Now this is where we get to see, how two of the worlds 'superpowers' back out of an untenable position..
Iraq is not going well..
An American State Department official, who has since retracted his statement as being non=representative of either his own position or that of the State Department, told al Jazeera that there had been 'arrogance and stupidity' in the American approach to the war in the Middle East..
We have here, two senior army generals decrying the lack of forethought, and statements to the effect that this is an 'unwinable' war we're involved in..
Now perhaps there was originally a feasable manner in which Saddam could have been deposed without involving conventional army personel in a constant battle with spontanious terrorist militias and established terrorist organisations, but historically, a lesson should have been learned from past encounters with the Levant, and more importantly, with VietNam..
We have destroyed the everyday lives of those who might well have supported us, through lack of intelligence. We cannot identify civilians from combatants, when uniforms are not distributed to al Q'area or Hammas or Hezbollah operatives, and we have not succeeded in cutting off the financial and material aid getting to these organisations through other Islamic States.
Nor are we going to.
It is time for a switch in Western strategy in the area, as has been evidenced both by George, who's facing mid-term elections, and Tony, who's looking towards retirement. Once again, it could be stressed that the only viable option is financial attrition, a decrease in Western buying from the entire region, and a restructuring of our oil-based economy.
With the internal sociological problems facing both the US and Britain, there appears to be no option but to turn towards a policy of isolationism, and that this policy should be for the long-term.
For once, the finances directed towards warfare, should be applied to correcting inequality at home, and finding a solution to growing zenophobia among our own populations..
It is time, now that Saddam has gone, to allow the Middle East to determine it's own destiny, and for we, as a block, to do the same at home.
it is now a case of 'physician, heal thyself'..