BushGÇÖs New Plan has the following goals: keep the troops in Iraq stationed at permanent bases, reduce American casualties, and reduce IranGÇÖs influence. This is NOT the plan of the American people who voted loud and clear that they want the troops out of Iraq asap.
John McCain is an ally of the so called GÇ£newGÇ¥ Bush Plan. ItGÇÖs not difficult to assume that Robert Gates is on board with this new plan also. Why else would Bush move so quickly to put his Rumsfeld replacement before a Congress that remains Republican controlled for a very short time. Bush had to move quickly to get GÇ£hisGÇ¥ new GÇ£RumsfeldGÇ¥ on board.
Bush plans to negotiate a ceasefire with the insurgent SunniGÇÖs and then create an alliance with them that will either strengthen Prime Mininster Maliki or replace hime with a Sunni strong man. Then Bush will have the US troops work with the SunniGÇÖs to restore order to Iraq and install a government GÇ£friendlyGÇ¥ to America to strongarm the Iraqi people. (BushGÇÖs version of a democratic government. Then Bush will keep US troops in Iraq at the permanent bases.
Unfortunately Bush is not living in the real world. Just like his other plans this plan will not succeed. According to Nir Rosen:
GÇ£....Shias own Iraq now. Sunnis can never get it back. There's nothing Americans can do about this.
So, for Sunnis, whether these reports are true or not, for Sunnis to ever imagine that they could ever regain power, that the Baathists could ever be restored to power, that Americans actually matter in Iraq anymore is na+»ve in the extreme. Iraq is Shia now. They have the majority, the security forces, they have the militias. What you are going to see in Iraq I think, in Baghdad especially, is a virtual genocide of the Sunnis. And the Americans are going to be unable to stop that.GÇ¥
The reality of what is happening in Iraq is that the SunniGÇÖs are going to go down in defeat. Whether or not American troops are there. The plans on the table with the best chance of success are the plans proposed by Senator Jim Webb--an orderly troop withdrawal while simultaneously working with Syria and Iran who have influence in Iraq and who have a strong interest in a stabilized, peaceful Iraq.
If Bush and his team are unwilling or unable to face reality they need to be replaced with a tean that can. A team that is able to work with Syria and Iran to help the US do the best we can with the awful disaster Beorge W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their neocon cronies have created in the middle east.
Unfortunately, it looks like Jim Webb was right when he said that the people that made this mess are not going to be able to fix it.
Americans need to stop letting their President try to blame the victims--the Iraqis--or anyone else for this mess. It's time for Bush and the neocons to take responsibility and be held accountable for this disaster (and others).
According to Nir Rosen:
There is no solution. WeGÇÖve destroyed Iraq and weGÇÖve destroyed the region, and Americans need to know this. This isnGÇÖt Rwanda where we can just sit back and watch the Hutus and Tutsis kill each other, and be like wow this is terrible should we do something? We destroyed Iraq. There was no civil war in Iraq until we got there. And there was no civil war in Iraq, until we took certain steps to pit Sunnis against Shias. And now it is just too late. But, we need to know we are responsible for whatGÇÖs happening in Iraq today. I don't think Americans are aware of this. We've managed to make Saddam Hussein look good even to Shias at this point. And what weGÇÖve managed to do is not only destabilize Iraq, but destabilize Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran. This is going to spread for decades, the region wonGÇÖt recover from this, I think for decades. And Americans are responsible . AMY GOODMAN: Do you think troop withdrawal now, if not an answer, a necessity? NIR ROSEN: Troop withdrawal, if I was an American, then I would want troop withdrawal, because why are Americans dying in Iraq? Every single American who dies in Iraq, who is injured in Iraq, dies for nothing. He didnGÇÖt die for freedom, he didnGÇÖt die to defend his country, he died to occupy Iraq. And if withdrawal the troops youGÇÖll have less Americans killing Iraqis. Everyday the Americans are there they kill innocent Iraqis, they torture innocent Iraqis, and the occupy Iraqis and terrorize Iraqis. They should leave today.
Americans also need to face reality. I agree with Nir Rosen that there is no solution and we need to withdraw our troops immediately.