Distracted by irrelevance

This current domestic tactics by the administration on Iraq is to distract and mislead. The strategic goal being served by these tactics is simply to keep as many troops on the ground as possible, with the ultimate aim of handing over the conflict to someone else, preferably someone who will also continue the occupation indefinitely. It's that simple.

To accomplish these ends, the administration must constantly move the goalposts: When one goal doesn't pan out, switch to another. Six months ago security was terrible, so the goal became political progress. Today political progress is stagnant or deteriorating, so they shift back to a rhetorical focus on security. Because security hasn't actually improved, the numbers have to be fudged, which appears to be no problem for our current leadership.

And now the reality-based community has to spend time, effort, and attention repudiating this mendacity, so the fight is over numbers instead of strategy. The key question for this month is not whether violence is up or down, not whether three or five of the eighteen benchmarks have been accomplished, not the latest casualty numbers. It's whether our national security and foreign policy is improved and advanced by our presence in Iraq.

The answer is an unequivocal, firm, resounding No. It's just that simple. Of course it's important to counter the falsehoods, and examine the facts on the ground, and check out all of those details. It's also important to remember why we fight, and this conflict does not meet the qualifications.