The Unintended Losers
We are approaching a reality check in Iraq. The remaining US military presence is scheduled to end in the coming months. Public hinting by Defense Department personnel that the US would stay if asked has gone unheeded. This is a blessing although we might not appreciate it now.
Iraq is one of the “make believe” Middle East countries cobbled together by the British. Their unstated goal was to combine together bits of lands and peoples into a new country. They would be destine to remain un-united and therefore powerless to pose a threat to British interests. Afghanistan is another.
After spending the better part of $1 trillion in borrowed money and wasting the lives of over 4000 Americans, the Iraq invasion and occupation is ending. When it does, the US and the world will see reality. Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites cannot live together unless one has a club over the head of the others.
The un-intended loser will be all those American military members who went there with noble and patriotic purposes in mind. These soldiers cannot be blamed because they thought they were on a purposeful and valuable mission. This is what the Cheney-Rumsfeld crowd told them. When the last American leaves, however, another reality will emerge.
Iraq is a dismal failure and a travesty for everyone involved.
Afghanistan will end in the same manner, someday. There can be all sorts of unpublicized reasons for occupying those countries. Iran, Middle East peace, Pakistan, and the Taliban will all be quietly whispered as threats to world peace.
A careful assessment, however, will conclude the US’ expeditions in both these countries were a waste of time… except for the munitions makers.
This entry was posted on June 28, 2011 at 10:21 am and is filed under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Iraq War, Politics, Republican Party. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: Afghanistan, defense budget, donald rumsfeld, Iran, Middle East, nation building, Pakistan
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