Troop drawdowns to start in 2006

(See here) an MSNBC report on Donald Rumsfeld's announcement, during a visit to troops in Iraq, that the drawdown will start. Please note that the planned drawdown is in addition to withdrawal of the additional troops which were present for the election.

If I was not certain that the message did not come from "the Administration" instead of coming from Donald I would almost start thinking Donald had a few brain cells (other then confused ones) in that noggin of his.

But I like the leadership. The Dubyah Administration is finally starting to deal with reality. They are starting to say something other then "stay the course" forever. They are starting to realize that while we (and for certain they - they being the administration) might not be happy with what we leave behind us when we withdraw, we are going to be forced to live with it.

Of course this withdrawal which is not on a time-table (don't accuse them of a time-table or who knows what will happen) is not for certain. If things start getting worse, and the Iraqi people still ask us for help, we can reverse it.

My question is, what will Dubyah do if things start getting worse and the Iraqi people, as represented by the duly elected Iraqi government still tells us to get the hell out?

Hey, Dubyah still seems consumed by optimism. While he is willing to admit he led us into Iraq based upon faulty intelligence, he says the fault for the mistakes does not lead to the Oval Office. Back when he was leading us in, he said he could not share what he knew because it would endanger national security. If only he had shared. Perhaps the American people could have helped him interpret the intelligence so that he would not have misinterpreted it so badly!

But bygones are bygones. I guess I am not supposed to wonder if the guy who led us into where we should not have been, now that we are in there, has the correct leadership to lead us out?

I'm still wondering. But with what Rumsfeld has stated recently over there in Iraq, I think maybe Dubyah is starting to realize he needs to listen up. He might even start listening to them "damn Democrats" as he tries to not become another failure of a President from Texas like LBJ.

As long as Dubyah sees light at the end of the tunnel I might be willing to follow him. I do not fault our troops because they only follow the Commander-In-Chief. They can only go where their leaders order them. But where did Harry Truman say the buck stops?

We should not have gotten involved in Iraq, and indeed our national aspirations may have been thwarted by this involvement. Of course "your" judgment will be colored by just what exactly you think our national aspirations are.

But no matter what you believe, "Dubyah's folly" can not be called a success, even if he manages to somehow not turn it from disaster. When I look into my crystal ball, when it comes to Iraq, I do not see anything I would define as success.