Liberation, Take Two

According to the British Sunday Times, the U.S. is planning a "new liberation of Baghdad" as soon as Iraqi politicians can form a viable government. With the Iraqi military as cover, the U.S. would attempt to retake the city neighborhood by neighborhood.

What's interesting about the rumored initiative is that while the U.S. may be designing plans for such an attack, at this point it is in nobody's interest to support one. Iraqi politicians, after months of fruitless and embarrassing wrangling, have no desire to waste what little credibility they still have on a massive U.S. offensive. And the Bush Administration will find it hard to justify the casualties, let alone the fact that three years on "liberation" needs a make over. This of course doesn't mean that we won't see such an offensive. When you have no vision, policy, or discernible tactics, sometimes you just role the die. But it does mean that any attempt to "liberate" Baghdad would have to overcome what seems to be the central characteristic of American presence in Iraq at the moment -- keeping our soldiers out of harm's way and stationed in massive military bases. It also tells us exactly what state the war in Iraq has reached. The options being pursued by the Administration are a) re-invasion or b) watch from the sidelines and hope for the best. In other words, without direction or ideas, Bush and company are swaying between stasis and overwhelming violence. Which tactic will predominate is impossible to predict.