The Slowest Of Learning Curves

I'm so glad I took the time to write this down. These were the remarks by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in response to a question by Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) last week:

I think that they probably know that we are considering a timetable, but it’s not a calendar timetable, it’s based on conditions on the ground. It’s based on the pace at which we’re successful, in training and equipping their forces. And I must say - having a Senator from Michigan or Wisconsin saying what you’re saying is not a problem. Switching it over and having it said directly by the President of the United States to them, it seems to me runs the risk of playing into the internal political dynamics that are going on, because there are people in that mix who don’t want us there right now. Let’s face it, the Iranians don’t want us there, and the Iranians have a lot of influence in that situation. They have a lot of people they talk to and so forth. And I don’t think the idea of strengthening the hand of those people who do not wish the Iraqi people well is a good idea for the President.

We're 3 years into this war and still hearing this crap? Our Secretary of Defense either lacks a basic understanding of what's happening over there, has completely lost his mind, or has a serious problem with telling the truth. Last week, when he said those words, the planning for today's operation must have already been underway. He was telling the Senate that in the internal political dynamics of Iraq, it's the Iranians who don't want us there, while at the same time planning to overwhelmingly side with the pro-Iranian Shiite government against Sunni insurgents. It's truly stunning how incompetent that man is.

Since the beginning, this war has been a blessing for the conservative Iranian leadership. The theocratic movement in Iran is built on the view that America is an untrustable enemy. They've been happy as hell to have us in Iraq, reinforcing those old stereotypes. It single-handedly enabled them to rebuild their support and reverse their decline in popularity throughout the 90s.

Iran has had a strange long-running divide between its conservative leadership and the general public. Despite a long list of officially mandated social restrictions, Iran has had a large and vibrant counterculture for years now. But with the return to fire and brimstone among the folks in power, the hopes of many Iranians to live in a more liberalized society are really fading and taking its toll. That, along with an increased supply of the booming opium harvests from next door, Iran now has over 3 million heroin addicts.

Considering that our main military focus in Afghanistan is eradicating the opium harvest, and our main military focus in Iraq is defeating the Sunni insurgents who threaten the central government, the Iranians may be the only people in the Middle East who want us there right now.

UPDATE: You've got to be kidding me. According to Christopher Albritton, the operation launched near Samarra was mostly a media stunt.