Does anybody really know what time it is? – IRAQ!

This song got it right as it pertains to Iraq. Clearly there are reasons for the U.S. to be in Iraq, but the reasons are unclear to many. Clearly we want victory in Iraq, but it is unclear just what victory is. Clearly we want to avoid defeat in Iraq, but it is unclear just what defeat is. Clearly all Americans want to get out of Iraq (at some point), but it is unclear just how and when to get out to many.

Why are we there today? We are not there today for the reasons we went into Iraq – I believe this should be a given. Is it al-Qaeda in Iraq or the various militias armed to the teeth and prone to civil war? Is it Iran and the future of the Middle East? Is it to make us safer at home? Is it about oil and the potential impact to the U.S. and the World, if Iran gets control of the Iraq oil and the Iraq oil pipe lines that allow oil to bypass the Straight of Hormuz?

What is victory in Iraq? How will we know it when it is achieved? What is our goal? How and why does a nation fight a war without a clear objective? Someone must know the objective. I don’t. It appears the Congress doesn’t. Is the objective stability in the Middle East? Is the objective a self sufficient Iraq? Is the objective to blunt Iranian influence? Is the objective to crush al-Qaeda in Iraq and prevent Iraq from being an al-Qaeda stronghold? Are there a combination of objectives and to what degree must they be met? How will we know when we have achieved this bouillabaisse or potpourri of objectives?

I do not believe that there is a U.S Citizen alive who does not want us out of Iraq, with the exception of those profiteering from the war. I do believe that there is a vast difference in the conditions to be met in the thinking of Americans on this issue. The polls taken are incredibly disingenuous and the reporting of these polls is just as incredibly disingenuous. Simply asking the question, do you want us out of Iraq – yes or no, does not contribute to the dialogue. Yet many news organizations to push their hidden, or no longer hidden, agenda along publish the response to these simplistic polls regularly.

I have listened intently to a good portion of the Congressional Hearings and the Iraq Report from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. The questioning was weak. Most of the questioners are not interested in the report. The Democrats naturally are more interested in squeezing withdrawal commitments out of the reporting duo. The Republicans are more interested in praising our troops and the service of these two men. Both sides are great at using their time to make statements rather than ask specific questions to advance the dialogue.

Senator Barack Obama did ask one question with multiple versions. Since he was not getting the answer he wanted from General Petraeus, he continually interrupted Petraeus while Petraeus was attempting to answer the previous version, so that Obama could refine the question to drive the response to a response that Senator Obama wanted – now is that the way to learn, digest, and move the dialogue along? Of course, Senator Obama could not resist in stating that we should have not gone into Iraq in the first place. Wow, what a revelation! However, we are there now and need serious questions to achieve serious decisions, to unravel a serious situation – not obvious useless comment. It appeared that he was not alone in trying to force a response to support what amounted to pre-report uninformed decisions as they pertain to the situation in Iraq. Wasn’t the purpose of the report to be updated on happenings in Iraq – to learn so that constructive decisions could be made?

There is more! Can we get some of questions answered by the Administration? As Americans we are owed a crisp clear status on why we are there today. I doubt the answers will aid the enemy, once we learn just who the enemy is. Will the administration clearly and precisely answer the following questions in detail? Specifically why are we there today? I do not want to hear that it is to make us safer, I want an in-depth answer. What is victory in Iraq? What will it take to achieve victory? How will we know when we have achieved victory?