Freedom On The March.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=2006-07-21T131602Z_01_NOA147743_RTRUKOC_0_FEATURE-IRAQ.xml

They didn't care if this happened. They never did.

 

At this point, I couldn't give a flip about who's to blame. It's like a train wreck ... you know it's going to happen and you're powerless to stop it. Let's just hope we can minimize the U.S. deaths first, then try to find a way to keep the entire country from turning into a bloodbath ... if that's even possible.

 

Just imagine this thread during WWII.

"FDR lied and people died!"

 

I was wondering who was going to be the first of your ilk to respond with that.

The focus of the article, in case you didn't open the link, was that it appears despite our military's best efforts -- and man were they good efforts, before anyone smarts off -- the country is such a hole it's going to hell on a daily basis.

Was F_B's intention to indict Bush and the administration? Perhaps, but why don't we all FOCUS on the story instead of stupid-assed politics for once?

 

Rags --
As you know, we twice encouraged the Kurds to fight back, and then they did, and we bailed. By the time we launched Operation Surpass Daddy in 2003, Hussein wasn't capable of mounting an offensive on his kitchen staff.
We went in there without a plan, as you said, and without caring about anything except parcelling out the profits, and based on geopolitical fantasies by people who didn't know dick. We demolished the country and now we walk away?
Even in pure realpolitik, that's a bad idea.


UPDATE -- This isn't good news, either.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1826303,00.html

 

Sure, you can.
If the United States went in there and demolished the civilian government -- as abhorrent as it may have been -- blew up virtually all the civilian infrastructure, and then declined to repair either one, while refusing to commit the time, troops, or money to maintain order, you can blame the US. There's an obligation to being an occupying power. You're the only cop on the block. Which is why I never forgave Sharon for Sabra and Shatila. We jailed an awful lot of Nazis for their part in unleashing the local militias and anti-Semites in places like Hungary and Romania.

 

F_B, this is where I veer off from you. I don't feel the U.S. should be held to blame for Iraqis destroying each other over a religious faction. I just don't.

This country is like a child. We did everything except wipe their butts and flush the toilet for them and now they're crapping all over the floor before we could put a freaking diaper on them. If we give them the tools to move forward, man, it's up to them to do it in the long run. Otherwise, let's just make Iraq the 51st freaking state and indiscriminently take all the oil we need and lower the gas prices a bit.

 

alley --
We gave them nothing like the tools. We gave them an on-the-cheap invasion and occupation. We lied to ourselves -- "This war will pay for itself!" -- and we carried our illusions with us. We can't even get them electrical power they had under Saddam because we decided we didn't have to secure anything but the oil ministry. As to the end of your post, we're pretty much going to grab the oil anyway.

 

As for the oil ... if we're going to grab it anyway, then let's get to it. I, for one, would vote for any Bush or Cheney plan to send in a convoy of Exxon tankers and start filling up ... as long as it means relief from gas prices.

 

And Fenian, I'm not going to keep rehashing the same "It's all Bush's fault" argument because, even for me, it gets a little old after a while. The situation is crap now. The question is how can Iraq fix it, and can we help without risking even more lives than is absolutely necessary.

Let's hope for a solution instead of beating the problem ... or the problem-makers.