Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> Gary Mongiovi wrote:
>
> >a serious embarrassment to the administration
>
> Are they capable of feeling embarrassment? Has fear of embarrassment
> stopped them yet?
>
> The only plausible scenario for a U.S. exit that I can see is that
> the proverbial quagmire persists and deepens, with a constant stream
> of American casualties and rising political objections on the home
> front. But these fuckers could go on for months like this,
> proclaiming a light at the end of the tunnel.
A slight correction: "will [not could] go on for _years_ [not months]"
Otherwise, this is essentially correct, and the proper basis for left planning and action in the u.s.
At this time "we" (leftists, no matter how defined) can have no direct effect on u.s. policy. Rather, we must focus on the future -- on that point in time where the existence of a quagmire becomes obvious to a large minority of the population. It is at that point that mass protests (i.e.the only possible content of "rising political objections") combined with Iraqi resistance can force the government to find some (minimally) face-saving manner for withdrawing.
Note: We cannot _know_ whether or not the Iraq reisistance will prove politically and militarily capable of maintaining that quagmire, but we should assume that it will be. Otherwise, for the time being, the story of Iraq will be roughly the same as the story of the Philippines in the early 20th c., and what "we" do will have no particular effect on u.s. policy. So we have a present choice between certain futility both now and in the future and possible effectiveness in the future.
Carrol
P.S. I assume that Kerry was telling the truth and that his election would not have made a material difference in the outlook in the mideast.