President Bush concludes his latest speech on the war in Iraq with this comment.
"The day will come when Iraq is a capable partner of the United States. The day will come when Iraq is a stable democracy that helps fight our common enemies and promote our common interests in the Middle East. And when that day arrives, you'll (our troops) come home with pride in your success, and the gratitude of your whole nation. God bless you."
"...fight our common enemies and promote our common interests in the Middle East."
With this the administration's intentions become just a bit more obvious. And that clarity is chilling.
Notice the subtle shift in describing our intentions. Iraq just became something distinct from "The War On Terror" to this extent: It can now be openly conceived of as a beachhead for the next adventure against "our common enemies" in the Mideast. We are no longer merely or specifically securing Iraq as a democracy, nor even limiting the mission to neutralizing any perceived threat from al-Qaeda in Iraq. We haven't even made peace for Iraq a part of our new definition of success. Our mission will be accomplished in Iraq only when that country stands aligned to fight against our "common" enemies.
The task now is focus upon distinguishing that enemy and defining Iraq as opposed to that enemy and in common with us.
Towards that end the President tells us that he has instructed Ambassador Crocker to tour the Middle East on his way back to Baghdad. In much the same way Vice President Cheney did recently, and in exact opposition to bipartisan recommendations of the Iraq Study Group (remember them?), the ambassador will be speaking to everyone in the region —except Iran and Syria (the two largest directly bordering nations).
