New Liberalism

No doubt the Administration will continue to claim there are enough American troops in Iraq, and no doubt they will, due to incidents like this one, continue to look foolish doing so.

BAGHDAD, Sept. 5 -- Fighters loyal to militant leader Abu Musab Zarqawi asserted control over the key Iraqi border town of Qaim on Monday, killing U.S. collaborators and enforcing strict Islamic law, according to tribal members, officials, residents and others in the town and nearby villages.

Residents said the foreign-led fighters controlled by Zarqawi, a Jordanian, apparently had been exerting authority in the town, within two miles of the Syrian border, since at least the start of the weekend. A sign posted at an entrance to the town declared, "Welcome to the Islamic Republic of Qaim."

Can you even call this an “occupation” any longer? When we don’t have enough troops to secure the capital, and when insurgent forces and foreign extremists are occupying whole towns, I think one must acknowledge that something is awry. Of course, many of us have been stressing just that for months now, but to no avail.

Qaim is an important foothold for the insurgents, and it amazes me that coalition forces would allow it to be taken. At just two miles from the Syrian border, a Zarqawi controlled Qaim will quickly become the first stop on the Underground Railroad for international jihadists looking to mix it up with US forces in central Iraq. But perhaps even more troubling for those of us who supported this War to rid Iraqis of Saddam-style oppression, is that the Bush Administration wouldn’t supply enough troop-strength to prevent stuff like this from happening:

Witnesses in Qaim said Zarqawi's fighters were killing officials and civilians whom they consider to be allied with the Iraqi and U.S. governments or anti-Islamic. On Sunday, the bullet-riddled body of a young woman dressed in her nightclothes lay in a street of Qaim. A sign left on her corpse declared, "A prostitute who was punished."

Zarqawi's fighters have shot and killed nine men in public executions in the city center since the start of the weekend, accusing the men of being collaborators with U.S. forces, said Sheik Nawaf Mahallawi, a leader of the Albu Mahal, a Sunni Arab tribe that had clashed earlier with the foreign fighters.

What a tragedy, and what an avoidable tragedy. Obviously, hearts go out to the Iraqis who have to deal with the sharp end of Bush’s mind boggling incompetence. But I also have a great amount of sympathy for US troops who have been asked to do an almost impossible task by leaders who refuse to equip them with all the tools they need… including boots on the ground. Still think we have enough troops in Iraq? Read this:

Many of the towns along the river have been subject to domination by foreign-led fighters, despite repeated Marine offensives in the area since May. Residents and Marines have described insurgents escaping ahead of such drives, and returning when the offensives end.

Of course, the insurgents wouldn’t be able to return when the offensives end if there were enough Marines or Army GIs to stay on after the offensives and provide security. But that would be too obvious a concept for Bush to grasp, and too painful a concept for Donald “On the Cheap” Rumsfeld to accept.

# posted by Mayflower @ 3:02 PM