Prophetic Words? Please, Tell Me If I'm Wrong.

Let's face it, the War in Iraq is over, and the US has won, if by winning one means the long-term stationing of American military personnel in that devastated country. Simply put the US was never interested in uncovering “WMDs” or making Iraq safe for democracy. It was interested in one and only one thing, a permanent, strategic placement of an advance guard of shock troops smack dab in the middle of the Middle East. The death of tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of Iraqis; the crippling, both physically and emotionally, of countless Iraqi men, women and children; the exiling, both internal and external, of millions of Iraqi citizens; the destruction of Iraqi civil society and physical infrastructure, are all collateral damage of little or no concern to our country’s power elites. Neither Democrats nor Republicans are going to withdraw troops and abandon the US presence in Iraq. The differences between the two parties are tactical not strategic. If violence in Iraq and US casualties can be held within “acceptable limits” the American public will acquiesce to our continued occupation of Iraq just as it has in Europe and Korea. This is the long-term, stated goal of the Bush administration. It is not a hidden agenda. So let’s take the scales off our eyes and admit that the US objective has been achieved. Don't expect to see a total withdrawal of US troops from Iraq within our lifetime.