Why The Iraq War Won't Change

Today is the first day of the hearings surrounding the issue of the Iraq war and so far things have been going according to script. On one hand you have George W. Bush who is still speaking in a language not so dissimilar to that of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo. The enemies are at the gate and he still speaks of victory while the rest of the world has come to terms with the fact that the war is lost and nothing on the horizon is going to change that.  On the other hand you have Democrats talking about conditional withdrawal, a more watered-down message than the one that gave them votes to re-take congress. But, at the center of the debate are the generals who are calling for the stabilization of the Iraqi government before there is any reduction in troop numbers. They are not talking about the possibility of an actual victory but, the creation of a situation that would allow the Baghdad government to take over the disaster in their country. For those of us who were alive at the end of the Vietnam war, this is the same plan that was on the table and which lead to the eventual reuniting of that country.

Whatever choice is made, it seems unlikely that it will deviate too far from the recommendations of the Generals John Abizaid or CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden. Despite the the fact that both are Bush men, their messages are being heralded as  the blue print of the next step in the war by both Democrats and Republicans alike. Both men are pushing for the empowerment of the Iraqi government so the U.S. can claim some sort of twisted victory, on the surface anyway. But, they have stated that they would favor an increase of U.S. troops in Iraq if for no other reason but to prevent a civil war.  Confused?   Well thats really the point. Their ability to cover-up a lost cause seems to be receding at an exponential rate.  Most Americans don't believe that the war can be won and do support a full pullout. So why are the Democrats even bothering to listen to the panel?  The truth is, that outside of a partial conditional pull out, they don't seem to have a plan for Iraq that seems so different from the Republicans.  Such a panel takes the responsibility of finding an alternative course of action out of their hands and into hands of those generals who are on the ground. Furthermore, any blame by the American public is also taken off the Democrats shoulders.

For those in the White House, and John McCain they are able to keep Iraq open to the corporate investments of Exxon Mobil, Halliburton, Blackwater, Monsanto, Bechtel and Eli Lilly, just to name a few. The corporate buy out should continue as long as U.S. forces are on the ground and still able to maintain somewhat of a "green zone." In fact, when we look at the situation from the lens of the Fortune 500, we clearly see that the economic upper hand that has being maintained over European or Asian investors favors American business.