Newsletter No. 483
Editorial-Opinion
January 13, 2007

 

THE TOKYO TIME WARP -- 2003 OR 2007?
By Michael Penn

Here’s what they are saying in Washington about President Bush’s new plan:

“I am opposed to the escalation of American involvement in Iraq, including more U.S. troops. This is a dangerously wrong-headed strategy that will drive America deeper into an unwinnable swamp at a great cost. It is wrong to place American troops into the middle of Iraq’s civil war. It is not in America’s national interest to increase our troop presence in Iraq. The President’s strategy will cost more American lives, sink us deeper into the bog of Iraq making it more difficult to get out, cost billions of dollars more, further strain an American military that has already reached its breaking point, further diminish America’s standing in the Middle East, and continue to allow the Iraqis to walk away from their responsibilities. The fate of Iraq will be determined by the Iraqis -- not the Americans. We have already given four years, thousands of lives, and hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to Iraq. We cannot escape the reality that there will be no military solution in Iraq.”

Chuck Hagel
Republican Senator from Nebraska
January 10, 2007

“The problem is not only military, not only political, it's also historical. There is such a thing as historical relevance. The fact is, the American effort in Iraq is essentially a colonial effort. We're waging a colonial war. We live in the post-colonial era. This war cannot be won because it is simply out of sync with historical times.”

Zbigniew Brzezinski
Former National Security Adviser of the United States
January 11, 2007

And here’s what they are saying in Tokyo about President Bush’s new plan:

“The Japanese government supports the announcement as the further efforts by the U.S. toward the stabilization of Iraq… Japan will continue to discuss and work closely with the U.S.”

Yasuhisa Shiozaki
Chief Cabinet Secretary
January 11, 2007

“President George W. Bush announced a change in the U.S. strategy in Iraq. The Government of Japan considers that this announcement is indeed a further effort of the U.S. Government towards the stabilization of Iraq. Japan strongly hopes that the U.S. efforts for the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq will be promoted in an effective manner, bringing about good outcomes. Japan intends to continue closely consulting and cooperating with the U.S.”

Taro Aso
Foreign Minister of Japan
January 11, 2007

It really astounds me that even at this late, late hour in the American adventure in Iraq, Japanese leaders still cannot read the writing on the wall. Is the message somehow “lost in translation”? Does the wall itself have to collapse on their heads before they finally wake up and realize what has happened?

Here’s the message: The Americans have already lost in Iraq -- very badly.

Yes, true enough -- President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, their immediate staff, some die-hard neocons, and the most ignorant and bigotted rump of the Republican Party are still not willing to admit defeat. But it really is over. Even the mainstream of the American political establishment -- Republicans and Democrats -- know it.

But even now the Japanese government spokesmen are speaking of their “hyoka” (positive evaluation) of the President’s new plan.

And what are they debating about in Tokyo as the ship goes down? They are debating whether the ASDF mission in Iraq should be extended for one year past July 2007, or two? Explained a government official to the Asahi Shinbun: “Because of North Korea's nuclear test, Northeast Asia is currently in a tense situation… Under such circumstances, we must support the United States, which is facing difficulties (in Iraq). That is the relationship of allied countries. Diplomatically, there is no choice but to extend the law.”

Compare this official’s remarks with those of Seiji Maehara at the Center for Strategic and International Studies back in February 2003: “As the problems of development of nuclear weapons capability by North Korea deepens, there is a feeling in Japan that we have no choice but to cooperate with the United States on the issue of Iraq.”

Four years of stupidity and disaster and outrage in Iraq, and the Japanese government has not even made a single logical move forward between 2003 and 2007 -- How pathetic!

 

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EDITORIAL: MORE U.S. TROOPS TO IRAQ
By the Asahi Shinbun

U.S. President George W. Bush's speech, broadcast live from the White House on Wednesday, triggered memories of President Richard M. Nixon decades ago. At that time, Nixon also announced an expansion of a war front, claiming that it was needed to bring the quagmire in Vietnam to a conclusion.

"Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility lies with me," Bush conceded. He did not, however, mention any timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq. On the contrary, the president outlined a policy of adding more than 20,000 new troops to the 130,000 or so American military personnel already committed to that nation.

The plan calls for stationing the additional forces in Baghdad and other areas where security has seriously deteriorated. The logic follows that this will deal a stiff blow to the "enemy," thereby turning the tide and paving the way to withdrawal.

As the man responsible for waging war against Iraq, Bush must certainly find it difficult to swallow the concept of defeat. However, in the U.S. midterm elections last November, voters effectively rejected the Bush administration's Iraq policy by handing the Democratic Party a major victory.

The Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel formed by Congress and led by former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III and other political heavyweights, has also proposed sweeping Iraq policy revisions on the premise of a phased troop withdrawal.

Bush's latest decision, therefore, flies directly in the face of such public opinion. The U.S. military commanders overseeing the strategy in Iraq also expressed skepticism about the wisdom of sending in more troops. Bush reacted by replacing them with other handpicked generals and plowed ahead with this latest policy choice.

We believe that this troop reinforcement is a huge gamble.

In retrospect, the Bush administration has beefed up troops in Iraq three times to date. Each of these buildups, however, failed to generate lasting effects. It now appears that the president is intent on saying that this latest move represents the final chance for success.

The past four years have told us that Iraq cannot be resuscitated through military might alone. There are aspects of the very presence of U.S. troops that continue to worsen the situation there. Will Bush continue to close his eyes to this reality? We fear that more troops will only increase the carnage and plunge the region into deeper disorder.

There is a desire to somehow bring stability to the lives of the people of Iraq, who now cower under the daily threats of terrorism and reprisals. We certainly share Bush's hope for such progress.

What is occurring in Iraq today, however, is a colossal state of turmoil and chaos brought on by decades of dictatorship and war. This is a far cry from the battle for democracy and liberty that Bush is fond of talking up.

Bush also shows no signs of backing down from his stated refusal to negotiate with Iran or Syria, an idea proposed in the Iraq Study Group Report. Though constructive engagement with these and other neighboring countries is critical for Iraq's stability, Bush has closed his eyes to this truth as well.

In his speech, Bush also expressed the policy of carrying on diplomatic efforts to broker a Middle East peace agreement and make other improvements. Yet, with almost all Arab countries opposed to Washington's current Iraq policy, makeshift measures are unlikely to make a convincing case for improving the desperate situation in Iraq.

In the Vietnam War, the United States was eventually forced to make an ignominious withdrawal. We fear that the Bush administration is heading down the same sorry road in Iraq.