Bush is DONE. U.S. drops plan to strike Iran as part of Iraq exit strategy
Last week I published a Bill Gertz story quoting sources that the US had been warning gulf 'allies' that we are out of there, the entire region by 2009. If we look at the META actions of the Bush admin since the 2006 election, we can see that this administration, far from being devoted to principle, is, as is PelosiReid slavishly pimped out to polls. Polls which may not even reflect the true wishes of the american electorate (I can make up any question to get any answer). After commissioning the ISG report, and its Bakerite Baldwin-Chamberlain impersonation, then ducking the yelling over it, we can now see that in fact it has been adopted.
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration plans to involve Iran in its exit strategy for Iraq and has decided not to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. Administration sources said President Bush has decided that barring a "catastrophic development," the United States would not attack Iran.
The sources said the administration has been conveying the decision to U.S. allies in the Middle East. "The United States has decided that Iran's cooperation was needed for a withdrawal from Iraq," an administration source said.
"There won't be a situation where there will be cooperation and then war with Iran."
The decision marks a rejection of more than two years of Israeli appeals for a U.S. military option against Iran.
The sources said Bush was swayed by his intention to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq as well as an intelligence assessment that an air strike would not destroy all or most of Iran's nuclear weapons facilities.
"The hidden message [to Israel] was that if we don't do it [strike Iran], you definitely don't do it," the source said.
The administration intends to discuss its intention to reduce the U.S. military presence throughout the Middle East. The administration has conveyed similar messages to Gulf Cooperation Council states, particularly Saudi Arabia, during the visit by Defense Secretary Robert Gates in April.
The annual U.S.-Israel strategic dialogue in early June was to facilitate the scheduled visit by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Washington, his second in less than seven months. Olmert does not plan to focus on Iran during his talks with Bush on July 19.
"The president plans to focus on peace talks and confidence-building measures with the Palestinians," the source said. Under the administration plan, the U.S. military would begin the pullout from Iraq later this year.
The lion's share of U.S. troops would return home by November 2008. At the same time, the Defense Department is drafting a plan to maintain a long-term U.S. military presence in up to 12 bases in Iraq.
The presence would involve aircraft as well as Special Forces to help preserve Iraq's territorial capability. "The model is South Korea, which is to maintain basic defense, stay in heavily-protected bases and not get involved in the insurgency war," the source said.
The last two paras are a fantasy (though THAT would have been the smart move in June 2003).
- A nuclear Iran would never allow it
- The victorious Al Sadr would never allow it
- Can anyone say 'Katyusha attack?'
If we want to pursue a new Korea strategy, we need Iraq to be divided.
Viva Kurdistan. A possible REAL ally.
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I don't know what has happened to Bush. He is certainly not the man I voted for -- twice.
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I voted for him VERY hesitatingly in 2000, and then was glad Gore was not the man after 9/11. I also did so in 2004 since there really was no alternative. But let's face it, he is responsible for incompetence of the highest order, so large in fact that it has endangered the right strategies and causes so badly that they have been abandoned to the 'realists'.
However what appeared to be character and principle in the weeks following 9/11seems a shallow joke today.
I really don't understand WHAT he is. At this point however it's really irrelevant. Bush+Foley+Hastert = 4-6 years of Dem electoral victories.
The sum total of all the tactical mishandlings, incompetence laziness, lack of professionalism and corruption has HURT this nation. The democrats are 100% correct about this. Of course the problem is that at the national level what the dems want to do will hurt us even more.
Epaminondas