Here’s the Thing

No matter what deadline dates the Bush administration sets for itself regarding the war in Iraq, the dates will be pushed ahead, fudged and lied about ad infinitum. The criteria used for progress or success in Iraq will be lowered and changed ad infinitum. The definition of Al Qaeda, where it is and how effective it is will be changed according to the whim of the Bush administration ad infinitum. The standard used to gauge the effectiveness of the insurgents against US troops will be changed according to the Bush administration’s latest lies about the war in Iraq ad infinitum And the Bush administration will change and invent reasons why we attacked Iraq ad infinitum. It’s Lucy in the Peanuts cartoon. Lucy always pulled away the football just as Charlie Brown was going to kick it. That was Lucy’s unchanging and unchangeable modus operandi. And lying is the Bush administration's unchanging and unchangeable way of conducting itself. The only things we know for certain about the war in Iraq is that the Bush administration will lie. And we know 3,630 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq for no reason. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the cost of the war in Iraq is $8 to $10 billion a month. The CBO estimated the costs of the surge would be from $9 billion to $13 billion for a four-month deployment and from $20 billion to $27 billion for a 12-month deployment, The surge has not worked. The surge cannot work because the US soldiers and the ragtag Iraqi soldiers are fighting a civil war in Iraq. The New York Times reported this morning: “Ambassador Crocker cautioned the lawmakers that the series of 18 benchmarks set by Congress to define his assessment due Sept. 15 might not be the best measures of success in Iraq. And he strongly hinted that those specific goals may not be reached by the September deadline, anyway.” This kind of lying bullshit from the Bush administration will go on forever until US voters demand that it stop.