"A Major Debacle"

A former Pentagon official who served under Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz is calling the Iraq war a "major debacle." This is quite surprising, especially since I thought conditions in Iraq were just absolutely wonderful.

Joseph Collins, a retired army Colonel, has prepared a blunt 60 page assessment of the conflict. According to him,

Globally, U.S. standing among friends and allies has fallen. Our status as a moral leader has been damaged by the war, the subsequent occupation of a Muslim nation, and various issues concerning the treatment of detainees. At the same time, operations in Iraq have had a negative impact on all other efforts in the war on terror, which must bow to the priority of Iraq when it comes to manpower, materiel, and the attention of decision makers.

Still, elsewhere in his report, Collins calls Iraq a "must win" situation. And while that may well be correct, the larger truth is that "victory" in Iraq--whatever the hell that means--is no longer possible. The political situation is too far gone and our military is already stretched to the breaking point. Our ongoing presence only prolongs the agony. Withdrawal is the only option.

Sure, we can keep throwing our soldiers' lives away in that hellhole, but for what? Whether we hang on another five years or come home now, the final outcome will be no different: Iraq will descend further into chaos, thousands more will die in ethnic fighting, and parts of the country will become a haven for terrorists.

At least those are the arguments some people use to justify our continued presence there. The problem is, however, that each and every one of those dire outcomes will happen because we invaded in the first place.

It's a sick, twisted Catch-22 that we brought upon ourselves.