Be Very Afraid

On a follow-up to last night's late-evening thoughts on the direction the war in Iraq is headed, two additional thoughts courtesy of Juan Cole's excellent Informed Comment:

First, Cole's post yesterday elaborated on two Democratic plans as opposed to the "stay the course" mantra of Republicans in Congress—or as Cole calls it, "Stay and Stay, Spend and Spend."

That amount being spent is $5 billion a month, which Cole uses a picture from his Detroit-area residence to demonstrate areas of this country that could truly benefit from such wasteful spending:

"Could we please have just one of those $5 billion dollar installments you are squandering in Iraq, Mr. Rove, to -- you know-- fix up Detroit a little bit. I'd say those windows need replacing. And since you painted all those schools over there, maybe you wouldn't mind painting some of the buildings in my area. We don't have any oil, but we have a helluva port and enormous industrial capacity. It is just that, you know, the Federal government has been busy rebuilding a foreign country (which somehow still seems to be in flames and run down, despite having its own petroleum). And somehow my city just isn't a priority. In fact, you can correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Rove, but my recollection is that neglect of Detroit has driven its population below 1 million, and that as a result, the Federal government actually cut back on the aid it gives the city. Is that really good urban policy? Wouldn't it make more sense to bring Detroit back to life and reinvigorate the American Midwest?

Is it cut and run? Or is it 'withdraw and spend American money on Americans'?

And what is the Republican plan? Is it "Stay and stay, and Spend and Spend?"

Secondly, Cole had a link to an appearance he made with Lawrence Wright on Open Source with Christopher Lydon. It's worth listening to, but Lydon's "Post-Game Analysis" might have hit the nail on the head:

That was a serious and subtle hour that shouldn’t be reduced to bumper stickers… and still: what sticks in my mind at the end of the day is Juan Cole’s line about historical precedents for our predicament and Iraq’s. He writes :

"We are at the beginning of 1983 and we are the Soviets in Afghanistan…"
Juan Cole, Bush’s Abuse of History, Snow’s Battle of Bilge, Informed Comment, June 19, 2006

No need to remind anybody how that turned out ...