U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq

U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq

So here's what thousand of Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis have died for:

"'We set out to establish a democracy, but we're slowly realizing we will have some form of Islamic republic,' said another U.S. official familiar with policymaking from the beginning, who like some others interviewed would speak candidly only on the condition of anonymity. 'That process is being repeated all over.'"

The really interesting thing about the Sheehan standoff is it's become the first rhetorically successful peace statement of the post-Vietnam era. The "support the troops" tactic, as perfected in Gulf War I, has stymied any kind of effective argument. Back in `91 I was a journalist, and one of the more unsubtle pro-war counter-demonstraters spelled it out: "You can't support the troops and oppose the war." When you have to start your argument for peace by backpedaling, you're already in retreat.

I myself make no pretense: in an era of an all-volunteer military, I hold everyone in the armed forces complicit. Self-righteous from my middle-class high horse, I know, but I DON'T support the troops or pretend to. I also know that's an extreme minority position. But here's: here's the attitude that we're fed as supposedly representing the military family:

"Most families encourage the president to stay the course in Iraq. 'To oppose something my husband lost his life for would be a betrayal,' says Inge Colton, whose husband, Shane, died in April 2004 when his Apache helicopter was shot down over Baghdad."

Or, as I see it, it's psychologically intolerable for survivors to admit their loved ones have died in vain: for a 9/11 "connection" based on lies, for WMDs that never existed, and for the establisment of an Islamic republic that will be worse than Saddam for many Iraqis.

What Sheehan has done is, through her own combination of ethos and pathos, broken the thin green line of the military families and addressed that "support the troops" issue that is so important to everyone but me, making it rhetorically acceptable to challenge the war, challenge the policy, without anyone being able to successfully (despite lots of effort) attack her patriotism. And she has backed Bush into a no-win corner. The challenge now is to take that momentum and build it into a broader peace movement.

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