Staying The Course, Even If It's A Circle

Over the course of the past few weeks there has a been a strong shift in public opinion against the war. While the conflict may not have been popular for a while now, there were at least some idiots that still argued things weren't as bad as the media was making it seem, and that we were still making progress in Iraq.

That has now changed. Even the President--who always acted like Little Miss Sunshine when talking about all the wonderful progress in Iraq--now says it's bad. In other words, he's now admitting that he's been lying to the American people.

A new poll now shows that almost 80% of Americans want to change the role of American troops stationed in that hellhole from combat to training, per the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. A majority want most of our forces by early 2008.

However, the findings of the Study Group are by no means binding, and political leaders on both sides are backing away from it. The White House has even said it won't do anything until it's own study group turns in its findings.

John McCain has even called for an increase in troop levels, though its not clear where the soldiers will come from. Our forces are already stretched, and the three and a half years of war have taken their toll on military equipment. There is a huge backlog to repair tanks, humvees, and other armored vehicles damaged by combat and sand. Equipment has been diverted from training new recruits and sent to Iraq to fill the gap there. So even if we did send in another 50,000 troops, what are they supposed to do? Patrol the streets of Tikrit on bicycles? Yeah, let's see how a Schwinn ten speed holds up against a roadside bomb.

The result? Even though everyone now concedes that the situation in Iraq is f*cked up beyond all recognition, not a damn thing will change. Our soldiers will keep dying while the politicians keep bickering.