Barack Obama’s Mission Accomplished Moment
By Larry Johnson on August 31, 2010 at 4:36 PM in Current Affairs
Who knew? George W. Bush and Barack Obama apparently are twin brothers. Bush played politics with Iraq and Barack, not to be outdone, is following suit. We all remember the flight-suit clad George Bush strutting around the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln just before he proclaimed “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” in Iraq. There was no reason other than politics to do that speech. At the time the Democrats were shitting themselves. Bush looked and acted the role of Commander in Chief. The Dems were certain that the Republicans would trot out those manly images of George W. Bush during the 2004 election. They did not understand that the actual failure to accomplish the mission in Iraq left intact Sunni and Shia insurgents who were not content to go quietly into that sweet night. Hell no! They were going to fight. And fight they did.
We come now to Barack Obama. Although the White House insists this is not a “Mission Accomplished” moment, there is no other possible interpretation. Once Barack completes his speech tonight he will take full ownership of Iraq. This is likely to be seen with the benefit of hindsight as one of the dumbest moves of the Obama Presidency. Why?
Tonight’s event is all about domestic politics and does nothing to alter the reality on the ground in Iraq. We still have more than 50,000 troops on the ground. We can pretend that they are not soldiers. Hell, we can call them clowns and imagine that they are servicing birthday parties as testosterone ladened entertainers. While we are at it we can also delude ourselves into believing that farts smell like roses. But pretending, imagining and fantasizing does not change reality. George W. Bush pretended, at least for a while, there was no such thing as an insurgency in Iraq. Anyone care to comment on how that little fantasy turned out?
So now Barack creates a new fantasy–the non-combat soldiers. How long will he be able to keep that boatload of crap floating? Six months from now U.S. soldier will still be dying from attacks in Iraq. They only way those attacks will cease is when every single U.S. soldier or marine is finally withdrawn from Iraq. But can we really withdraw forces in a year if the sectarian violence is escalating and Iran comes to the aid of the Shia majority? The most likely scenario in my view is that we will scamper out of Iraq as Iran spreads its visible influence in Iraq. This will foster the world perception of the United States as weak. Last time the Iranians thoroughly humiliated an American President there was a guy by the name of Jimmy Carter wandering the halls of the White House. Looks like Barack is well on his way to surpassing the lowlights of Carter. Go get ‘em kid.
With the economy imploding (we’re on the eve of another collapse that is likely to dwarf the events of September 2008) Barack has nothing better to do then do an Oval office speech that changes nothing on the ground in Iraq. His speech will not compel nor inspire the Iraqis to name a new government. The Iraqis have squandered five months, why not just keep on doing nothing? His speech will not persuade the Sunni terrorists to lay down their weapons and end all attacks. Nope!! Oh, and his speech will not convince the IRANIANS to withdraw their intelligence officers that are posted throughout Iraq.
Barack might as well put on a codpiece and strut around tonight in a pilots garb. His speech will win him the same kind of long term adulation that George W. Bush achieved with his ill-conceived speech on the Abraham Lincoln. The image of that speech came to haunt George W. The same is likely to happen to Barack Obama.
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