Guest blogged by Winter Patriot
It’s always an extreme pleasure — and a severe challenge — to post an item based on a column by Robert Parry. His excellent piece of August 17, 2005, is called Iraq & the Logic of Withdrawal. It’s compelling reading, and it should be mandatory for all who say “we have to stay in Iraq until the Iraqis can provide their own security”.
I am not in either camp, as regular readers of this space probably know. And I’ve been saying at every opportunity. So it’s good to see that a very wise observer agrees with me. His take on the issue is a bit different than mine, but we reach the same conclusions. I find that comforting. It’s like a math problem — when you’ve solved it, you go back and check your work by doing the same problem in a different way. If you get the same answer the second time, you can be fairly sure that your answer is correct.
But there is a case to be made for U.S. withdrawal as the best option for both resolving the conflict and neutralizing the foreign Islamic extremists in Iraq. A corollary of this thinking holds that the continued U.S. military presence does more harm than good.
More harm than good to Iraq? Or to the USA? I would say “both!”
First, a distinction must be made between the Sunni-led insurgency, which is fighting out of a sense of Iraqi nationalism and to protect the Sunni minority’s interests in Iraq, and the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist network of Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It is engaged in a jihad to drive Americans and other Westerners out of the Middle East.
While the interests of the Sunni-led insurgency and the Zarqawi-led terrorists may overlap under the present circumstances, that is primarily because an American force of 138,000 troops remains inside Iraq.
And the rest of the column goes like this.
Bush is correct! We must be protected from the hidious Arabs who wish to harm us. I had an Arab try to ram his pecker in my boypussy without lube — the bastard, it hurt. They’re savages.
thanks for that lovely image, scottfromwhereverthehell.
And it’s ‘hideous’, you moron.
Thank you, Winter — great article — there are so many intelligent, good American people — I’m so sorry you all ended up with a moron as a President, and a moronic government — once you get rid of these brainless idiots, how can you ensure it doesn’t happen again? The wrong sorts of people are getting into governments and policy-making.
Sorry that Scottfromca was allowed to post because this is an excellent article, one that we can craft letter to the editor from…I intend to. Guess the screening is tough to manage while Brad is out of the office.
I have a question though, what about the 14 permanent military bases Halliburton wants to build? Are they under construction? This continued presence would give Zarkowi a reason to stick around. Anyone know the status of this?
Nice article. But perhaps Bush is merely lying to us again. We invaded iraq because of Sept 11. Yeah Right. And now we need to stay until the "job" is done. Yea right. This man made a great arguement for leaving. What about those halliburton baes?
Dave K #4
You see, Dave, we don’t screen the comments. We let the sickos parade their diseases in public so everyone will know what sort of "people" support this bogus "president" and his bogus "war".
And yes, the bases are being built, and they are being built to last. Do you think the Penatgon has any intention of turning them over to some foreigners??
All this talk about getting out whenever the Iraqis can manage to provide their own security is so much hot air, in my opinion. The Iraqis will never be able to provide their own security. If Iraq evers comes close to stability, "our" death squads will simply stir up some more violence.
What am I talking about? Please see these short "whispering" versions of important articles. And click through to the originals [using the links at the bottom of each article] if you want more details.
Who Murdered 32 Iraqi Children? by Layth
Is The CIA Behind The Iraqi ‘Insurgents’? by Frank Morales
‘Combat Terrorism’ By Causing It by Imad Khadduri
They Weren’t Terrorists Until We Got There Zechariah with Celina R. De Leon
We Won’t Be Coming Home For A Long Time by John Bruhns
That should be enough to get you started. More later.
Bush’s one great talent has been for making himself necessary.
Create a mess awful enough and no one else will want to touch it.
(I assume that was you responding Brad…) thanks and I see your point about letting sickos do their thing, you have a greater vision about this whole thing. Will read and comment….
….sorry, I see its you Winter Patriot….
re #8/9 Yes it’s me … but it’s Brad’s philosophy … I’m just minding the blog in his absence … we’ve talked about this a lot (Brad and I) and he’s made it very clear what he wants … so that’s what I do.
On Michael Moore’s website if you go to How Can I Help the Soldiers, it links to
http://www.anysoldier.com/index.cfm
It looks like a good site with alot of helpful info…
You can find out what soldiers are asking for, what they need, where & how to send stuff & what NOT to send (like any homemade food, which they are told to throw away).
Does anyone knows if this site is still workable though? Please let me know. I’ve sent phone cards through the USO but I haven’t used anysoldier.com yet.
*know*
Considering the never-ending mess Bush got us into, this little "test" sent by my brother-in-law seems to sum it up pretty well:
Q: What’s the difference between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War?
A: Bush had a plan to get out of Vietnam.
When I go into the fortune 500 or so to architect some software system, I explain to the more able developers: "don’t leave your common sense at home … bring it to work with you".
And I remind management of the reason they hired me (they don’t have a clue about how do do what needs to be done … example is the FBI spending 200 million and 4 years on a project and then throwing it in the trash cause ‘management’ thought they had a clue).
Now it is clear that bu$hit lust is not in Iraq to bring "democracy". Everyone knows that line is "pure" (aka sicko) bu$shit.
It boils down to the simple common sense reality that "somebody’s gonna hurt somebody" … as the country song goes … cause they are sick.
The hurters, maimers, and killers are in power. And it only makes them more and more sick. The battle is not for their sick minds … the battle is to try to keep the body politic from becoming sickos.
That is proving to be a hard fight … but we are making progress against the sicko war party.
History shows that the people in the country itself dictate IF they wish democracy or not. OIL Bush just used that excuse to get a foothold in an oil country. It’s about OIL, not democracy. He doesn’t give a rats a** about people, unless they have triple digit millions. Iraqis should be trained to defend themselves by a certain date, then we leave. If they sink, they sink, if they swim, they swim. If they want and desire democracy bad enough, THEY will do whatever it takes to keep it. Not us! This is just a ploy bush is using for oil and halliburton.
Joan may be the Queen of PC and that’s typical of liberal airheads, but she chooses to ignore her Arab pals stone to death prostitutes and gays and even those who don’t believe in Allah. So, it looks like you’re the moron, deary.
#17
Your posts make no sense.
I realize you’re trying to throw verbal napalm, but it’s coming across as handfuls of soft, warm, fresh cow patties you’ve collected from bush’s merd du jour propaganda farm. The only problem, when you try to toss that stuff, is that the thrower gets more on himself than the target.
We in America feel so superior to other countries, but how is it that last year Spain’s citizens did a mass protest, demanded that the incoming leader get out of Iraq and the people won.
A few years ago when Marcos in the Philipines assasinated the man coming back to help the citizens, the people rioted, Marcos was out and the widow was elected.
So change can happen, but maybe we aren’t mad enough to give up our comfort and riot in the streets.
Y’know, Dredd, I keep thinking about all the wars the leaders of our country get us into. When our soldiers come home from the killing fields, they are psychologically injured … changed. Even though they are trained to kill because it’s "their duty," the good spirit that resides within each of us is aware that — somethow — it’s not right. Some people can’t stop the violence, either.
When will people wake up to realize that "War is a Racket?" When will they ever learn? When will they recognize the propaganda that tells us we have to attack before they do? It’s all about Imperialism, greed and money.
Peace to you, Dredd.
Hey, put down that soft, warm, fresh cow pattie!
Don’t mess with me, I’m the Queen of PC! lol!
Hey Joanie, you started it by attacking me. You want to be bitched slapped, bring it on. 😀