Breadcrumb sins

"If we increase our support at this crucial moment, and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence, we can hasten the day our troops begin coming home."
- George W. Bush, January 10, 2007

"Cycle of violence"? President Bush thinks a 15 percent increase in troops will "break the cycle of violence" in Baghdad? Has he been to Baltimore lately? It's taking a little longer than we thought to break the cycle of violence there, too. (Cal got elected to the Hall of Fame, and the Ravens might go to the Super Bowl. Yay.)

Here's the big set up from President Bush:

Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not.

Here are the differences.

Then, somehow avoiding the use of the words Shia, Sadr, or Mahdi, he says:

In earlier operations, political and sectarian interference prevented Iraqi and American forces from going into neighborhoods that are home to those fueling the sectarian violence. This time, Iraqi and American forces will have a green light to enter these neighborhoods. And Prime Minister Maliki has pledged that political or sectarian interference will not be tolerated.

In other words, "We're taking on the Mahdi army." Get ready for the bloodbath. I give Maliki a month, tops.

And on his Conradian--if only fanciful--voyage into the dusty, explosive neighborhoods of Baghdad, he leaves behind him real live breadcrumbs of justified withdrawal:

I have made it clear to the prime minister and Iraq's other leaders that America's commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people.

In other words, he wants out now, but instead he will, with his polished turd of a legacy in mind, invent a scenario that allows him to withdraw from Iraq while placing all the blame on its "government." It's like a petulant couple, knowing their relationship is doomed yet lacking the guts to break it off, giving it "one more try." Except in this case, the boyfriend is George W. Bush, and he's going to smack Iraq around one more time and then never talk to her again.

Would that Iraq could take out a restraining order.