And The Excuse This Time?

We are all aware that the surge has been really effective and peace in Iraq is almost at hand.  We all know that “al Qaeda in Iraq” (not to be confused with the real “al Qaeda” in Pakistan) has been broken but not quite defeated.  We all know that the Iraqi Army is getting better each day and will soon be able to “stand up so we can stand down”.  And finally we all know that if we let “al Qaeda in Iraq” win (by withdrawing), they will take over Iraq and run direct flights of terrorists to the US (no need for highjacking any more planes).  So what is actually taking place in Iraq?

1. The Iraqi Army (and Government leaders) are so compromised by their religious identify (and thirst for political spoils) that there is no unity and both Syria and Iran exercise tremendous influence.

2. There has been no progress in healing the gulf that divides Shiites and Sunnis.  (The Kurds wisely want no part of either).

3. All the kooks and crazies from the Sunni Middle East and Northern Africa region who have volunteered to be suicide bombers (like close to a thousand) have taken the Arab Greyhound bus into Iraq via Syria.

4. The Muqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army has had it with the Shiite lead Iraqi Government and is creating as much disturbance as it can.  (This is no way for the Shiites to act against each other).

5. Someone in  the US military command was asleep at the switch and allowed US troops to replace Iraqi troops in what  only can be described as a “Shiite civil war”.  And you guessed it, US deaths increased markedly.

6. Now the US Army is trying to deflect attention from the fighting that won’t stop in the “almost safe Baghdad” by crying that Iran is supplying weapons to the Mahdi Army and these weapons are killing Americans.   Remember

• The US did the same thing against the Russians in Afghanistan.
• This is not a new issue and should have been fully expected.
• Not only should it have been expected, the US should have cut off the smuggling routes.

7.  Higher up the line of command, CIA chief Michael Hayden is also calling out the Iranians and providing cover for both the policy makers (who have no policy) and the military (who can not possibly win a civil war).

What I have just described is best called a “mess”.  It results from ideological decision by faith based individuals who simply do not know how mortal they are.  Trust me on this, no God (no matter whether you believe in one or not) ever talked to George W Bush, Dick Cheney, or Donald Rumsfeld.  They guys collective intelligence is less than the bird shot Cheney uses when he hunts.

Now more than ever, it is the question of what should be a sound US Middle East policy.  With that answer, then get the troops out of the way and begin a strategic withdrawal.  This will all come to pass when a Democrat is elected and Senator Joe Biden becomes Secretary or Defense or State.  

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