The Grass Grows Greener Where People Water It

The new environment that scientists are looking to discover life in is Iraq--political scientists, that is. While the president offers the job of War Czar to probably anyone with self-esteem low enough to handle being Bush's new Iraq scapegoat, the rest of the country is thinking what all of a sudden made the president think that his current strategy wasn't working? Could it have been the climbing death toll of American soldiers, the even higher death toll of Iraqi civilians, the increase in suicide bombings in Iraq, the fact that none of his previous strategies have worked or that even his top generals whom he relies on in Iraq are even losing optimism over the war? Either way, the job of War Czar has been turned down by four U.S. generals so far and if that tells you anything it's that the president's new strategy is just a little short of brilliant.
Even the U.S. top commander in Iraq, General David H. Petraeus takes solace in even the slightest signs of normality in Baghdad. While flying in his helicopter over a Baghdad neighborhood, Patraeus was filled with glee when he saw a man taking care of a soccer field. "He's actually watering the grass!"
I find it incredibly sad when a man watering grass is a sign of progress. Meanwhile, suicide bombs killed 13 people today at an Iraqi police station. One survivor had this to say: "All our belongings and money were smashed and are gone. What kind of life is this? Where is the government? There are no jobs, and things are very bad. Is this fair?”
The situation in Iraq has not improved and the top generals on the ground wonder if a troop surge would even work. While they all agree that it could bring down the sectarian violence somewhat in Baghdad, signs of increased violence have risen elsewhere throughout the country. Even our own top soldiers in the military are doubting whether or not their presence in Iraq is helping. And now, once the Bush Administration has exhausted every other means of bringing about peace through war are they beginning to see that diplomacy is how stability in the region will be reached. But I wonder if even now, Bush will do as he has done in the past and ignore all advisers with differing views than his while he blunders through the war led by false hopes of absolute victory. His overly simplistic view on this war and his incapacity to understand its repercussions in the global theater has cost tens of thousands of people their lives and lost this government its credibility to both foreign nations as well as his own people. When the peace returns to Iraq, so will the trust to the U.S.