Look E, the Iraqis are no less effected by human nature then any one else. As long as the US was promising to bear the strain the easiest thing in the world for the Iraqi leadership to do was simply duck making any tough decisions.
Arabs are huge talkers they will talk and talk and talk and talk and do nothing. It is prudent for the Bush Administration to prod them to actually start doing some of the tough things now.
Domestically the American people are just as bad. They want easy quick answers. Saying "Stay the Course" actually was giving Democrats a easy to slime slogan that they spun as "Bush doesn't want to admit he was wrong on Iraq". NOW the Repubublicans can come back with "we are winning on Iraq, what is YOUR people's plan". It changes Iraq Deabate from being "Bush is an idiot who does even know what is going on in Iraq" to "We are on the verge of winning and the Democrats want to Cut and Run just before we win".
I agree putting the "timeline" statement in there was a mistake. It gives the wrong impression and drown out the fact that there is no firm dates under discussion here. We will stay or go as the situation on the ground, not the time table dictates. Generals and Politicans should know better then use the words a report throws at them. It always will be quoted as the Junk Media want to belive it, not as it was said.
I think one of the things the Junk Media is just glossing over here is the fact that Gen Casey pointed out we will SILL have a precense in Iraq after the Iraqis take over the security duities.
That is the best way to fight a Counter Insurgency. Conventional Military forces are not really very well suited to this kind of low grade constant warefare. They are trained to kill people and wrecks stuff. Counter Insurgency is as much political as military. It is slow time consuming painful work.
It is the El Salvador strategy. During the 1980s the US fought and won a Counter Insurgency in El Salvador by putting in Special Forces teams to support El Salvador military forces. We have always planned on having the Iraqis take over the bulk of the mission. This is merely one battle in the larger war. We were never planning on staying in Iraq forever.
I don't think I have.
You don't think that phrase give hope to the enemy? all they have to do is wait it out....
Sorry- I believe the message needs to be- WE WILL BE HERE UNTIL HELL FREEZES OVER IF THAT IS WHAT IT TAKES TO BEAT THE ENEMY!