The Many Logics of Iraq

The first logic was WMD + terrorists, but it turns out that one wasn’t reality based. It was quickly replaced by the second logic of flypaper, which, whether you like it or not, worked like a charm “Mission Accomplished”. Unfortunately, turning Iraq into a terrorist heaven didn’t really square with turning Iraq into a Democracy, which is the third logic. Thus, flypaper has since evolved into an accompanying fourth logic (that’s 3 and 4 together for those of you losing track) which boils down to fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them here? So that’s 4 total logics by my count, two casualties of war, and the other two on life support.

So it’s 2:00 a.m. and the BBC’s news summary includes a bit about Cheney saying that Iraqi insurgents are stepping up violence in an effort to influence midterm elections. I’m first struck by the tactical idiocy of Cheney defining an almost certain victory for the insurgents. Not ultimate victory, but one of those “benchmarks”. If Democrats win the House and/or the Senate, the various groups vying for power in Iraq can do better than say they had a hand in it, they can quote Cheney saying they had a hand in it.

In a war where propaganda is so very important, you’d think the Commander-in-Chief would be loathed to script talking points for the “enemy”. When dealing with an insurgency you’d think the Commander-in-Chief would check his rhetoric for duel uses before spouting it. When your decisions cost lives you’d think regrets would teach you something. You’d think.

But I digress. There’s a fifth logic I’d neglected to mention. It’s different than the others in that it’s not currently, nor has it ever been shared by anyone in the Bush Administration. It says the Iraq war has been a boondoggle from the beginning. It first grounds itself in the failings and inconsistencies of logics 1 through 4, as well as the incompetence of the Bush Administration throughout. It then turn to the here and now, reviews the facts/realities at hand, and draws its conclusion.

Take this month’s death toll in Iraq (102 at the time I’m writing this post). Rather than ignore this number, the fifth logic takes it into account. The fifth logic concludes that 102 dead US soldiers is a sign we’re winning the war on terror in Iraq. The fifth logic doesn’t discount Cheney’s claim that insurgents in Iraq have planned ahead and increased violence in an effort to get Democrats elected. Rather, it considers it a possibility, and again concludes that if that is in fact the case, it is a sign we’re winning the war on terror in Iraq. How is that? Well, an insurgent and a terrorist are two different things. Up till now, the terrorist’s logic of keeping American bogged down and bleeding in Iraq has ruled the day. But if the new goal is to get America out of Iraq, it’s not the terrorist’s logic that has changed, but the ruling logic that has changed. And whose logic has overwhelmed the terrorist’s in Iraq? The insurgent’s logic. The insurgents want us out. And last I checked, the insurgents are Iraqis. In short, if Cheney is right, Bush is getting what he asked for, Iraqis taking charge of their country, control of their future. If you think that’s a worthy goal, vote Democrat.