November 24, 2006, Between Iraq and a hard place
And so it continues... the insane spasm of violence yesterday that left hundreds dead in Iraq has led to threats by Moqtada "Baby" Sadr to withdraw the support of his 30 or so seats (and 3 ministries) from the Shiite faction of the al-Maliki led ersatz Iraqi government, that is, if our President goes ahead and meets with al-Maliki in Jordan next week. The fear is that this will further "destabilize" the Iraqi government... one wonders how much more "destabilized" things could be... but one learns not to ask such questions.
Ay caramba! Our troops are still getting gunned down at the rate of a couple a day; we have now been in Iraq just about longer than we were in World War II... with no end in site. And the Sunni and Shia militias are getting ever more efficient and murdering each other's populations (and our troops).
Here is an overdue link to (Iraqi blogger) RiverBend. While her main thrust is the preordained death sentence against Saddam Hussein, note her punch-line:
A final note. I just read somewhere that some of the families of dead American soldiers are visiting the Iraqi north to see ‘what their sons and daughters died for’. If that’s the goal of the visit, then, “Ladies and gentlemen- to your right is the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, to your left is the Dawry refinery… Each of you get this, a gift bag containing a 3 by 3 color poster of Al Sayid Muqtada Al Sadr (Long May He Live And Prosper), an Ayatollah Sistani t-shirt and a map of Iran, to scale, redrawn with the Islamic Republic of South Iraq. Also… Hey you! You- the female in the back- is that a lock of hair I see? Cover it up or stay home.”And that is what they died for.
Compare and contrast Greg Palast's assessment of why we went to war in Iraq (hint: it's about the oil, but more about keeping it in the ground, where it won't be a threat to Saudi oil hegemony.) And while we're on Palast, let's consider this essay on cutting and running...
My advice to Democrats in Congress is to realize that this country is still not sure what to do about Iraq... most know instinctively that our leaving quickly (or at all) probably will lead to some spillover into Saudi, Kuwait and the Gulf States that might lead to... higher oil prices (the only thing we are concerned about... our invading Iran would, of course, also lead to this...) The thing is, these would not be the kind of high oil prices that merely let Saudi princes live debauched lives with greater intensity... but the kind of higher oil prices that lead to actual economic slowdowns and lifestyle changes (things like energy efficient vehicles and efficient power usage... and more efforts at domestic energy production... that just... aren't part of the plan.)
In short... the Bushmen aren't leaving. We didn't build over a dozen bases and the world's largest embassy in Iraq just to leave. We mean to KEEP that Iraqi oil in the ground as long as... well, as long as George W. Bush has anything to say about it. Which means that harping on timetables or the draft ain't changin' anything... The appropriate focus for Democrats has to be to (mostly) bypass Iraq... yes, the voters are pissed about it, but unlike Mark Foley and corruption, there is no consensus as to a particular strategy to deal with Iraq right now. Best to launch investigations demonstrating conclusively once and for all that the entire Iraqi adventure was a sham based on lies (and exploiting 9-11 emotion) from day one (giving Democratic senators who cravenly voted for the war... John Kerry, Evan Bayh, Hiillary Clinton, John Edwards, etc.... cover to say "we wuz duped.") Ditto, btw, things like torture and detainee treatment, warrantless eavesdropping and that sort of thing.
And best of all... Democrats in Congress should do what you wuz elected to do: check Bush's excesses, maybe control his insane crony-spending, do something about global warming, raise the minimum wage, do something towards making the tax system fairer, maybe expanding federal health insurance to children, and that sort of thing... Believe it or not, a not-particularly-Earth-shattering-agenda, that more or less draws the lines for the 2008 Presidential election.
As to Iraq... Bush and Cheney got us in (and we must make it VERY CLEAR that they and they alone bear full and complete responsibility for all of the implications of that)... so they'll just have to figure out how to get us out of it (as if... see above re: why Bush has said only the next President will get us out.) Any earlier "timetable" for withdrawal will almost certainly require the removal of Bush and Cheney from office, either by expiration of their terms... or perhaps by other means provided for in the Constitution...
Just saying...
Comments
From Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki was reached last Monday. The war was over, though technically the official sign-off occurred Sept 11, so there's 4 weeks to go to match our initial declaration to the final ceremonial. (Dec 22, to be exact).
Posted by Kevin Hayden at November 24, 2006 6:35 PM