Kissinger says Iraq military win impossible

[ITPjohn]

I agree with him. It's sad that Washington is looking at alternatives only after the election.

Kissinger: Iraq military win impossible - Yahoo! News

Kissinger: Iraq military win impossible
By TARIQ PANJA, Associated Press Writer
Mon Nov 20, 12:44 AM ET

Military victory is no longer possible in Iraq, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said in a television interview broadcast Sunday.

Kissinger presented a bleak vision of Iraq, saying the U.S. government must enter into dialogue with Iraq's regional neighbors — including Iran — if progress is to be made in the region.

"If you mean by 'military victory' an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.

But Kissinger, an architect of the Vietnam war who has advised President Bush about Iraq, warned against a rapid withdrawal of coalition troops, saying it could destabilize Iraq's neighbors and cause a long-lasting conflict.

"A dramatic collapse of Iraq — whatever we think about how the situation was created — would have disastrous consequences for which we would pay for many years and which would bring us back, one way or another, into the region," he said.

Kissinger, whose views have been sought by the Iraqi Study Group, led by former Secretary of State James Baker III, called for an international conference bringing together the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, Iraq's neighbors — including Iran — and regional powers like India and Pakistan to work out a way forward for the region.

"I think we have to redefine the course, but I don't think that the alternative is between military victory, as defined previously, or total withdrawal," he said.

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

 

[ITPjohn]

More bad news about the war

This report doesn't suprise me. We will still be in the Middle East long after W. leaves Washington. What will the price in blood be when it's over?

'War on terror' could last 30 years or more - Yahoo! News

'War on terror' could last 30 years or more
Mon Nov 20, 4:32 PM ET

The fight against terrorism could last 30 years or more, according to a report published by a British think tank that specialises in international security.

"There is every prospect of the 'war on terror' extending for 30 years or more," said the report by the Oxford Research Group.

"What is required is a complete re-assessment of current policies but that is highly unlikely, even with the recent political upheavals".

The US Democrats triumphed in legislative elections on November 7 in which they reclaimed the House and the Senate, at the expense of President George W. Bush's Republicans.

"Most people believe that the recent elections mark the beginning of the end of the Bush era but that does not apply to the war on terror," said Professor Paul Rogers, who wrote the report, in a statement.

"In reality there will be little change until the United States faces up to the need for a fundamental re-think of its policies".

The report showed that the United States is now faced with a dilemma: if it withdraws from Iraq, insurgent groups will be able to operate freely in the biggest oil reserve in the world.

"If it stays, though, then US soldiers become an increasing magnet for radical factions, with Iraq becoming a training ground for new generations of paramilitaries, just as Afghanistan was in the 1980s against the Soviet occupying forces," the report said.

It said that the "fundamental mistake" was to remove the regime of president Saddam Hussein by force, which was a "gift" for Al-Qaeda and extremist groups because the deployment of 150,000 US soldiers in the heart of the Arab world is considered by many to be "an occupation force".

At the same time, the war in Afghanistan, that has so far lasted six years, has seen "a marked increase in Taliban activity at a time of record revenues from opium production" and the insurgency there "shows no sign of ending".

The importance of oil in the region "means that it would be entirely unacceptable for the United States to consider withdrawal from Iraq, no matter how insecure the environment".

Professor Rogers has since May 2005 been studying the situation in Iraq and its impact on other countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and the Middle East.

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.


Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

 

[operatorally]

Do note though that Kissinger is a war criminal, though this seems to be the only reasonable analysis I've ever heard from him...

 

[VamPyroX]

We will never win a war with Iraq. Most of those who are fighting against us in Iraq are martyrs. They're like the Energizer Bunny... going and going.