Heady U.S. Goals for Iraq Fall by Wayside(now security before all)

[papau]

The Bush administration has lowered its hopes for the
type of democracy that can be achieved in Iraq, changed course on
its plans to privatize Iraq's economy, and reordered its
priorities by devoting more money to improving security as fast as
possible.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-goals27sep27.story
Heady U.S. Goals for Iraq Fall by Wayside
By Tyler Marshall
Times Staff Writer

September 27, 2004

WASHINGTON — Despite continuing violence and instability, President Bush has stuck doggedly to his central message on Iraq: There is no need to change course because the administration's plan for planting democracy in the Middle East is working.

Yet behind the unwavering public posture, there is evidence that the Bush administration has altered its approach. It has lowered its hopes for the type of democracy that can be achieved, changed course on its plans to privatize Iraq's economy and reordered its priorities by devoting more money to improving security as fast as possible.

Gone — at least for now — is the lofty ideal of Iraq serving as a free-market democratic model that would ignite the forces of change throughout the Middle East and lay the seeds of a settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said administration officials have told him privately that they have lowered their expectations. "They've definitely recalibrated their goals," he said. "One of them told me: 'When we went in there, I thought we would build American-style democracy. Hell, I'd be happy with Romanian-style democracy now.' "

"It doesn't mean you abandon" the Iraqis, Kolbe added. "It reflects what is realistic, what is doable." Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld echoed that sentiment Friday, when asked what it would take for the United States to declare victory and begin to withdraw.

"Any implication that that place has to be peaceful and perfect before we can reduce coalition and U.S. forces I think would obviously be unwise because it's never been peaceful and perfect and it isn't likely to be," he said. National security advisor Condoleezza Rice this month defined success in more modest terms than the administration used in the war's early stages. "Success will be an Iraqi government that has gone through the legitimacy process of being elected and an Iraqi government that can defend itself," she said.

Many experts believe the administration will be hard-pressed even to pull that off. <snip>

[MISSDem]

1. The sad thing to me is the fact that a lot of Conservatives

care a whole lot more about stopping same sex marriage and abortion than they care about what happens to Iraq and will vote just that way. And a lot of other people who might care aren't paying attention to articles like this which tell you what is going on. They only hear Bush and Cheney say that things are "going well" in Iraq and that the people are "free" there. It makes me sick.

[papau]

2. Folks only hear what right wing media is told by Bush to say.

:-(