Top Ten Myths About Iraq 2006

There are a multitude of Top Ten lists being generated as 2006 rapidly comes to an end and a new year looms. One such list has been developed by Juan Cole, University of Michigan Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History, at his blog Informed Comment. He makes sense.

Cole's conclusions?

• We can't "win" this war
• US military sweeps of neighborhoods can't drive guerillas out
• It's not a good idea for the US to throw all of its support behind the Iraqi Shiites
• Iraq is definitely in a civil war
• The Lancet study showing 600,000 excess deaths from political and criminal violence since the US invasion isn't flawed
• Most of the violent deaths aren't from bombings, but from shootings
• The death rate isn't lower outside Baghdad
• Iraq is not the central front on the war on terror
• The Sunni Arab guerrillas in places like Ramadi won't follow the US home to America and commit terrorism if we leave Iraq
• Setting a timetable for withdrawal is not a bad idea

Now all we have to do is get our delusional, recalcitrant President-in-Denial to open his eyes and accept the harsh realities that completely contradict his wishful thinking. I won't be holding my breath. But unless we keep pushing the Dems in Congress to treat the need for a prompt exit strategy like the emergency it is, you can bet that many more of our troops and thousands of Iraqi citizens won't have any breath left to hold. For starters, let's start calling Bush's plan what it really is: pouring up to 30,000 more troops into Iraq is an ESCALATION of the war, not a "surge."

Follow the numbers of . In addition, the UN reports that 100,000 Iraqis are fleeing the country each month. Remember, these are the very kinds of people Iraq would need most to create a stable nation -- the professionals, the educated, the formerly middle class. Consider that the Pentagon will ask for $100 BILLION more in war spending when Congress convenes in January -- a number that does NOT include the costs of any escalation. And don't forget that the Pentagon wants $125 million for a Gitmo courthouse that will be used to try about 80 "terrorism detainees." The numbers game is incredibly depressing.

Despite Bush's growing isolation, and with even the Joint Chiefs and his field commanders critical of his escalation plans, he appears to be digging in his heels:

"He is now caught between admitting the war was a mistake and his policy has failed, or trying to tough it out," said Joseph Cirincione, a foreign policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington think tank.

"It looks like the president would rather let the whole operation go down in flames than admit he was wrong."

Meanwhile, a recent LA Times - Bloomberg poll showed that only 12% of Americans back a troop increase, with 52% preferring a timetable for withdrawal. Let's hope the Dems stand their ground:

After years of playing a marginal role in the Iraq war, congressional Democrats plan to move quickly next month to assert more control and undercut any White House effort to increase troop levels.

As President Bush prepares to outline his plan for Iraq in a major speech in the next few weeks, Democratic leaders will counter with weeks of oversight hearings, summoning military officers, administration officials and foreign policy experts to Capitol Hill.

... With control of both chambers of Congress, the party will have the power to schedule hearings, subpoena documents and put conditions on how the administration spends money on the war in Iraq.

Clearly, we'll have to be very active in trying to hold the Dems' feet to the fire on this. It may truly be now or never.