Forget the Surge

Obama Realism in Iraq
HuffPost
In response, Scowcroft [McCain advisor] said: "I wouldn't use that as a benchmark. ... Iran would be crazy if it weren't trying to influence the situation in Iraq. That's one of the things eventually we need to talk about. ... I don't think we can stay long enough so that there's no Iranian influence. Because of their religion, for one thing. The Shia holy sites are in Iraq. Many of the Iraqi clergy spent decades in Iran during the Saddam period. So it's more complicated than that."
Given a previous instance of rhetorical overlap between Scowcroft and Obama, it's worth noting that the Illinois Democrat advanced a similarly "realist" analysis regarding Iran's influence in Iraq earlier this year, when he said: "We are not going to kill every Al Qaeda sympathizer, eliminate every trace of Iranian influence, or stand up a flawless democracy before we leave."

Nationalism is the Core Issue in Iraq

Al Sadr appeals to nationalistic sentiments that unite some 70% of Iraqis. Regardless of religious affiliation, they know they must throw out the Americans to live in dignity.

The USA won't leave Iraq until the last oil well runs dry. Tom Hanks said it best. “Every man I kill puts me that much further from going home.” [Saving Private Ryan]

The international community should make every effort to expel the Yankee Peril from Asia.

BAGHDAD [AP]— Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.

Apparently, Condi and John McCain will continue the fight until the Chinese have bought every house in the USA.

The Authors Had One Moment of Clarity

"For many analysts (including this one), Iraq remains a 'must win,' but for many others, despite obvious progress under General David Petraeus and the surge, it now looks like a 'can't win.'"

The 'must win' dates back to when a few hundred US Marines could topple a tyrant and replace him with a leader more amenable to United Fruit. The modern despots are well aware of the colonialist smash and grab techniques.

The present era requires much more finesse witness what the EU does to its former African colonies. Even the ancient Romans were reluctant to tax an area filled with hostiles. Know thy enemy the Greek said.

The US can't govern itself democratically let alone a society and culture unknown to them. The present Fascist leadership has the American people by the throat with wires commanding the puppet limbs.

If you don't believe me, try doing something on your own volition.

Leaving Iraq

Joshua Holland, Alternet.com [Excerpt]

The governing coalition now rests on two Shia, two Kurdish and one Sunni party, all of which support the United States' agenda for Iraq).

At the same time, a bloc of nationalists -- also representing all of Iraq's major ethnic and sectarian groups -- has formed to oppose that agenda in the parliament. That nationalist bloc now has a majority of lawmakers in that body (this dynamic, which the New York Times and Washington Post will get around to reporting any day now, is what American politicians don't discuss when complaining about Iraq's "dysfunctional government").

And that divided identity also hasn't caught on with the Iraqi people as a whole. Sociologist Mansoor Moaddel, with the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (ISR), was part of a team that conducted a series of surveys of Iraqi attitudes between 2004 and 2007, and a> concluded: "Iraqis have a strong sense of national identity that transcends religious and political lines." The survey found that Iraqi nationalism is on the rise, with twice as many Iraqis identifying themselves as such than the number who see themselves as Muslims first and foremost. "This is a much higher proportion than we found in other Middle Eastern capitals," said Moaddel. He concluded that it's a mistake to believe that the sectarian street-fighting of recent years "represents widespread sentiment among Iraqis as a whole... the Iraqi public is increasingly drawn toward a vision of a democratic, non-sectarian government for the country."

Now we have to set a timetable for an orderly withdrawal and leave the Iraqis free to create that "democratic, non-sectarian state" on their own terms.