Psyche, Science, and Society

US to escalate air war, says Seymour Hersh

November 27th, 2005

Seymour Hersh, interviewed on CNN’s Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer, says US planning to accelerate air war to allow them to pull out more US troops:
Interview With Seymour Hersh. [Scroll 1/4 of the way down]

Evidently, this is covered in a new New Yorker article, Up in the Air, which I have net yet seen. Remember, the October, 2004 study [
Mortality before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: Cluster sample survey] in the Lancet that estimated that 98,000 Iraqis had died as a result of the US invasion, also reported that most of those who died violent deaths, died as a result of US air strikes. Imagine what devastation this new escalated air war will cause. In addition, the air power may well be used in internecine warfare:

BLITZER: And then you go on to write this: “The prospect of using air power as a substitute for American troops on the ground has caused great unease. For one thing, Air Force commanders, in particular, have deep-seated objections to the possibility that Iraqis eventually will be responsible for target selection. ‘Will the Iraqis call in air strikes in order to snuff rivals, or other warlords, or to snuff members of your own sect and blame someone else?’ another senior military planner now on assignment in the Pentagon asked.”

Also, Hersh reveals what I have long suspected, that, Bush is a true believer in his war, and is not about to call it quits just because it’s become unpopular and is hurting him politically:

HERSH: Suffice to say this, that this president in private, at Camp David with his friends, the people that I’m sure call him George, is very serene about the war. He’s upbeat. He thinks that he’s going to be judged, maybe not in five years or ten years, maybe in 20 years. He’s committed to the course. He believes in democracy.

HERSH: He believes that he’s doing the right thing, and he’s not going to stop until he gets — either until he’s out of office, or he falls apart, or he wins.

BLITZER: But this has become, your suggesting, a religious thing for him?

HERSH: Some people think it is. Other people think he’s absolutely committed, as I say, to the idea of democracy. He’s been sold on this notion. He’s a utopian, you could say, in a world where maybe he doesn’t have all the facts and all the information he needs and isn’t able to change.

I’ll tell you, the people that talk to me now are essentially frightened because they’re not sure how you get to this guy….

BLITZER: Here’s what you write. You write, “Current and former military and intelligence officials have told me that the president remains convinced that it is his personal mission to bring democracy to Iraq, and that he is impervious to political pressure, even from fellow Republicans. They also say that he disparages any information that conflicts with his view of how the war is proceeding.”

If Hersh is right, and I suspect he is, then don’t expect the US to get out of Iraq in the near future, no matter what the press says. Pull a few troops out, maybe. But withdraw? Never. Not while Bush is in office, unless Congress forces it. The latter is unlikely, as those who pull the plug on spending will fear taking the rap for “losing Iraq.”

Entry Filed under: Iraq, War and Peace