Proconsul Bremer back in US

[Theophylact]

for "consultations". And he's talking with The Boss. (But not with Bush... yet.)

One senior official declined to predict whether the United States would order the Governing Council disbanded but said, “There are serious consultations ongoing.”

Bremer spent part of the day at the White House, where he apparently met with senior foreign policy officials who included Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and CIA Director George Tenet. He did not meet with President Bush, although officials said he might do so before he returned to Baghdad.

The Defense Department denied that Bremer’s return was for anything other than normal consultations, even though word of the trip came on short notice and forced Bremer to cancel a meeting Tuesday with Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller, who was visiting Iraq.

The administration officials stressed that there was no expectation that Bremer would be leaving his post.

Uh-huh.

[shahani]

First step in pulling out.

[J-Excel]

That's what you want, isn't it Shahani?

[shahani]

Yup.

Sure fire way to stop soldiers and Iraqis getting killed.

[Atomic Rooster]

It wont stop Iraqi's from getting killed, just American soldiers.

[shahani]

It'll stop the Iraqis getting killed by US forces.

And US soldiers by Iraqi Resistance Fighters.

[J-Excel]

I'll remind you of that if the US does pull out early and Iraq slips into anarchy causing hudreds of thousands of deaths.

[Atomic Rooster]

Like I said shahani, it won't stop Iraqi's from getting killed. It in all probablity will escalate it.

[Theophylact]

The administration is entering full panic mode, according to this story in the Daily Moon:

The administration belief is that an Iraqi face on local and national government will go a long way toward winning hearts and minds, and reducing daily attacks on American troops. The drive became more urgent this month after more than 30 U.S. troops were killed in attacks by Saddam Hussein's followers, primarily in the Sunni Triangle west and north of Baghdad.

"It's not just the security piece that needs to come along," Gen. Richard B. Myers, Joint Chiefs chairman, said during a Veterans Day appearance on NBC's "Today" show. "What also needs to come along is the governance piece, to give Iraqis a sense that, hey, they're in charge of their country, to give them some responsibility for how that turns out, and also the economic piece, the infrastructure piece and how we communicate what's going on to the Iraqi people and to the region."

Remember "Vietnamization?"

[shahani]

Well, if you search the threads, I said way back in February/March that this is going to be another Viet Nam and eventually the US will be forced to withdraw because the public will not tolerate any more casualties.

Elections just complicate everything.

This is a very complex situation, both culturally, ethically, and politically.

And then there's the oil.

Mr Bush would have needed to do some very deep analysis and thinking before invading Iraq.

But then I wonder if he is capable of even simple thinking. I heard he takes notes on napkins.