The papers and airwaves are full of commentary about the end of the American war in Iraq. Henceforth, aside from soldiers training Iraqis, and perhaps the occasional provision of air support, our troops will sit in bases, outside Iraqi cities, minding their own business. Rather like Europe.
Many smart people, including former VP Cheney, are worried that it might be too soon. Terrorists are still operating in Iraq. Will the Iraqis be able to manage it? To put the matter differently, we won the war in Iraq, might we now lose the peace by abandoning the battlefield prematurely?
The trouble with the debate is that, as usual, it ignores the real issue, which is the war itself. The question about Iraq is the wrong question; you can’t answer it without addressing the broad war, of which Iraq is just one piece.
The real question is, how are we doing in the broad war (the one that stretches from Afghanistan into Europe, with active battlefields in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Palestine and Lebanon)?
The answer must involve Syria and Iran–the two countries that are providing the bulk of the terrorists’ support–and Saudi Arabia, which funds the global indoctrination of would-be terrorists. If we’re going to win the war, we have to thwart Tehran and Damascus, and, at a minimum, get the Saudis to stop paying for pre-terrorism radicalization all over the world.
The answer, then is: we are doing very badly. Indeed, we’re not doing at all. Au contraire, we and our feckless Western allies are, for the most part, actively appeasing those whom we should be confronting. We famously dithered as Iran crushed the incipient revolution (a revolution that would have enormously mitigated the threat Iran represents). It’s obvious that Obama et. al. were annoyed and embarrassed by the outpouring of passion for freedom all over Iran, because it interrupted their efforts at lovemaking with the regime’s leaders. Meanwhile, Obama announced he is sending an ambassador to Damascus, where Bashar Assad is Iran’s most faithful friend in the region. And nothing at all is being done to restrain the Saudis’ multi-billion dollar funding of the global radical Wahabbi madrassas, from which radicalized young muslims emerge.
But nobody is asking the real question, not even Cheney, who behaves as if he just doesn’t want to talk about Iran. Did he have anything to say about supporting the revolution? If so, I missed it. He could authoritatively provide the proper context for the debate, but he doesn’t.
Faster, please. Sigh.
UPDATE: From the AP, “The top U.S. military commander in Iraq on Tuesday accused Iran of continuing to support and train militants who are carrying out attacks, including most of the ones in Baghdad. Gen. Ray Odierno said the attacks have fallen in number but are still a problem. He made the comments just after the U.S. relinquished security for Baghdad and other urban areas to Iraqi forces, part of a security agreement that will see all American soldiers out of the country by the end of 2011. ‘Iran is still supporting, funding and training surrogates who operate inside of Iraq. They have not stopped and I don’t think they will stop,’ Odierno told reporters at the U.S. military headquarters outside Baghdad. ‘I think many of the attacks in Baghdad are from individuals that have been in fact funded or trained by the Iranians.’”





PJM Home
Accomplice to Evil: Iran and the War Against the West
The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots’ Quest for Destruction
The War Against the Terror Masters: Why It Happened. Where We Are Now. How We’ll Win.
Tocqueville on American Character: Why Tocqueville’s Brilliant Exploraton of the American Spirit is as Vital and Important Today as it was Nearly Two Hundred Years Ago
Machiavelli on Modern Leadership: Why Machiavelli’s Iron Rules are as Timely and Important Today as Five Centuries Ago
Freedom Betrayed: How America led a Global Democratic Revolution, Won the Cold War and Walked Away
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
36 Comments
1. dan:and still no one will stand up for direct american military intervention to neutralize the assets that allow this scum to clamp down on the people of iran? really? well – let’s all just ring our hands then while the supposedly much-hated regime gets nuclear weapons and increases its counterintelligence regime and the supposedly much-beloved iranian people.
you know, i fail to see how some regular posters here fail to see that, absent outside support – just as with khomenei and russia/tudeh in 1978-9 – the Islamic Revolution could just keep doing this forever and there will be nothing but a nuclear regime and a bunch of exciting moments where the iranians rise up – and no one comes to their aid, even as persian mothers scream into CNN cameras for US help just before they go dark.
iran *is* the problem in the area, the country that runs interference for the SCO’s middle eastern/islamic strategy. without iran, would hamas and hezbollah accept direct russian or chinese help? or course they could not, not politically anyway. & etc.
i know you don’t want to hear it, and i know this episode gives you hope, but the mullahs will not be dethroned voluntarily, and either way there will be blood. but if you have not yet learned to ignore the “international community” and its leninist perversions, there is no hope for you anyway. personally, if i was marching in tehran and the basij showed up and revolutionary guards manned the steps of the majilis – and all of a sudden the nearby military bases erupted in great fireballs of happiness, you think i’d be goddamning America? these are *people,* you idiots, not ideological props in a morality play.
