So, Thomas, it goes like this. The invasion was a 'dreamscape' long before Bush was waltzed into office as the youngest member of the Neocon Party. The most electable. Then once in office, the Neocons proceeded to insult the international borders without relenting, ie: The China Spy Plane, which occurred in the early months of the Bush/Cheney administration. That was accompanied by a crash of a submarine, the Greenville if I remember right with a Japanese schoolship and then there were the two helicopters that crashed near Hawaii. All that mess occurred nearly simultaneously. They were all related to an administration determined to cause problems and not solve them. Neocons 'turned loose' in the world with the wealth and power of the USA military for their play toy.
When 911 happened, DC was told about the impending disaster in a document called "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Within the USA." At the very same time the FBI were tracking potential terrorists, ie: Moussaoui. This administration has known the entire time the issue at hand and yet they are so ignorantly incompetent they WON'T protect this country because they perfer war. So, rather than Pre-Emptively stopping of terrorists before they struck on 911, Bush/Cheney decided to ONLY react to any attack so they could 'deploy' an already prepared Pre-Emptive law that would allow them to overstep any previous 'impetus' to war. The Law of Pre-Emption allows Bush/Cheney to declare war whenever they want to with only the 'suspicion' for invasion.
Quite frankly, Mr. Friedman, the debate over Iraq is the only chance to roll back the desires of this White House to start WW III with an invasion into Iran. Confront Iran is the same as confronting Russia and that is the same as confronting China. With that scenario in play, the USA will be surprised to learn how many enemies rather than friends it has as all will seek to limit the ability of the USA to conduct war. WHEN and not if, that happens; Israel will be lost. The only chance of protecting USA interests and Israel is to vigorously pursue diplomatic ties between countries globally. And this White House is simply as incompetent as they come when it comes to diplomacy. No diplomat expects or wants a party carrying a nuclear weapon in their back pocket all the time to 'THE TABLE."
Basically, Mr. Friedman, Iraq is far more than simply Iraq. It's the entire existance of the USA and it's allies. Or what's left of our allies, including Israel. In regard to Iran, Bush/Cheney have already started their rant, and now center stage is a 'dressed up' edition of the Iraqi Benchmarks. The purpose to the Iraq invasion was to access an oil glut that would serve USA purposes including expansive war. Currently, the USA contracts are 'On The Table' in Iraq. The Benchmarks of Iraq are more important to Bush/Cheney than simply an accomplishment to Iraqi autonomy; they are 'the right to stay' and to continue to harass Iran. Once again, to confront Iran is to confront Russia which then in turn confronts China and 'off to the races we all go.'
This administration is incompetent EXCEPT they are also as sly as foxes in their covert agenda (and I know no one wants to hear this as a further corruption so much as the best interest of the USA) to conduct war and profit from it. We need to 'end it' in Iraq. If we don't, there will be escalation of tensions globally. I just don't see it.
Currently, North Korea is rolling back their aggression. Iran is recognizing the need to cooperate with the IAEA and Russia is backing that view of the world. What has Bush/Cheney done? They have escalated the 'nuclearization' of the world by involving India as an exporter of nuclear technology. Bush has been directly responsible for irritating the problems with North Korea and is absolutely responsible for the return of Iran to fundamentalism and it's elections of the current extremist president.
What path do you think Iraq should take Mr. Friedman, because no one is addressing that. Everyone is addressing where the USA should take Iraq, but, no one is addressing the path Iraq should take.
Plainly, this Mr. Friedman,...
...Iraq has a future when the authorities of Iraq finally settle on one. In my opinion, Iraq's borders are simply lines in the sand drawn by some drunk British officer. Iraq is divided into ethnicities that have no desire to conduct themselves as a common government. I don't believe that was 'the spirit' at the beginnings of the invasion, but, as time went on and Bush as Commander and Chief empowered the USA military regarding lies to the reason we were in Iraq and troops deployed under commanders like Michael Steele began to randomly kill citizens along with the fact there was no post invasion plan; the violence of anarchy escalated to the point of no return.
I believe today in Iraq, there are still USA soldiers conducting themselves under very poor leadership that empowers them to 'kill at will' regardless whom is in the gun sights. For that reason, the USA is an enemy to those people.
There is a level of genocide in Iraq that Bush is directly responsible for with over 2 million refugees which are giving birth to a new generation of Iraqis on foreign soil. A genocide facilitated by profound poverty of 8 million Iraqi citizens. As we have seen in Darfur, people in poverty can't fight back. So to believe there is an insurgency in Iraq is becoming profoundly difficult. Additionally, there are 'published' estimates of dead minimally 225,000 to 665,000 and those estimates are as of six months ago or more.
Superficially, Sunni and Shia can get along, but, when it comes to living with each other on a regular basis when 'values are at stake' in deciding government, it will never work. The ethnicities of Iraq WANT to divide into provincial regions and the same have been provided for in the Iraq Constitution. That provision in the Iraq Constitution has to be pursued with vigor and the ethnicities given relief from their chronic disagreements while a sectarian war continues claiming hundreds of lives a day. The provinces have to be allowed to develop border defenses and limit attacks on their populous and Mosques. THAT desire by the Iraqis is being oppressed by the Bush/Cheney agenda and it's demands for Iraqi oil contracts. Then there is the fear of Turkey and a war with the Kurds including the extremists in the region.
All these issues were known, well known even to Cheney, right from the beginning of the irresponsible and illegal invasion by Bush. The best that can happen is for the USA to get out of the way of Iraqis and allow them to conduct their provincial development. We don't know if Iraqis really want to stay a country, because they don't know. They won't know until they are allowed security and leadership as they understand it. The region has to address Iraq, not the West. Currently, there is no reason for Arab nation to become involved because the USA is involved and Bush/Cheney won't allow other nations influence in Iraq to settle the violence.
The Benchmarks won't be met Mr. Friedman, because the Iraqi people don't want the USA there anymore. The Sunnis have left 'any table' and the Shi'ites are simply biding their time until the USA no long influences the power within their government. The Kurds are already autonomous in their government and are light years ahead of Turkey quite frankly. The Kurds are survivors when they never should have been as the odds were so much against them.
The Iraqi people will be fine. They have leadership they can rely on and neighbors waiting to assist them to heal their wounds and capture their societies as promised them within their faith. There is no reason to have 'confidence' in anything that comes out of the Bush/Cheney White House as they are proven liars, manipulators and incompetents. The USA, after four years of occupation in Iraq needs to leave that country, so the region can lead them out of genocide while leaving Iraq's resources to the Iraqi people without USA designs on them.
I am interested in peace and survival of people. Not war. Not profits. Not killing for the sake of a faux sense of National Security. I remind, Osama bin Laden is NOT in Gitmo.
