(AP Photo/Jon Winslow)
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Senator Hillary Rodham speaking to Donald Rumsfeld Thursday, August 3 before the Senate Armed Service Committee:
"Under your leadership there have been numerous errors in judgment that have led us to where we are."
"We have a full-fledged insurgency and full-blown sectarian conflict in Iraq."
"When our constituents ask for evidence that your policy in Iraq and Afghanistan will be successful, you don't leave us with much to talk about."
"We hear a lot of happy talk and rosy scenarios, but because of the administration's strategic blunders and frankly the record of incompetence in executing, you are presiding over a failed policy."
"Given your track record, Secretary Rumsfeld, why should we believe your assurances now?"
(REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
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I actually felt bad for "Rummy" or "the Donald" last Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Hillary gave him a tongue lashing.
I am hard pressed to disagree with her. Iraq continues to be a mess. Where I think Hillary and the war critics have it wrong is that they want conventional solutions and there are none.
The war is a religious war of fanatics and zealots fighting each other and us; it is a war with people who will stop at nothing to see our demise. Add to this, the peculiar underpinnings of the Shiite and the Sunni tribalism, and the complicated becomes fairly simple.
Here's the short version of why: The split began after the death of Mohammad in 632. One group wanted a man named Abu Bakr to succeed Muhammad and became known as Sunnis. One group wanted Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law, and became known as Shiites. Fighting commenced.
Everything we are seeing in the war today in a sense relates to this tribal fighting. We are in a neverending war and it has to be factored into our way of life. We've squandered any opportunity we may have had in Iraq and we might as well admit it.
(AFP/File/Filippo Monteforte)
| In the beginning, we had enormous hope. The idea of reconstruction was everywhere: a new Iraq, a democratic Iraq, a model for the Mideast. Today, I don't even see the perpetuated rosy pictures coming anymore; that is, in the old days, it was Iraq is not lost, the tide is turning; the Iraqis have an elected government and are building a strong democracy.
Let's face it, now, the country is more hellish than heavenly. I think we're at the brink or perhaps already in a civil war. There are about 100 Iraqis dying per day. It is incomprehensible to me.
The war is taking its toll on Americans. In addition to the more than 2500 plus deaths, 6 to 8 high profile investigations ofwrongdoing by American soldiers are taking place.
Electrical power in Baghdad is almost nonexistent. Think about this: 3 years and over 300 billion dollars and the electricity is still not at the capacity itwas during Saddam's reign.
(AP Photo/U.S.Marine, Sgt.Roe F.Seigle)
| It's really hard to know what the story is in Iraq. About the only thing we do know is that Saddam is gone, some of his key players have met their maker, and Iraq is lethal. It's almost impossible to know who the players are.
One of the generals said that a top priority is to get rid of the militias. What is he smoking? From what I read, it is an open secret that many of the militiamen now terrorizing Baghdad are controlled by the very political parties that control the Iraqi government.
We can't fight anything close to conventional war. The Marines, bless their hearts, keep trying. They go on patrols and on search and destroy missions, but that is like spitting in the ocean.
The war today is fought by roadside bombs, kidnappings, and intimidation. How can the Americans fight those small canister shaped objects buried in the ground late at night, filled with killing explosives? At the moment they hit anything, mostly tires, doors, Kevlar vests, and sadly flesh and bone; destruction is the result. These devices can rip through the thickest U. S. armor. No wonder soldiers dread this more than anything and commanders prefer hanging out in the protected green zone.
(AP Photo/Hamid Rashid)
| We've brought troops into Baghdad, something like 5000, to turn the tide of violence. By their own numbers, Americans were conducting 360 patrols a day, but those have dwindled to about 92 a day. What does this mean? Violence goes up, of course. This is another example of why we don't know what the hell is going on. Could it be the commanders want to keep the casualty count low? I understand, it is one of the ways in which they are judged.
The fear among troopers on patrol is palatable. The soldier's psyche is a lot like the soldier's psyche was in Vietnam. Toward the end of the war when the VC turned to mostly booby trapping familiar things, soldiers cringed knowing that the simplest item could prove lethal. There's no overstating how much psychological energy is spent worrying about IEDs (improvised explosive devices).
The Generals say the sectarian violence is getting worse. And, "It is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war." How do you deal with people who will kidnap a wife, husband, and two children, then kill them. This happened to be a Sunni couple and children. Earlier in the day, it happened to Shiites-13 bodies, all shot and tortured.
Should the Secretary of Defense have to suffer the good Senator from New York's ire? It's not so bad if he keeps it in perspective. Her condemnation of the secretary's leadership is just words or rhetoric. He needs to remember he is not on the battlefield in Baghdad with the troops.
re: History of Shiites and Sunnis split:
Long path to Iraq's sectarian split;
How Can Sunnis and Shiites Tell Each Other Apart?
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