Jun 30, 2009 - 10:40 am 2. drellberg:I have enjoyed all of Dr. Ledeen’s writings, including his books, without ultimately buying the “Faster, Please.” I felt that terrormasters, in their hubris, had overextended themselves, and that in time they would implode. With so many octogenarian potentates, time was on our side, notwithstanding the nuclear threat.
I thought there must be many things happening that we do not know, unseen but working relentlessly to undermine them.
But I am dumbfounded that with revolution at hand, the world has not only failed to support the people; they seem to have thwarted the revolution. I do not and can not understand. What could Obama et al possibly be thinking?
Jun 30, 2009 - 12:37 pm 3. David W. Lincoln:Michael, I still conclude that a new grouping is
needed, to stand up to political correctness.
As George Jonas, in his piece, “Hitler’s dream come true”, points out that it is okay for Arabs to practise what in the end can only be described as “Judenrein” (with Christians distinctly and perpetually locked into second class status in the eyes of the government).
Well, they cannot be allowed to get away with it.
So, do you think that the former member states
of the Warsaw Pact (excluding Russia for the time being), plus the parts of what was Yugoslavia, are willing to co-ordinate their foreign policies so that they reflect the Borjomi Declaration? For that would be the first step which would lead to preparatory regimes for those tribes with flags that endanger us. (The one’s you mentioned).
For, FDR thought about it for Vietnam, because
100 years of being a colony of France saw a reduction of the quality of life there.
In January, 1944 Lord Halifax met with Secretary of State Hull, and the Ambassador was going on information from various sources that President Roosevelt had told the “Turks, Egyptians and perhaps others” that “Indochina
should be taken away from the French and put
under an international trusteeship”.
The road not taken, as Mr. Frost put it, made
all the difference.
So, are we not going to take that road again?
Jun 30, 2009 - 1:30 pm 4. Professor Guvinoff:The Iranian regime has trapped itself into a mindless pursuit of divine vindication of their sense of superiority, and the promise of absolute hegemony therein.
Meanwhile, the West seems to have turned its back on its fundamental values, and lost interest in defending anything beyond immediate comfort.
The only thing that could stop the ever escalating depravity of the fanatic regime would be a proportional challenge from the west, which the iranian dissidents would be happy to join from within. America has chosen a leadership unable to step up to this security threat. This mistake has to be corrected before we can react effectively. Thanks God, the Israeli are awake, but we are snoozing at this point.
Jun 30, 2009 - 2:08 pm 5. Uzi:What will eventually win the global war against radical Islamism, is ending the oil age and the consequent financial empowerment of Iran to finance the global jihad and of Saudi Arabia to finance the Wahhabization of the Islamic world.
This – the ending of the oil age – will not be accomplished by the Obama Administration, or by any other government, but by the private sector and technological innovation (some of it made in Israel).
Most immediately, it will be accomplished by a fellow called Shai Agassi and his company “Better Place”. Agassi, an Israeli high tech wunder-kind, is likely to be remembered as the Henry Ford of the 21st century (but without the anti-Semitism), and as the man who ended the role of oil as a transportation fuel, at least for surface transport. Anyone who hasn’t heard of the man should GOOGLE him now.
Because of Shai Agassi and Better Place, ten or twelve years from now, the Saudis and the Iranians won’t know what hit them! (Quick, somebody get me a violin!)
Jun 30, 2009 - 10:36 pm 6. Pajamas Media » Can Iraq Survive Post-Withdrawal?:[...] Read the entire piece here. [...]
Jul 1, 2009 - 2:39 am 7. Realist:The Mohammedans know it they keep telling us that they are at war with us its just our dhimmi Politicians who either can’t or what seems most likely don’t want to hear. It does not fit with their Multi Culti, moral equivalence, PC moonbat view of the world. So its back to the heads in the sand and lets treat every incident as totally isolated and having no possible connection and for Gods sake don’t mention the ‘I’ word or the ‘M’ word in connection with any of them.
