Military victory is no longer possible in Iraq, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said in a television interview broadcast Sunday.
"If you mean by 'military victory' an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.
I love how he ticks off these hypothetical criteria for "military victory". Yes, I do believe the American public considers "an Iraqi government that can be established" part of that oh so elusive concept of "military victory" in Mesopotamia.
Never mind that only a few months ago, he was advising President Bush that "victory is the only meaningful exit strategy".
Let's all give Secretary Kissinger a big thanks for advising Bush on Iraq. The president has clearly picked up the same kind of relentless introspection Henry has been famous for all of these years.
