Predictions, 2011

by Justin Raimondo, January 03, 2011

"....Iraq pullout, canceled – This will never be announced, but before long the media is bound to wake up and ask: whatever happened to our much-vaunted “withdrawal” from Iraq? Perhaps not in such a peremptory manner, but, nevertheless, the continuing, substantial US presence is already causing Prime Minister Maliki to press his American “allies” for a more definite day on which to schedule their going-away party, and the complete inability of his government to maintain its own territorial integrity, as well as ensure a minimal level of security and stability, is likely to motivate US policymakers to hedge their “withdrawal” plans.
This will end in a mutual agreement – haggled over for months by the US and its Iraqi sock puppets, and finally firmly insisted on by the former – that the US presence is to be “temporarily” extended, although, of course, the “support mission” will remain ostensibly unchanged.

Afghanistan “surge,” Karzai out – The war in Afghanistan will take a new turn: yet another “surge” will be announced, great “progress” will be hailed, and – naturally – the whole charade will end in a US “victory,” albeit not enough of one to allow US troops to leave. You don’t have to be Nostradamus to predict that US casualties will increase – they are already at their highest level since the start of the war – but one consequence of the “surge” is that US politicians – and the news media – will begin to take notice of this uptick in the death rate, and we will see increasing calls by politicians on the right as well as the left to declare “victory” and bring the troops home......."