Last week the Iraq Study Group finished reviewing conditions in Iraq and issued a statement that the “situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating”. It is a pessimistic review, but it sounds realistic to me, based on other, independent information coming out of the war-torn country. Now it is up to President Bush to step up, admit that things are not going well and chart a new, more productive course for our military engagement in the middle-East.

The December 8th issue of the Pueblo Chieftain printed an AP article by Terence Hunt titled “Bush gives chilly response to Iraq report”. Never one to give in to negative thinking, the President appeared reluctant to grasp the seriousness of the situation. The President is quoted as saying, “I thought we would succeed quicker than we did. And I am disappointed by the pace of success.”

Well, aren’t we all!

But just stop a minute and think about that phrase–”disappointed by the pace of success.” I’m sure we can all find new opportunities to trot out that phrase.

“Sorry, Bob, we’re going to have to give you the opportunity to find employment elsewhere. We just aren’t happy with the pace of your success at our company.”

“But Mom, those F’s don’t mean anything. I’m just not succeeding as quickly as the teacher thinks I should.”

How many more lost lives and how much more money will be spent on Iraqi Liberation before we can admit that our invasion and our policies have not been successful? How much more misery can we inflict before we recognize that “not succeeding” means that we are failing? In my humble opinion, the first step to turning things around is to take a good hard look at where we are, at the mistakes we have made and then begin to do things differently.

I seriously hope that the leadership of the United States will face the facts and take the necessary steps to allow us to find some measure of success for Iraq.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 10th, 2006 at 6:13 pm and is filed under General Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.