Jul 1, 2009 - 3:23 am 8. GA Knight:Any country like the USA that is so deluded and where nearly 90% of the violent crime is committed by Blacks and Hispanics and yet if you watched TV shows you would believe that its ALWAYS the white American guys or WHITE foreigners to blame and the black or hispanic guys are always the Police Chief,the Mayor, the Computer expert, the brilliant but cookie expert and the hero’s most trusted bestest ever friend. Is it any wonder such a deluded stupid populace who accept that sort of nonsense without complaint vote a CHARLATAN impostor to be the BOGUS POTUS.
Iraq? Around after we’ve left there?
Jul 1, 2009 - 3:47 am 9. "progressive"watch:Are you kidding me? It’s the U.S.A that may be gone before Iraq is. Get your head out of your *&% please.
Thank you.
It is surprising to me that considering the leaders Omama supports over the world,Akmadinejad,Chavez,but against Honduras,Israel,and his programs at home; and people still don’t get it. He is what they can’t admit to themselves he is,and they must admit it before he can be stopped.
Jul 1, 2009 - 4:20 am 10. Morton Doodslag:I am shocked at the way Dr. Ledeen continues to pretend that the problem with the Islamic Jihad is largely confined to a few Islamic regimes, and not with Islam itself.
Saudi Arabia is the epicenter of Sunni Islam. They have unlimited funds to manifest an unsullid version of Islam. Ditto Iran, just substitue “Sunni” for “Shiite”.
What has this yielded? It has unleashed two rival doctrines of Islam which (for our purposes as unbelivers) are virtually identicle to each other. Both support and fund worldwide Jihad to spread Islam to every corner of the globe. Both support and fund terror operations to further this Jihad. Both express unbridled genocidal hatred against those who don’t follow their particular brand of Islam. Both embrace brutal, terror based (Sharia-based) totalitarian anti-democratic tyrannies.
Are these regimes a HUGE problem for us? Of course they are. But the fact remains that Iran and Saudi Arabia are simply manifestations of Islam itself. The doctrine of Islam, the laws of Islam, the politics of Islam ultimately look exactly like Saudi Arabia and Iran. So if Islam itself is not destroyed, then derivative regimes such as SA or Iran are largely incidental in the span of time. Islam is an enemy doctrine. Muslims are the vectors of Islam. As long as Muslims remain Muslims, the “war on terror” will persist, and Muslims will consolidate their Jihad gains at our civilitational expense.
Every Muslim born on our soil is a victory for terror.
Jul 1, 2009 - 6:41 am 11. JED:Every convict or loser converted in jail or on campus is a victory for Jihad.
Every misguided fuzzy “analyst” who fails to state the truth about Islam, or who remains in place to spread falsehoods and lunacy about Islam is a great victory for Islam.
A clever fellow said that “Obama is heavily invested in the narrative of failure.” That phrase explains a number of the radical change philosophies and policys. The politically swindeled protestors in Iran were left to twist in the wind, and where a large American investment in blood and treasure may soon come to fruitation in Iraq, there is no reason to expect that current attitude would avoid the same fate.
Jul 1, 2009 - 7:33 am 12. Barry 0351:“No, Iraq will fall into a civil war and parts will be absorbed by Saudi Arabia and Iran.”
Jul 1, 2009 - 7:48 am 13. Scott:Sadly Morton is correct, its not just a few “regimes” or “radicals” but Islam itself. If you look at the originator of Islam itself you will find a genocidal murderer, pedophile, rapist, slaver, bandit, and megalomaniac. Mohamed is the epitome of what constitutes “a good Muslim” and nothing he ever did is looked at by Muslims as “wrong”. Contrast that with Buddha, Christ, and Moses. Even pagan religions like the ancient Greeks acknowledged that their gods and heroes were “flawed” and that these flaws should not be emulated or celebrated.
Jul 1, 2009 - 8:26 am 14. dan:Doodslag – I agree with you to some extent concerning the influence of Islam as doctrine and practice, but in my opinion a great deal could be done to reduce Islam as a strategic problem if we simply could neutralize the noxious governments of certain Muslim countries. Or if the people of those countries – those with whom Islam resonates as an atmospheric but have no real interest in stoning or jihad or whether to urinate with your left or right hand – could topple or eviscerate their present governments themselves. That would be the best option. I regret my tone of voice in my first post: a Glorious Revolution for Iran would be the best of all possible worlds. Unfortunately it is also my opinion that the Islamic Revolution and its apparatus is so entrenched, so vicious and cunning, and so overwhelmingly powerful vis a vis even the masses of the Iranian populace, that a Glorious Revolution does not look possible.
