this time next week after the Congressional vote saying “No,” to a troop surge is finally completed today.

Then there is Rep. John Murtha who has found a way to take away the money needed to finance the war and who intends to do just that.

Then there is the American public who has had it up to their teeth with Mr. Bush.

All across the USA, in State legislative bodies, resolutions to end the war are being passed by people frustrated by a lack of response by the Federal legislature.

Then there is the military operation itself. Troops are storming Baghdad only to find that nobody is home. The enemy has melted away and will return at a later time. Both the Army and the police are considered unreliable and can’t be counted upon to be of much real help.

The pipeline of more troops is empty and a needed manpower resupply effort for our troops cannot be sustained. We are already bringing felons in from prison as Army recruits. The equipment is worn out and breaking down and now effective helicopter fire has been developed.

Meanwhile the fighting in Anbar province is fierce and we continue to lose good Marines there to hostile fire.

Iraqis themselves are pulling out of the country in a mass exodus. They have given up Iraq as bad desert sand.

The Iraqi Army is still not a credit to the war effort and is lacking in power, punch, and commitment.

Al Sadr has pulled out and has gone to Iran. He does not want to be in the country for the end of the war.

The elected government of Iraq is in shambles and cannot even manage to convene much less manage and rule the nation. Many of the elected officials are out of the country.

Iran has gone silent as they attempt to negotiate with al Sadr the proper way to join forces in Iraq and to form a super Shiite State. Iran wants to fill the void that will be left by the U.S. exit.

The Kurds are also silent as they look to defend themselves from attack by the Shiites and the Turks. The pity is that Bush can’t help them even though he should. Mr. Bush has really lost his MoJo and can no longer help himself much less the Kurds.

Bush is diverting a needed battalion for Iraq over to Afghanistan where they have a future. You don’t do that when you are running an offensive in Iraq and are short of troops for that offensive. Thus Mr. Bush has shifted into military salvage mode.

Bush himself has thrown open the doors of the U.S. to Iraqi collaborators who would suffer retaliation if they remain in Iraq and fall into the hands of the insurgents. One does that only when in the final throes of defeat.

Oil prices are falling and gold is dropping both are signs that the oil supply is adequate and that mobile money is no longer in high demand.

So the handwriting is on the wall and the signs are there and it’s just a matter of time.

Which action history will record as the final blow that ended the war is yet to be determined but taken as a collection there is no reason to be certain of any further support by the US for the Iraqi War. The war has all of the signs of ending and we are just watching war in its final death agony.

It is natural that the proponents of war and those who profit from it most are upset that the War is ending and thus their voices are heard as the loudest. It is also natural that they would accuse Americans of all sorts of bad things. The truth is that they have had five years to accomplish their goals in Iraq and they have failed. This war cannot go on in perpetuity.

The GOP anger directed towards Nancy Pelosi is fierce and the reason why can be quickly gleaned from this excerpt below from of Article II of the U.S. Constitution:

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

In other words Nancy Pelosi could become the next president of the United States replacing G.W. Bush.

It is my belief that by Easter American contractors will be leaving Iraq as General Petrus manages troop extraction a tricky manuever that has to be done well to prevent a significant loss of life.