Ten years ago, even Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had gone wobbly and endorsed the pleadings of top U.S. Army generals who told Congress publicly that it would be folly to insert still more U.S. troops into the Baghdad area in 2007. The generals were insisting, sensibly, that top Iraqi politician shed their corrupt colleagues and be told in no uncertain terms to create workable power sharing arrangements between Shia and Sunni, in order to tamp down the violence of 2006-07.
Bush and Cheney, fearing this might bring clear collapse in Baghdad on their watch, fired Rumsfeld and the generals. Instead, Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus were recruited to lead a benighted – but widely touted – “surge” of 30,000 additional U.S. troops into and around Baghdad. In a typical reflection of the myopia that reigns in Washington, Obama eventually bowed to the media myths about the “successful surge,” after criticizing it earlier. Predictably, the ill-fated operation left almost 1,000 U.S. troops dead, and countless Iraqis also dead or wounded. Will Obama follow the Bush/Cheney precedent and try something similar to prevent his having to leave office after “losing Iraq.” Plus ca change ….?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbfLTu_W7zI&feature=youtu.be
(8 minutes)