Wednesday, May 17, 2006

But What About the Congressional Elections?

The last time we heard from the Secretary of Defense (and the time before that and the time before that . . .), he was telling us that we're just not hearing all of the good things that are happening in Iraq. Today he said, in effect, that things are going so well that American troops are going to stay indefinitely.

According to the Washington Post,

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he cannot guarantee that there will be substantial withdrawals of U.S. troops from Iraq this year, and warned instead that leaving that country precipitously could create a sanctuary for al-Qaeda and other terrorists.

Rumsfeld told a Senate panel yesterday that he still hopes a big troop cut will occur this year but added, "I can't promise it."

Is it possible that Iraq might not be in danger of becoming a sanctuary for al-Qaeda if, instead of invading Iraq, the United States had focused for the past three years on destroying al-Qaeda?