Yes very true, and before they ceded power (Roberts called the Congress part of the Executive Branch at his swearing-in... maybe the last [accidental] truth we hear from him) they ceded the debate.  There was no real debate in this nation as we went to war.  

Biden in August of 2002 (reported in Harper's) called war ''inevitable''.  Last week Jane Harman called for Zarqawi to be found (Osama?...  Osama?, al Zawahiri?) and called the taking of al Azzam "very big, important".

Supporting Bush...  

We're bombing bridges "to prevent the insurgents from using them".

We're bombing bridges "to free local citizens from the insurgents' campaign..."

Once the bridges are gone, can you still "turn the corner"?

Iron Fist, River Gate, Eternal Freedom all for Enduring War.

My own guess about the bridges is that we are (even more) utterly isolating the Sunni. We have nver hesitated to destroy infrastructure, people, light, water, power, freedom of movement, access to an ordinary life... the list is long.  

We do not even get the oil out... think of it... from small acorns of instability ("destabilisation"), mighty chaos grows...

Fisk of the Independent has always maintained we gamed Iraq for Civil War... which will be a handy reason not to abandon Iraq. Stay the new course, as soon as they "manufacture consent" with the American people to forget the wretched history of several years.

And the Democrats last best idea is to run against Bush, in 2002 they were going to take down Bush "one at a time".  Wiser to watch him, he knows he does not have to run again.  Day after day he makes this clear.  And he holds power.  LOL The Democrats decline to really look at him, really oppose him....  

I see Bush as outcome... The nation would have to look very deep, far beyond '06, '08, '10, '12... to fix itself.  

They're setting up a Shi'a / Kurd confederacy, and have given up on the Sunnis.

"Whenever a Voice of Moderation addresses liberals, its sole purpose is to stomp out any real sign of life." - James Wolcott

This is the sort of thing that gives credence to the theories many of us had from the beginning about this not being the sort of war that BushCo intended to "win", at least not in the traditional sense of the word. Many of us believed, from the beginning, that precisely this kind of chaos was among the primary goals of the invasion.

I wonder if there will ever come a time when people will realize that we were right. Because friends, let me tell you, did you think they hated us when they thought we were wrong? Just wait until they realize we've been right all along -- no matter which side of the political aisle they're on, arrogant people who do poor analysis resent that way more.

It's sad, it's crazy, it's a hell we've been led into.  If someone told me tomorrow that George Bush was a secret Chinese agent sent to destroy the US from within I'd be half inclined to believe him.

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward. Franklin D. Roosevelt

Nearly 3 years in.

oofer saw your query and sent this to me (he is not registered at BMT, he does post at Dkos under "oofer") as answer.  He served on the ground in Vietnam and in Afghanistan and is retired from the mil.

I am not registered at Booman  Tribune, but I wanted to respond to sbj about his question whether we have artillery assets in Iraq.

First a bit of background. In Vietnam, at least in Northern I Corps, we had magnificent artillery. They could place salvos or single shots with dead accuracy most of the time. And the coverage was a huge umbrella for the infantry. A life saver. We could bombard a target or a position day in and day out. This is before we had GPS positioning, although we did use LORAN and forward artillery spotters.

IN Iraq, the total opposite is the case. We have only the lightest artillery in spots. They rely on the tank and bradley. and without the benefit of support from the pentagon. In fact, Rummy believes that the 'old style' tactics are not useful. Too heavy, too expensive to defend.

The result of this is our troops are out on these roads on their own. They might be lucky enough to have a gunship escort but most times not. Contrast this with how Rummy or the Generals move around. The have this magic blanket of gunships, fighter escort, and move in a bubble. Out troops have almost none of this.

One more thing, the incompetence of our current leadership just won't permit proper tactics. They truly just doesn't care about the troops. The insanity of 'training up' Iraqis to fight Iraqis while we are there is just mind blowing. We tried this in Vietnam, you will remember, and it never, ever worked. We are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nothing we do will mitigate the indefensible position we are in. We could commit our whole armed force and not succeed. That time has passed long ago. Arguably it never existed.

There is only one answer to Iraq and that is a political one. A political solution that does not include the US. We have bluffed and lost. Lost badly and damaged our national well being in the bargain.