JMM's sub at TPM, gives bleak, sadly accurate pic of Iraq's future

[BurtWorm]

Spencer Ackerman, who writes for TNR, roasts Rumsfeld's assertion that the media, reporting accurately, will demoralize the troops into believing their leaders are immoral torturers and war criminals and thus "lose Iraq."

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/


Only the media, says the most powerful secretary of defense in history, can lose the war in Iraq. By that logic, a year's worth of mistakes--an insufficient number of troops to provide basic security; an inability or unwillingness to demobilize militias; a preference for wishing deeply-rooted conflicts in Iraqi ethnic and religious politics away instead of providing a civil forum for their arbitration; the installation of pliant Iraqis onto a council subsequently made powerless; torture--are simply wished away. And there are more mistakes to come: Since November 15, the Bush administration has loudly promised Iraqis that they'll be in control of their country after June 30. Behind the scenes, the Coalition Provisional Authority has been ensuring that the U.S. will retain significant control over Iraq's political development. More overtly, of course, Iraqis will still see American armored vehicles rolling down their streets. And at that point, Iraqis will see us breaking a promise--granting sovereignty--that we will loudly be proclaiming we've kept. Given that 90 percent of Iraqis distrust us according to CPA's own polls, the already significant danger to our 138,000 brave men and women in uniform is compounding. And the secretary of defense would prefer to point fingers at the media....

[papau]

1. 2% see the US as a liberator - per Coalition Provisional Authority's poll

:-)

[wtmusic]

2. Let's let Iraqis vote in our election in November

if they're so damn sure they see us as liberators.