Jul 1, 2009 - 8:34 am 15. Don:I’ve said it before and I’ll say again: since WW2 republicans win wars and democrats loose them. In fact, it’s quite apparent that for left wing democrats there hasn’t been a legitimate war involving the U.S. since the great patriotic war to save Stalin! The Korean War was to stop, gasp, the first “fearless leader” of the north. The Vietnam War was, gasp, to prevent the aggression from the north of “Uncle Ho,” not to be confused with hoe. Excluding Vietnam, every war since, according to the left, has been over oil or crass imperial material interests, as if disembodied democrats don’t put their pants on too. The current administration is just more of the same. If another 9/11 happened, especially if it’s culprits could maintain plausible denial without proof positive, I suspect the current administration would do nothing, except wring their hands, issue platitudes about life is tragedy, and that learning should be suffering, the Yaqi way to knowledge. If they could establish the identities of the culprits, I’m sure the Department Of Justice will get warrants of arrest issued, to be served by the UN for trial in the Hague. Hey, there’s always hope, after all, they’re still having an occasional war crimes trial over the Cambodian holocaust committed by Pol Pot, another hero of the sixties old New Left, who blamed his mass killings on the Nixon doctrine. A million and half Cambodians died all because of Tricky Dick! Hell, that should give President Obama a free pass.
Jul 1, 2009 - 8:53 am 16. Delia:What happened to taking ‘baby steps’?
Jul 1, 2009 - 9:03 am 17. Proud_Kafir7908:Morton is right on the money. And Hugh Fitzgerald has written extensively on the subject at Jihadwatch.
Check out “Articles by Hugh Fitzgerald” on JW’s menu on top of their homepage, and you’ll be in for an overdose of truth and facts on the point Morton has made.
Jul 1, 2009 - 9:04 am 18. Professor Guvinoff:@ Uzi, #5
I’ll play a few Klezmer tunes on my fiddle when I get home after work tonight, to partake in your praise of Shai Agassi.
The overall war Micheal Ledeen is talking about has two possible outcomes: Either the medieval fanatics take us down (the easy option), or we successfully challenge them to elevate themselves into the modern world (the hard option). In that sense Iraq is a model of what the ultimate victory could look like if representative government takes hold in Mesopotamia, and utimately spreads across the millde East.
The election of Obama can only be the expression of a preference for the easy option among the american electorate at the present time. If the voices in support of the hard option ever get heard, that will come later, hopefully before it’s too late, and with enough determination to see the project through, which may take generations.
If the easy road is taken, the war may happen faster, but I don’t think this is the “faster” Mr. Ledeen is pleading for.
Jul 1, 2009 - 9:29 am 19. JUST A NORMAL GUY (THE ORIGINAL):WELL MR. LADEEN I WOULD’NT GO SO FAR TO SAY THAT ‘WE’ DITHERED, WELL BARACK HUSEIN OBAMA DITHERED BUT THE REST OF US TOOK A STRONG STAND BY HELPING THE IRANIN’S REVOLUTIONARY TWITTER CORPS AND POSTING ON OUR BLOG’S AND WEB SIGHT’S, WHICH REALLY STRUCK FEAR INTO THE HEART OF THE AH-MAD-IN-A-HEAD REGIME. WELL ANY WAYS I DO’NT THINK ‘WE’ HAVE ANY THING TO BE ASHAMED OF.
Jul 1, 2009 - 10:08 am 20. sallie:the answer to the main question is a resounding….
… “NO”….
“They” are just waiting for us to leave…We lost many lives, and we lost the war…say anything that you want to..we did not win, period.
evil is incedious…like a thief in the night….like a fog that seeps into every crook and cranny….and it’s still in Iraq and surrounding Iraq…
Again…the answer to the main question …”NO”….
Jul 1, 2009 - 10:58 am 21. e:Quite simply, the Iraqis MUST do this themselves. Sure we can support them with our blood and treasure. But in the end it must be the Iraqis who govern and defend themselves.
The world isn’t ideal and I doubt that waiting a little longer will make it any easier than it is now.
