Another photo op...

This morning, President Bush goes back before another military audience to detail his "strategy" for the occupation of Iraq, detail the progress that is being made, and detail what victory in Iraq is supposed to look like.

It seems as if he's done this 5+ times in the past six months, but there has never actually seemed to be a "strategy"; progress gets mixed reviews at best; and no one - absolutely no one - has ever been able to define what "winning" this occupation means.

And now:
~ we're mired in an occupation that we had no moral authority to initiate - and will lose what little moral authority we have if we leave and let the nation collapse into civil war and turmoil
~ of course, that point is almost moot because the Bush administration clings to the support and use of torture, which (a) undermines any moral authority the United States may once have had; and (b) puts American soldiers and citizens in much greater peril
~ Iraq has been turned into the largest terrorist recruiting grounds in the world
~ oh, and Baghdad doesn't even have electricity 24 hours a day yet...all those no bid contracts have really been a bargain
~ in order to cover up the misinformation campaign that led to the war, the White House leaked the name of an undercover CIA agent
~ and worst of all, another 110 US soldiers died in Iraq in about the past month, bringing the total casualties to 2110

Yet, the more I think about this horrific situation in Iraq, the less I'm convinced that pulling out the US military now is the right way to go. Having said that, I think that this makes some sense:
~ set a timeline to start redeployment
~ get the UN, NATO, and other world organizations involved
~ get American companies with no bid contracts out (and the US "security" contractors) to get rid of the American Empire feel of this occupation
~ set clear deadlines for the training of Iraqi security forces

These aren't crazy suggestions (and obviously its not original to me) - its just an actual plan. I hope that Pres. Bush's speech will address these issues, because if it doesn't, it's just more evidence that he never had a strategy for occupation; his administration does not have a plan for progress; and they have no clue what victory will look like.