George Bush visited Iraq today. He landed at Al-Asad airbase in Western Iraq. That’s 120 miles from Baghdad. I’ll bet he didn’t want to receive the same type of welcome that US Lawmakers recently received when their plane became the target of insurgents. Unfortunately for American soldiers on the ground and Iraqis nothing substantive will emerge from today’s meeting. It’s all a photo opportunity for the crown prince of photo-ops. No more “Mission Accomplished.” Instead its all about how Mr. Bush can save face and at the same time preserve the flow of oil from the Middle East. How many dead and wounded American soldiers is a gallon of gasoline worth? How much longer can our all volunteer military be extended without a return to conscription? How will the pundits spin this? Will King George get his surge extended? In the last three months over 1700 Iraqi citizens have died each month. The only items that appear to be surging in Iraq is civilian death, US military deaths, stop loss extensions and propaganda. There has been no surge in diplomacy, nor intelligent discourse about a way forward. Only another photo opportunity for the President.
Thoughts on the world of open source