General Petraeus Lays the Groundwork

Listening to the good general testify I could not but be struck by his answer to one of the question whether our forces were being stretched too thin. He sort of agreed by saying that the Army and Marine ground forces were. He left the impression that the Navy and the Air Force were still robust and ready. I wondered why he gave such an answer unless he knows that they are being readied to bomb Iran.

I wish someone had asked him about what he knew about the intended attack on Iran. It seems strange the general would know and our Congressmen would not. But then again, our Congress has become so irrelevant to the Iraq war that Bush feels no need to keep them in the loop.

I missed it but Andrew Sullivan at "andrew@thealtantic.com" pointed out the general also said: "We cannot win in Iraq solely in Iraq." Sullivan suggests that the US's Anbar strategy is to arm to Sunnis who will be able to take on the Shiite, the natural ally of Iran, when we attack Iran. I sort of agree but also have a sense that the surge's purpose is also to insure that the US forces in Iraq are positioned so that when we attack Iran they will be free from danger. As noted in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, we are building up a base right on the border of Iran. That will probably be used as a location from which we can launch helicopter rescue missions and special forces into Iran once the attack begins.

How dizzying is it all. We were attacked by Al Qaeda on 9/11. At that time they had no presence in Iraq. We attack Iraq and now Al Qaeda has such a presence that the publicly stated ongoing purpose of the Surge is to now try to accomplish what existed before the Iraq attack.