Iraq is not an place where I am disagreeing with Obama’s actions (actions, not words). Partially because he’s pretty much doing what Bush did.
Jul 1, 2009 - 11:40 am 22. kenny komodo:Whatever has become of (please pardon my spelling) Muqtada al Sadar. I haven’t heard his name mentioned in a long time and I don’t think he’s been killed. What is going to happen when he revamps up his army and try to take control of Sadar city again? Will the Iraqi army fight? Will they fight without U.S. support? Will we be forced to bring troops in? Or will Obambi just cut and run which is what he’s wanted to do right from the beginning. Mr. Ledeen is quite correct, this is indeed a tough question. The answer depends on the Iraqi’s themselves, on how much they want liberty and freedom or will their ages old hatreds and jealousies rule the day as they watch their country sink into anarchy and civil war. Stay tuned.
Jul 1, 2009 - 11:51 am 23. Steve:Diana West is the best MSM journalist on Islamic/Middle East affairs. No one is even a close second.
She states:
“Oh, let’s try to guess: ….”many Iraqis express their heartfelt thanks for everything the US has sacrificed to protect and liberate them?”
Nah.
“….Many Iraqis said the government rhetoric was embarassing and that Maliki should have thanked the United States?
Nah. Here’s the scoop:
While the official Iraqi government rhetoric was triumphal and often made it sound as if Iraq had won a victory over the United States, many Iraqis expressed skepticism, saying there was not yet much to celebrate since American troops remained in Iraq even if they were out of sight.
Sickening. But you ain’t seen nothing yet:
The following is a selection of comments from the south to the north of Iraq. Reporters surveyed about 35 people.
In BASRA, the mood was generally skeptical.
Haider Muhammed Ali, 31, a communications engineer:
“The withdrawal doesn’t represent national sovereignty because the troops will remain at the airport base and will stay inside Iraq.”
Samir Alwan, 28 years, owner of a mini market:
“They will not withdraw to their homes in their country. They will stay here and in emergency cases they would enter the city. So it is not national sovereignty according to my point of view, and I think the Iraqi Army is only able to control the southern areas. They are unable to make Baghdad and Mosul safe.”
Najim Salim, 40 years, a teacher.
“There is no doubt it is not national sovereignty because they will stay inside Iraq in military bases. The Government wants to convince the citizens that there is a withdrawal of foreign troops, although the Government could not protect citizens in some cities in Iraq even with the presence of U.S. forces. So the Government will fail to protect citizens after the withdrawal, and then the Government will ask the foreign troops to come back.”
Ayman Jasim, 37 years, a photographer .
“I am happy for the withdraw of Americans it is national day and national sovereignty come back again to Iraq. I believe Iraqi troops will control the city and nothing will happen after their withdrawal.”
Lovely people.
Our new ally to replace Israel in the Middle East. Right!
BTW how about all those Christians being murdered in an act of genocide in not only Iraq but all Muslim countries.
Where are all the liberal American Jews on this issue? Spewing hate about Evangelicals?
http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/949/Iraqs-Leader-Iraqs-People.aspx
Jul 1, 2009 - 1:06 pm 24. Delia:20. sallie:
the answer to the main question is a resounding….
… “NO”….
“They” are just waiting for us to leave…We lost many lives, and we lost the war…say anything that you want to..we did not win, period.
evil is incedious…like a thief in the night….like a fog that seeps into every crook and cranny….and it’s still in Iraq and surrounding Iraq…
Again…the answer to the main question …”NO”….
~
Sallie, I’m afraid you may be right in the sense that, you can’t FORCE people to be free. People have to WANT freedom to be free and once our troops are gone, I fear that the ‘regime’ mentality will once again rule.
The ‘insidious’ part is that people who really DO want freedom [Iranians] are being killed and tortured as we type.
Jul 1, 2009 - 3:22 pm 25. flickervertigo:yeah.
there’s still a few holes in the neocon curtain we gotta plug up, especially iran.
progress report: the neocon curtain
Jul 1, 2009 - 5:13 pm 26. Delia:25. flickervertigo,
I taught your grandmother to suck eggs and that’s all you have to show for it? HA!
Jul 1, 2009 - 6:25 pm 27. Delia:7H3 1|24Q1&|25QU0;5 w1LL 0nLy 5U|2v1v3 1f 7H3y |}3M4n|} f|233|}0M f|20M 15L4M.
Jul 1, 2009 - 6:42 pm 28. