Bush and his gang are being outsmarted on all fronts.... Putin, Al Sadr, I'm a dinerjacket, even Chavez are making a fool out of us. We shot our wad on a fools errand in Iraq and now all Bush can do is whine about Gorgia. Bush thinks he's playing checkers while the rest of the world is playing chess. It's time we had a CIC with half a brain and it ain't McSame.
This is a good assessment of what al Sadr hopes to accomplish and why. But I don't think it will work.
1. The United States will NEVER leave Iraq! Not while the people of America remain convinced that they must live in fear of Islam. 2. Al-Maliki and the other minions, who have acquired status and a measure of political power during the American occupation, would not stand for a Sadrist takeover. 3. Kurdistan and Saudi Arabia want a divided government: one which cannot be directed by Shiites without the consent of Sunnis and Kurds.
Please AG get a life!. The US has never occupied a country and stayed in control there, in it's history. If that was the case them the USMC would still control most of Latin America & the Philippines, we would be running Germany, JApan and S. Korea. Leave troops there to help defend, yes- stay there as a controlling presence- NO! We need responsible, balanced folks to step up to assist their government in building for the future of Iraq- hopefully this is a step in the right direction!
lovatscot: You are right about one thing: I need to get "a life"! Since the Assassination of Rabin, I believe that America and Israel have fallen under the control of some very destructive types. Our foreign policy has been degraded into "Amerika/Juden uber alles". Our globalist economic policies have driven many Americans into penury. Our domestic policies have created a police state in which a majority of our citizens are dependent -in one form or another- on government subsidy. I must start watching sitcoms and reading comic books!
Do you realize that the Cold War ended in 1991? We still haven't withdrawn our forces from Europe. We have never allowed the South Koreans or the Taiwanese to acquire or develop the missiles needed to match the North Koreans and Chinese. Although Japan is the second most technologically-advanced nation on earth, we can't find a reason to let japan defend itself either. And for all these regions, the U.S. military controls logistics, communications, and planning for military operations.
How long do you think this "Global War On Terror" will last? As long as it does, we will demand military presence wherever we are now and will seek more in the future. Our leaders were stunned to find that no African nation would allow us to set up our headquarters for "Africom". Can you imagine why? But we still have an AFRICOM anyway.
Do you remember our President Bush stating that "We'll leave when the Iraqis tell us that they want us to leave!"? Every year since 2005, the Iraqi parliament has voted to demand a set time table for withdrawal. Prime Minister Maliki vetoed the resolution every year. Now, even he wants a set timetable; but we can't bring ourselves to such a commitment. Don't worry! Even if there is a signed agreement, it will contain a caveat clause which would give the U.S. opportunity to come up with a reason to remain.
Lind's cool assessment will probably not settle well with the American Judeo-Christian "jihadists" like fellow op-ed writers Gaffney, North & Brookes. But as usual, Lind makes a lot of sense.
My piece this week also discusses Sadr's use of an "in being" strategy. I also agree with Lind that Sadr is probably the best choice of Iraqi leaders (from Iraq's point of view, certainly not the neocons), and that this could indeed be the model of how 4GW warriors win wars.
