Vanity's Fair?

"Even though I disagree with this escalation, I am hoping that General Petraeus succeeds in calming down Baghdad."

Someone asked if I could make this statement. Actually, he made a great many accusations against the left, in general, and progressives, directly, and asked if any of us could make that statement. Well, of course I can make this statement. But I am forced to clarify it a bit when I say it.

I am hoping that the situation calms down. Do I have any hopes that a General might be helpful in doing this? I have no faith in any militant's ability to calm a violent situation down. Additionally, being that I agree with Jack Murtha's assessment that US troops are the inspiration for and target of most of the violence in Baghdad, I have serious doubts about pouring more fuel into an already burning fire.

Historically speaking, troop surges are not an effective way to turn the momentum of any war. Viet Nam taught us that lesson, but let's just ignore that lesson and go with one Bush might be more likely to have noticed:

The German troop surge known as "The Battle of the Bulge". Inadequately armored, poorly supplied troops rushed into losing position can not turn the tide of a war destined for failure. Sometimes it is best to just admit failure and save some lives. Who's honor are we defending with these extra casualties? Bush's? He has no honor to defend. America's? That honor was stained by this war. Continuing it will do nothing more than increase the stain with the blood of more of our youth. So with that in mind, I guess I can not honestly say, "Even though I disagree with this escalation, I am hoping that General Petraeus succeeds in calming down Baghdad."

But I can say, "I am hoping the situation in Baghdad calms down and that there is an end to this insanity, soon."