Applauding the Surge

In his State of the Union address, Bush said that while some Americans questioned the effectiveness of the surge, the terrorists knew who was winning. Apparently Hillary Clinton stood and applauded. While short term military success is always possible - no one would seriously question the ability of the worlds most powerful military to clamp down and momentarily crush the Iraqi insurgency - the problem is that in the long term occupation is occupation and none of the political, social, or economic crisis facing Iraqis have been solved. As long as Americans troops make a mockery of Iraqi sovereignty and self determination, the insurgency will survive even if momentarily crushed. Think of Algiers. The Washington Independent has a well researched and insightful article dealing with the "success" that both Democrats and Republicans have attributed to the surge.