The White House in “panic mode” over Iraq, while Democrats favor non-withdrawal withdrawal.
But both want the US to leave Iraq without it appearing that the US was defeated. That’s not going to happen. Because no matter how much D.C. lives in their self-referential media echo chamber, the rest of the planet doesn’t. If anything, Democrats are even more deluded, floating plans to “remove US troops from combat” or change the mission to “counter-terrorism and border patrol.” Right, I’m sure the other sides will then stop shooting at them and the US public will think everything is fine.
Both sides suffer the same arrogant delusion, that the US can not leave Iraq because it would be seen as failure. But for anyone with eyes to see, it already is a failure. And as for those who will die so the US can desperately find a way to save face, Congress and the president are unconcerned. It’s not their class who are getting maimed and killed.
I don’t see it as arrogant delusion. More like pathetic and frightened. Both sides of the argument are locked into the idea of America as a country that can do no wrong but, ironicially, can’t back out of a toxic situation without unacceptable loss of face. Of course, the logic of the latter conclusion should encourage people NOT to get involved in wars in the first place, but American exceptionalism has never been quite that logical.