You can read about the "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq" here.
Basicly Bush's entire "plan" rests on the Iraqis stepping up like they have never done and embracing the new, American backed, Iraqi Government. Thats it in a nutshell, we simply stay put until the Iraqis come to our rescue.
The original plan was to take out the Bathhist regime and recover the "stockpiles" of WMDs in Iraq. The plan for Rebuilding was always regarded as an unimportant afterthought that could wait till later.
Well... that didn't pan out. So the American troops were left hanging with no real plan.
You cannot have a plan without goals and that is one thing Americans have been demanding Bush reveal, a goal for Iraq.
Well here it is... Bush's Goals for Iraq.
Victory in Iraq is Defined in Stages
Short term, Iraq is making steady progress in fighting terrorists, meeting political milestones, building democratic institutions, and standing up security forces.
Medium term, Iraq is in the lead defeating terrorists and providing its own security, with a fully constitutional government in place, and on its way to achieving its economic potential.
Longer term, Iraq is peaceful, united, stable, and secure, well integrated into the international community, and a full partner in the global war on terrorism.
The long term goal cracks me up the most. America cannot even claim to be:
peaceful, united, stable, and secure, well integrated into the international community
So basicly the entire "plan" rests on the hope that all the Iraqis, Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds will all fall in line behind the US Backed Government.
But the plan never once details how it intends to get all these diverse groups who have a long history of hating each other to work together.
In fact, it doesn't even mention the internal strife within Iraq once.
The closest it comes is when it says this:
Third, progress on the political front will improve the intelligence picture by helping distinguish those who can be won over to support the new Iraqi state from the terrorists and insurgents who must either be killed or captured, detained, and prosecuted.
They don't care whether you are Kurdish, Sunni or Shiite, the bottom line is support the new government or we will kill or jail you...
... how is that any different from Saddam's domestic policies?
Is it because Saddam used torture? No... we are doing that too.
Is it because Saddam killed his own people? No... that is what we have been and are threatening to continue doing. I guess it makes all the difference because the Iraqi citizens are not "our people".
