Petraeus described the progress as "fragile and reversible" so troop withdrawals below pre-surge levels should be delayed until at least next September. That makes Iraq the next president's problem.
Gen. Petraeus reported that while the surge bought the Iraqi politicians time to accomplish Mr. Bush's political benchmarks; he was disappointed that they had only managed to meet a few. The lack of political progress does not seem to bother Mr. Bush though, as he asked Congress for another $108 billion emergency appropriation to continue funding the war. This fits neatly into Mr. Bush's overall scheme because he has never had an exit strategy nor has he asked for one. Privatizing the war with few government controls on contractor fraud, price gouging and no-bid contracting has changed the mission from win the war to maximize the profits. Here are some of the reasons why this war has dragged on for so long -- companies such as Kellogg, Brown and Root, which has earned close to $70 billion in no-bid contracts, Vice President Cheney, who reported more than $3 million in income from his blind trust last year, and several members of Congress who have profited from their war investments. And we still have no idea the amount of our tax dollars corrupt Iraqis in power have misappropriated.
So are we really staying there to give meaning to the 4,033 Americans that have died so far?
Nick Reina
Milmay
