I read the op-ed early this morning and was so struck by it. These are the words of people with honor. They see with their own eyes and know that their mission is a fools' errand. They may suffer the consequence of speaking the truth. They deserve the thanks of every American. Let me be the first to honor their bravery.

I found this passage especially illuminating:

At the same time, the most important front in the counterinsurgency, improving basic social and economic conditions, is the one on which we have failed most miserably. Two million Iraqis are in refugee camps in bordering countries. Close to two million more are internally displaced and now fill many urban slums. Cities lack regular electricity, telephone services and sanitation. “Lucky” Iraqis live in gated communities barricaded with concrete blast walls that provide them with a sense of communal claustrophobia rather than any sense of security we would consider normal.

I fear that these patriots will now face a very difficult future. They have spoken truth to forces that brook no dissent or "reality incursions". The press should maintain contact with these men, they could well disappear soon.

I do hope this story is not buried and ignored by the mainstream media pundits.

Of course, it confirms what most of us already suspect -- that the situation in Iraq is going nowhere. Many on the right touted July as the least-violent month of the year so far, never mentioning that July is usually the least violent month because so many people stay indoors due to extreme heat. I wonder how they'll try to white-wash the month of August...

The problem with the Bush Administration and the "dead-enders" who still support it was identified by Ron Suskind back in 2004 in his New York Times Magazine piece, wherein he enlightened us to the fact that these people are not part of what they derided as the "reality-based community". Somehow, these "upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography", as Kurt Vonnegut so aptly described them, are so drunk with their own power that they believe themselves to be God: They need merely speak and it must be so.

The mainstream corporate media, rather than challenging at every turn the delusions of this bunch of slimy thugs, is totally culpable. They are now in the business of routinely presenting government pronouncements as "news" without even the most basic questions being asked. They are truly mere stenographers, as Stephen Colbert so courageously said to their pathetic faces.

The Democrats have shown themselves to be little better, pointedly refusing to consider impeachment (undoubtedly because so many of them embraced Bush's WMD nonsense and rush to war) or even saying a polite but firm "no" to continued funding of the Iraq disaster.

However, no matter how subservient the media or impotent the so-called "opposition party" may be, ugly reality is still there. Like gravity, it pulls us all inexorably back to terra firma, no matter how hard we flap our arms in resistance. It is reality itself that will end not only the horrible Iraq War -- albeit far too late for the hundreds of thousands devastated by it -- but virtually every other delusion of grandeur Americans have been propagandized to believe.

As Bob Dylan said, "It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall".

A sobering article that should be required reading for everyone who still thinks we can ‘win’ (what ever that means) in Iraq.

What I found to be the most critical passage is the following. After discussing the many differing factions and shifting alliances on the ground the authors point out:

“While we have the will and the resources to fight in this context, we are effectively hamstrung because realities on the ground require measures we will always refuse — namely, the widespread use of lethal and brutal force.”

This is essential to understanding why our occupation of Iraq can not and will not succeed. As a nation we are not willing to use the brutal means necessary to put down the kind of widespread lawlessness and violence that marks Iraq today.

I took a dictator in the mold of Saddam to keep Iraq under control for the past thirty years.

I fear we have passed the point where we can even find a bad solution to this mess.

The courage of these soldiers is indeed beyond question - braving bullets in their faces and the vindictive Bush administration in their backs. But I was even more struck by the total absence of complaint about what they are going through, and their focus on what is best for the Iraqi people.

Thank you, Joan for highlighting this very important OP-ED by seven of our brave and articulate troops.

I sent this article to my brother and 100 local Democrats. Senators Webb and Warner and Congresswoman Davis will get it tomorrow.

Below are 5 of my questions that these men answer:

1. Can we win in Iraq?

"To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived

its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win

this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and non-

commissioned officers with the 82ND Airborne Division soon heading back

home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as

increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political

and social unrest we see every day."

2. Who are we fighting?

"What soldiers call the 'battle space' ... is crowded with actors who do not fit

neatly into boxes: Sunni extremists, Al Qaeda terrorists, Shiite militiamen,

criminals and armed tribes. This situation is made more complex by the

questionable loyalities and Janus-faced role of the Iraqi police and Iraqi Army,

which have been trained and armed at United States taxpayers' expense."

3. What is life like for the average Iraqi ?

"Two million Iraqis are in refugee camps in bordering countries. Close to two

million more are internally displaced and now fill many urban slums. Cities

lack regular electricity, telephone services and sanitation. 'Lucky' Iraqis live

in gated communities barricaded with concrete blast walls ... "

"When the primary preoccupation of average Iraqis is when and how they are

likely to be killed, we can hardly feel smug as we hand out care packages."

4. Is our presence in Iraq helpful to anyone?

"... while creating proxies is essential in winning a counterinsurgency, it requires

that the proxies are loyal to the center that we claim to support. Armed Sunni

tribes have indeed become effective surrogates, but the enduring question is

where their loyalties would lie in our absence. The Iraqi government finds itself

working at cross purposes with us on this issue because it is justifiably fearful

that Sunni militias will turn on it should the Americans leave."

"In short we operate in a bewildering context of determined enemies and question-

able allies, one where the balance of forces on the ground remains entirely unclear."

5. Will peace ever come to Iraq ?

"Political reconciliation in Iraq will occur, but not at our insistence or in the ways

that meet our benchmarks. It will happen on Iraqi terms when the reality on the

battlefield is congruent with that in the political sphere. There will be no magna-

nimous solutions that please every party the way we expect, and there will be

winners and losers. The choice we have left is to decide which side we will take."

One last comment of my own:

This fiasco in Iraq has been brought to you by George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and their enablers, predominantly Republicans.