POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN BY THE DAILY TELEGRAPH'S EMMA HENRY
I do believe that anything about 'no pull-out in sight,' is premature.
The Republicans facing election little over a year from now are making significant noises. Association with Bush, whose approval ratings are in the high twenties, is a deadweight loss.
Remember, too, American politics is driven by money, and those expecting to run must be collecting lots of cash well ahead.
America is capable of a sustained effort only when the people believe deeply in the cause. But polls show clearly, they no longer believe in Iraq.
In fact, many did doubt it from the beginning, only going along for the ride if it weren't too demanding.
Moreover, America, in all its colonial wars of the last half century, finds its enthusiasm flagging as the bodies start coming home in numbers.
This is natural enough, since colonial wars are not in the interest of most Americans. They serve special interests, although wrapped in flags and yellow ribbons.
Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' stunt a few years back is the perfect symbol of the way America likes to view these colonial wars.
If you can do it quickly at little cost, it's okay. In fact, it's positively breast-swelling, like fans at a 'Homecoming' football game. We're winners!
But let there be drawn-out effort and especially large numbers of American coffins, and 'we're outta here.'
Apart from many other considerations - the legality of the invasion, the dishonesty about weapons and terror - thinking people told Bush that this wasn't the kind of effort Americans would support over a long period.
Bush of course ignored them. He is both arrogant and ignorant, a dangerous combination.
Now he is invested with the delusion of his 'legacy,' knowing he has done nothing else much worth discussing. What he doesn't understand is that Iraq, too, as a claim to merit isn't worth talking about.
When a pull-out comes, it will be gradual, not sudden and complete. There is too much fear of being responsible for the sectarian slaughter that might well follow.
However, that didn't stop the Vietnam fiasco, leaving followers behind, dropping from the helicopter undercarriages. And leaving the Cambodia it destabilized to undergo a modern holocaust.
