The Wheels on the Bus.....are Falling Off
Submitted by johnBinVA on Fri, 11/24/2006 - 2:49pm
I give the Maliki "government" about 2-3 months...at the outside. Yesterday's mass killings in the Sadr urslum and today's reprisals, which include burning six Sunni worshippers alive while ISF forces stood by, are simply the symptoms of the underlying hatred and dysfunctional nature of this "nation". Our illustrious leader is planning to meet with Maliki next week in Jordan, not Iraq. We have 140,000 US troops in country and yet the threat is too great to meet in Baghdad. No word yet from Maliki's minions on the threat from the al-Sadr bloc's threat to leave the government if the meeting takes place. True, they hold only 30 of 275 parlimentary seats, but Maliki relies on al-Sadr's approval to remain in power as Sadr holds great sway, though not control, over the Mahdi army. Maliki is also hoping to meet with the Sunni insurgents next week. No word as yet as to the Shia response to this, but it likely won't be good. The wheels are cominmg off of this bus. Even if a withdrawal would lead to more violence - how much good can we do by staying? Withdrawal needs to start soon, though I fear it will be early 2009 before we have a president who will do it. Unless McCain prevails...in which case more troops will be sent into this hopeless hell-hole.
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Amen
I'd say this old bus has been up on blocks for awhile and now it's ready to flat-out fall apart.
even Jonah Golberg of NRO
even Jonah Golberg of NRO Online has called the invasion a mistake (if only in retrospect). From his column two days ago:
"Fundamentally, this isn't a point about political conservatism so much as civilization itself. Cultures have roots — a point we're learning the hard way in Iraq, where there is no liberal democratic tradition and we are trying to create one from scratch."
john, Generally, I agree
john,
Generally, I agree with your post, especially since we seem disinclined to go all out in an effort to actually "win" the war. Given our reluctance to break things and kill people to the point of bringing the enemy to his knees, there seems to be little point in remaining in Iraq. I do wonder what will become not only of Iraq, but the whole region. King Abdullah of Jordan pointed out this past weekend that the Middle east is on the verge of 3 civil wars, and we're only responsible for one of them - if that's any consolation. *sigh* Sadly, there doesn't appear to be an easy solution to this mess.
It would seem to me
that decimating a country and serving as a catalyst for hundreds of thousands of people dying for no reason would qualify as having little reluctance to "break things and kill people."
There was no point in invading Iraq in the first place and there is little point in remaining there. That said, I believe we as a nation must pay - and pay big - for the stupidity and incompetence of our foreign policy. I will not be surprised if it costs us another trillion dollars to fund other countries and the Iraqis themselves as they struggle to recover from the destruction we have wrought.
Ant in NWA - Once we touted
Ant in NWA - Once we touted the elected government, we gave up the right to decide how hard we prosecute the war. its up to Maliki and he would lose power if he ok'd such a move. It is not up to us anymore. We made their bed for them, but they will have to lie it. It's up to the "government" of Iraq now, not us. Personally, I think the place is beyond our political, monetary, or military influence. Hope I'm wrong.