Chasing our Tails in Iraq

This morning's Washington Post on General Lute and his strategy:

As operations director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lute was a leading skeptic of the troop increase during the review that led to Bush's new strategy in January, according to some sources close to the process, but he reflected a consensus among senior officers that it would produce a temporary benefit, at best. "Almost across the board, almost all the chiefs, certainly the Army chief, the Centcom commander, Doug Lute, the in-country commander, none of them wanted to do the surge," said retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey. "Everybody told the president, 'Don't do it.' "

Even now, insiders said, Lute remains dubious -- not of the military's ability to perform but because the requisite political reforms and economic development in Iraq have not happened. One priority in his new assignment, they said, will be to hammer away at civilian agencies, particularly the State Department, to do more to revitalize the Iraqi economy, provide jobs, demobilize militias and give Iraqis hope for the future.

Ok, so finally we have someone in charge who understands that a political strategy must be about more than military coercion. Leaving aside for the moment the immoral, mendacious, and legally dubious invasion which got us into this situation, General Lute's multi-pronged political strategy might have been a viable approach to stabilizing Iraq, say, four years ago. But that ship has sailed, Elvis has left the building, the horse is gone and it's a little late to think about how to get the State Department involved in trying to close the barn door. Most Iraqis now support attacks on Americans and want us out, which means that the occupation authorities will not be able to provide security for these civilian agencies as they try to win back some Iraqi hearts and minds. Hell, they can't even provide security for the troops who are supposed to be providing security.

So here is Uncle Sam at this late date chasing his tail in Iraq, hoping to gain greater security by winning hearts and minds; when in actuality he won't be able to win hearts and minds without greater security, and that's not happening because we're four years into this debacle, we've callously and stupidly inflicted enormous suffering upon these people, and as a direct result we've long since lost their hearts and minds. But, maybe if we just chase that tail one more time around...

It's cute when kittens and puppies do it, it's something else altogether when people are losing their lives every day we delay ending the occupation.

UPDATE:
Juan Cole links to this McClatchy (formerly Knight-Ridder) report on the acute safety fears of civilian embassy staffers even inside the fortified Green Zone. Perhaps General Lute will organize motivational seminars to persuade them of the importance of venturing outside the fortress to shake hands, kiss babies, and impress upon the Iraqis their great good fortune at being the beneficiaries of Uncle Sam's goodwill.