A Consequence of Bush's Foreign Policy

Froomkin has a pretty good piece today at the Washington Post. Coincidence or Consequence? By Dan Froomkin Special to washingtonpost.com Thursday, July 27, 2006; 1:22 PM As the Bush White House is jolted by one confounding overseas crisis after another, the obvious question emerges: Is it just a coincidence? Or is it a consequence of President Bush's foreign policy? .................. Joshua Partlow writes in The Washington Post: "As President Bush plans to deploy more troops in Baghdad, U.S. soldiers who have been patrolling the capital for months describe a deadly and infuriating mission in which the enemy is elusive and success hard to find. Each day, convoys of Humvees and Bradley Fighting Vehicles leave Forward Operating Base Falcon in southern Baghdad with the goal of stopping violence between warring Iraqi religious sects, training the Iraqi army and police to take over the duty, and reporting back on the availability of basic services for Iraqi civilians. "But some soldiers in the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division -- interviewed over four days on base and on patrols -- say they have grown increasingly disillusioned about their ability to quell the violence and their reason for fighting." Partlow quotes Spec. Joshua Steffey, 24, of Asheville, N.C.: "The first time somebody you know dies, the first thing you ask yourself is, 'Well, what did he die for?' . . . Read More at The Washington Post