Time’s been short for the past few days, but these items merit comment:
**Rep. John Murtha’s call for troop withdrawal: I approve, with a sigh. Responsible writers like Spencer Ackerman at TNR have been calling for withdrawal for some time. It has to be done. But I tremble for the Iraqi people. On “Meet the Press,” Murtha dodged some tough and entirely pertinent questions from Tim Russert, including one about a potential post-pullout bloodbath perpetrated by Al-Qaedaists and Baathists. Murtha replied lamely, noting Iraq’s long history of civilization. That doesn’t cut it. The truth, as I see it, is that we’re screwed and the Iraqis are screwed. A U.S. pullout is correct and in any case inevitable, but it could well result in a bloodbath and total societal breakdown. And withdrawal will bolster Al-Qaeda’s richly documented view that the U.S. is a paper tiger. We’ll be more vulnerable to attack in the future, as Frank Rich suggested in his Sunday NYT column. Conclusion: War a mistake, “staying the course” futile. And failure–the worst-case scenario–seems to be upon us.
**It’s a bloodbath already, of course. Two Shia mosques bombed in Khanaqin on 11/19, right in the midst of Friday prayers. Zarqawi’s forces cannot sink any lower.
**Speaking of which, George Galloway recently made his second trip to Damascus to flatter the dictator Bashar Al-Assad. Nothing surprising here, but a timely reminder that Galloway is no peace activist.
**Confirming rumors, Ariel Sharon has officially bolted Likud to form a new “liberal” party. Prominent Likudniks like Ehud Olmert will join him. Sharon’s no peace activist either, but this seems genuinely huge.
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