As originally seen on BccList.com here and within the comments of the post here, I don’t understand how anyone – including our next president (a democrat from Illinois) – can state the surge has “worked.”
Bluntly, the United States of America is fcked for years to come. Inflation, the value of the dollar, and national debt have reached a tipping point. Granted the inflation/dollar devaluation troubles can be fixed relatively quickly with a few interest rate hikes. But, the national debt isn’t going away for some time.
Clearly stating, we are broke as a joke domestically. The Iraq “war,” subsequent surge, and tax rebate checks has China – our “credit card” company – holding us by the balls and I can assure you they’re ready to squeeze at any given time.
Bridges are falling because states are broke and can’t “waste” money on bridge inspections. The U.S. Highway Trust Fund is going broke. People are losing their houses at an unheard pace. Consumer debt has skyrocketed. Workers can’t afford to travel to work.
But, the surge “worked” because violence is down in Iraq after the last few months – which, by the way, is a horrible subset of data. Furthermore, the decrease in violence can’t be solely attributed to us dropping way more money than anticipated via the surge on this unauthorized “war” – see pre surge Anbar Awakening. Doesn’t make sense to me.
Bcc:List.com 
The surge has worked to achieve a more dominant presence in securing Iraq, in anticipation of handing over something as ‘manageable’ as we can make it to the Iraqi people. Certainly, the points you bring up about the economy are true, however they are not relevant in determining if the surge was ‘successful’ or not. It is a great arguement to another issue, not the issue of what is working in Iraq or not. The American people, largely due to the liberal media, do not have the stomach to endure a war, let alone one that has lasted for so long.
I am not attempting to legitamize the length of the war, but in war, regardless of the philosophy behind its start, is still war…long, bloody, and EXTREMELY unpleasant to say the least.
While the economy is tanked and inflation is out of control, and our national debt is off the charts, all these things have nothing to do with ‘the surge’s success or failure’. And, it has been a success…American leaders are now discussing an exit strategy from Iraq instead of merely saying that we will stay the course. Of course we can’t leave today or tomorrow, but great strides, thanks to the surge, are ensuring that the end is in sight of our Iraq conflict, which in turn allow America to focus on Afghanistan and bring Bin Laden and his croanies to justice.
I will reiterate – it is impossible to say the surge “worked” when we’re going broke domestically. It’s like saying a man that remains in a coma on life support is healed because his heart – which stopped ticking at one point – has begun beating again.
P.S. Don’t you think it would have been money better spent by going after bin laden first and then dealing with Iraq – via a worldwide coalition after all the “facts” were gathered – after we brought the ultimate terrorist to justice? Maybe we wouldn’t have to fund the “war” solely on American taxpayer’s back and a surge would never have been needed.
Mismanagement at its best and now voters are actually considering 4 more years of the last 8. WTF?
Absolutely, that would have been a great idea. I think that even President Bush wishes now that he would have completed the hunt for Bin Laden first, then settled old scores. I understand what you’re saying, I just don’t see how your argument relates. Certainly, contemporary events, spending on foreign wars, and a global economy run by oil speculators when coupled together with a massive national debt provides us with our current situation economically speaking. The fact remains that militarily speaking, the surge has been a success, in providing an opportunity to pull troops from Iraq, thus decreasing the monetary obligations of running the additional war, thus saving tax payer money, so that Congress can figure out a way to squander these funds.
I think the bottom line is: we could save a million dollars, we could save a billion, hell we could save a trillion dollars, and Congress and the President would figure out a way to piss it away.
I look forward to bring our troops home, saving those lives, building up our military to the level it should be, and turning the screws on Congress by voting them out and putting people in office who care how money is spent. As a conservative, I am disapointed with Bush’s spending, however Congress is right there with him.
I say we vote them all out and send ‘non-career’ politicans to Washington that will think about domestic issues. A strong military buildup is necessary to ensure that we have the luxury to do such a thing.