Rumsfeld: US failing in Iraq

A newly leaked memo from Donald Rumsfeld, written only two days before he was sacked, reveals that even he thinks that the US is failing in Iraq and that expectations need to be lowered regarding what the US can realistically expect to achieve there.

He also says that he does not think sending more troops to secure Baghdad is "feasible"; indeed, he calls for a reduction in US troops in Iraq as a way of forcing the Iraqi's to step up to the plate.

Some of his ideas - such as troop reductions and the criticism of tactics for Baghdad - seem to fly directly in the face of both his public statements of policy and the advice of the US military. In fact, his proposals often seem to have more in common with the thoughts of some Democratic party critics of the war.

Rumsfeld's call for change will disturb White House officials on two levels. First, in public Rumsfeld has always been a strong advocate of the US commitment to Iraq and of staying the course. Second, it flies in the face of recent statements by President Bush that indicate he is unlikely to change strategy. That could mean Rumsfeld and Bush, formerly seen as close allies, are in fact starting to oppose each other.

If Bush has lost the support of true believers like Rumsfeld, then he is more isolated than any of us had previously believed. With the arrival this week of the Baker report, which Bush is already stating that he reserves the right to ignore, his problems are about to intensify.

Bush, along with Blair, are the architects of this war and are, therefore, the last people on Earth who are going to concede that the war is lost.

Bush has already declared his intention to pass the Iraq war on to his successor, hopefully passing the blame for failure down the line. The Baker report is an attempt to salvage something from this dispute.

The Baker panel had been seen as an opportunity to fundamentally shift US policy in Iraq and perhaps provide the necessary political cover for a comprehensive US withdrawal. But as its contents leaked into the media last week it became clear that the panel's findings would lay a groundwork for only a small-scale shift in US military involvement.

The plan is expected to suggest that US combat forces be withdrawn from the Iraqi fighting by the start of 2008 - but only if Iraqi security forces are able to stand alone. Also, it is not clear if the US forces would just withdraw to bases inside Iraq or to a nearby country. Either way, the panel envisioned a force of perhaps 70,000 US troops still remaining with the Iraqi army to train and advise it and form a rapid reaction force. The panel is also expected to suggest that dialogue be opened with Iran and Syria on how best to stabilise Iraq.

The official US policy has now become a face saving mission. Even Rumsfeld now admits that democracy cannot be established.

By calling for a lowering of expectations, Rumsfeld was laying the groundwork for a US withdrawal.

To limit the political fallout from shifting course, he suggested the administration consider a campaign to lower public expectations.

“Announce that whatever new approach the U.S. decides on, the U.S. is doing so on a trial basis,” he wrote. “This will give us the ability to readjust and move to another course, if necessary, and therefore not ‘lose.’ ”

Of course, the greatest problem in all of this is that Bush still thinks - or certainly sends such a signal in public - that the war in Iraq can be won. When the Commander in Chief is that delusional, the road ahead is a very bumpy one.

It now seems that everyone is telling Bush the same message - Powell, Rumsfeld, Baker - but that Bush does not want to hear about the size of his defeat.

How many more people must die in a lost cause to massage this idiot's vanity?

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tag: Bush, Iraq war, "Stay the course", Donald Rumsfeld