Pure Fantasy on the Editorial Page

The New York Times wants the USA to lose in Iraq. But today's editorial takes this a step further.

President Bush opposes a new G.I. Bill of Rights. He worries that if the traditional path to college for service members since World War II is improved and expanded for the post-9/11 generation, too many people will take it.

He is wrong, but at least he is consistent. Having saddled the military with a botched, unwinnable war, having squandered soldiers’ lives and failed them in so many ways, the commander in chief now resists giving the troops a chance at better futures out of uniform. He does this on the ground that the bill is too generous and may discourage re-enlistment, further weakening the military he has done so much to break . . . .

There are a lot of problems with this editorial, as Big Lizards explains here. But I want to focus on their statement that the Iraq war is "unwinnable".

Has the NYT's editorial board been reading their own news pages? For example, we have this article about how things are going in Basra:

Divining a Lesson in Basra

By STEPHEN FARRELL

BASRA, Iraq — On Basra’s Corniche, the boulevard past which the mingled waters of the Tigris and Euphrates flow into the Persian Gulf, there is a collective sense of relief these days.

With the death squads in hiding and Islamist militias evicted from their strongholds by the Iraqi Army, few doubt that this once-lawless port is in better shape than it was just two months ago.

And then there is this article about how things are going in Sadr City:

Iraqi Troops Take Charge of Sadr City in Swift Push

By MICHAEL R. GORDON and STEPHEN FARRELL

BAGHDAD — Iraqi troops pushed deep into Sadr City on Tuesday as the Iraqi government sought to establish control over the district, a densely populated Shiite enclave in the Iraqi capital.

The long-awaited military operation, which took place without the involvement of American ground forces, was the first determined effort by the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to assert control over the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood, which has been a bastion of support for Moktada al-Sadr, the rebel cleric.

The operation comes in the wake of the government’s offensive in Basra, in southern Iraq, which for the time being seems to have pacified that city and restored government control.

The Iraqi forces met no significant resistance. By midday, they had driven to a key thoroughfare that bisects Sadr City and taken up positions near hospitals and police stations, institutions that the Iraqi government is seeking to put under its control.

By early afternoon, Iraqi troops were stationed in large numbers in many parts of the district. Numerous Iraqi tanks and armored personnel carriers were parked on street corners, with relaxed-looking soldiers sleeping in their vehicles or looking out to the street through steel hatches. Other soldiers manned checkpoints, some of them chatting with children . . .

In other words, the Iraqi army went into Sadr City to flush out the Mahdi Army. And the Mardi Army didn't even resist!

"unwwinnable", indeed!