Do as I say, not as I do

Well, the Republicans who snarked about American troops under the command of foreigners back during Clinton's presidency, are, mirable dictu, now looking at Bush allowing American troops under foreign command.

Back in 1999, Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus had this to say about the matter:

WASHINGTON -- American troops deployed to Kosovo as part of a NATO peacekeeping operation should not serve under foreign commanders, say U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) and a bipartisan group of House members.

Bachus and the others warned President Clinton in a letter initiated by the Alabama congressman that they are "steadfastly opposed" to the administration's plan to put U.S. troops in Kosovo under foreign command.

[snip]

"While we certainly believe there are times when the U.S. should act in concert with our allies, the American public expects and demands that Americans be in charge when the lives of our men and women in the military are at risk," the bipartisan group of 24 members say in the letter. "We all witnessed the dangers of placing our military forces under foreign command during operations in Somalia."

Well, evidently 9/11 changed that as well, or some such, for Jamie Wilson reported this in The Guardian on Nov. 28:

The Bush administration is considering a plan to put America's awesome airpower at the disposal of Iraqi commanders, as a way of reducing the number of US troops on the ground. The plan is causing consternation among commanders in US air force, who say it could lead to increased civilian casualties and lead to airstrikes being used as means of settling old scores.

Surprise, surprise. This will of course reduce the number of soldiers lost to IEDs and sniping; the troops can be "brought home" (just in time for the 2006 elections! Fancy that!) and everybody's happy - except, of course, for the poor bastards who will be the recipients of the Iraqi-directed revenge bombings. (Even purely American air war isn't going all that well, as indicated by this charming story of a family wiped out because some men dug a hole nearby. But, as Rumsfeld could tell them, if they weren't dead, "Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things". )

But, after all, it's not as if we give a rat's ass about the Iraqi civilians anymore - they're all libramated and stuff, lots of freeance and peeance all around, and it's time to pat ourselves on the back, cut OUR losses, pull out, regroup, and get ready for the Next Great Liberation.