We have not failed...YET

General John P. Abizaid visited the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard on Friday to talk about the ongoing war in Iraq. His message was that “we have not failed yet” (Boston Globe). Abizaid blamed the US news media for the widespread public assumption that the initiatives in Iraq are not going well, adding that the US has reached the critical stage in Iraq where progress must be made. He also said the failure to act in Iraq and against extremism would undoubtedly have given rise to World War III. Abizaid, the man at the top of the command in Iraq, had spent the earlier part of the week being hammered with questions regarding the war by members of Congress.

The Globe also reported that President Bush had been asked recently whether the war in Iraq compares with the war in Vietnam in terms of popular support at home and debilitation of the military abroad. Bush’s denial and subsequent response, “We’ll succeed unless we quit,” merely echo the same phrase he has uttered throughout the duration of the war. However, Bush’s and Abizaid’s words of resolve do little to bolster the support of a country who recently watched the “architect of an unpopular war in Iraq” resign from office (CNN.com)