America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced.

Lest we forget, here are the benchmarks…
1. Perform constitutional review.
2. Enact de-Ba’athification reform.
3. Implement oil legislation.
4. Form semi-autonomous regions.
5. Hold provincial elections.
6. Address amnesty.
7. Disarm militias.
8. Establish support for Baghdad Security Plan.
9. Provide military support in Baghdad.
10. Empower Iraqi Security Forces.
11. Ensure impartial law enforcement.
12. Establish support for Baghdad Security Plan by Maliki government.
13. Reduce sectarian violence.
14. Establish neighborhood security in Baghdad.
15. Increase independent Iraqi Security Forces.
16. Ensure minority rights in Iraqi legislature.
17. Distribute Iraqi resources equitably.
18. Keep Iraqi Security Forces free from partisan interference.
Fifteen months later we are no closer to meeting these benchmarks than the day the “SURGE” started three Friedman Units ago. Well then, what was the purpose of the surge you ask? Bush/Cheney/McCain have changed the goal post so many times it is hard to remember. Which is exactly what they are hoping for.
The ORIGINAL excuse purpose of the surge was to provide the “breathing space” for political reconciliation to occur. Yet three Friedman Units 18 months later, political progress has been scant, and what progress has been made is not durable. The Iraqis have not made the difficult political compromises necessary for national reconciliation, and an indefinite U.S. presence in the region will not inspire them to do so. Despite the best efforts of our military men and women in creating a temporary lull in violence, substantial advancement toward a sustainable and independent Iraq has not been made.
The only success has been that slight but temporary decrease in violence in Iraq. But even that has less to do with the SURGE and more to do with the temporary cease fire called by Moktada al-Sadr and the Mahdi Army AND the briefcases full of money we give to the various militias each month so they don’t attack us.
This is progress? We are no better off now then we were in 2005. The real questions Petraeus needs to answer..
1. Have the results of the SURGE been worth the lives of the 1000 Americans who died during this time?
2. Have the results of the SURGE been worth the 120 Billion dollars it has cost?
3. Have the results of the SURGE been worth the crippling of our military infrastructure?
4. Is the Iraq government any closer to meeting the benchmarks NOW than 2 years ago?
THE ANSWER TO ALL 4 QUESTIONS IS NO
But do you really think Bush, Cheney, McCain and Petraeus give a damn?

Technorati Tags: Benchmarks, Bush lies, Friedman Unit, Iraq, Petraeus, Surge

We think we won’t know that we’ve reached a turning point until we’re six months past it. We have repeatedly said that there ARE no lights at the end of the tunnel that we’re seeing. We’re certainly not dancing in the end zone or anything like that.

These six months appear to be never-ending, and are used by the right wing to constantly beg more time for the war.

TOM FRIEDMAN: It might be over in a week, it might be over in a month, it might be over in six months, but what’s the rush? Can we let this play out, please? [NPR, 6/3/04]

DICK CHENEY: I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency. [Larry King Live, 5/30/05]

JOE LIEBERMAN (I-CT): By the end of this year, we will begin to draw down significant numbers of American troops. [Washington Post, 7/7/06]

JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ): If you talk to most military experts, we’re in a critical and crucial time. We’re either going to lose this thing or win this thing within the next several months. [Meet The Press, 11/12/06]

ZALMAY KHALILZAD: Iraq Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki "has a window of a couple months. … If the perception is that this unity government is not able to deal with this issue, then a big opportunity would have been lost. [Washington Post, 9/30/06]

Gen. DAVID PETRAEUS: The top American commander in Iraq, has recommended that decisions on the contentious issue of reducing the main body of the American troops in Iraq be put off for six months, American officials said Sunday." –"Delay Decision on Cuts, General Says," [The New York Times, Sept. 10, 2007]

With timelines like these, U.S. troops might actually be stuck in Iraq for a million years.
Story Here
[tags]Iraq, War, Surge, Petraeus, Friedman Unit [/tags]