Iraq on the Edge »
Posted By bruhaha 1 year, 4 months ago in NewsWhile everyone's looking at Iraq's effect on American politics -- and whether or not John McCain and Barack Obama are converging on a policy that combines a flexible timetable with a vague, and long-lasting, residual force -- let's take a look instead at Iraqi politics. The picture isn't pretty.
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bruhaha
Geologist at an environmental consulting and engineering company here in the Chicago suburbs.
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Ratskii1 year, 4 months ago
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If this makes the front page, I imagine Alpha and several of her friends will be in here to submit some bon mots from Limbaugh, saying that we're just not willing to admit that the surge worked. I hope that at least one or two of them will take the time to examine the article and consider the points it makes.
I'm not saying the possible disasters described in it will come to pass; Iran probably doesn't want chaos on its front doorstep, but any or all of these could occur and completely turn around the reduction in violence that Iraq has experienced these las several months.
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bruhaha1 year, 4 months ago
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I doubt if they would truly read the article, much less consider the points it makes. All that we'll hear is, talking points from Rush, Hannity, Etc. And only then if they've finished their round-robin discussion about how great Limbaugh is.
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fsev411 year, 4 months ago
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It certainly should make the front page. The article speaks to the political reconciliation issue that was and is the thorniest issue in the 18 benchmarks the Iraqis were supposed to achieve in the lull provided by the surge. This seems to validate Barack OBama's claims in his responses as to why he still didn't support the surge. Until such a time as we force their politicians to s--- or get off the pot we will not know how effective the surge was. Meanwhile Afghanistan is coming to the boiling point again.
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bruhaha1 year, 4 months ago
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the "surge" will never fulfill it's stated goals of creating a buffer for political reconciliation to occur until we announce we're leaving. As long as we intend on staying their permanently, we will continue to serve as a security blanket allowing the Iraqi government to continue on their path of doing nothing.
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jovial1 year, 4 months ago
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Obama has repeatedly replied to McCain claims of the surge and winning the war. He has stated that violence is down, but there has been no progress on the political solution. McCain needs to be asked, "what is winning the war in his opinion?" Just keeping US military casualties at a minumum seem to be his answer.
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gamahuche1 year, 4 months ago
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"So Iraq is still poised to explode, and Iran may be in control. McCain's solution: provoke a showdown with Iran. Obama's solution: try to make a deal with Iran to stabilize Iraq. I'm not sure either "plan" will work."
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In the end why do any Western politicians have the chutzpah toi think that they even truly UNDERSTAND the real problems, let alone imagine that they have the skill, patience and tenacity to deal with them - let alone the support from their followers for the long and arduous effort involved.
Few Americans have the knowledge to understand the real situation on the ground, even fewer have the capacity to think in terms of the culture that they are dealing with, as opposed to projecting their own values on the situation anhd ultimately how much do they honestly care - unless they can understand how the issue affects them personally.-
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Beeboppin711 year, 4 months ago
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I've often thought that the misunderstanding between cultures was a big hindrance with our involvement there. We just don't understand them, they don't understand us, and I doubt that they understand each other. It was complete folly for us to ever engage in any conflict over there. Other countries have tried before and have failed.
The arrogance of this President is astounding. His own father said that if GWB were to do this, he would be undoing years of hard work over there. I only hope that someday, in the distant future, both Iraq and the US will recover from this foolishness.
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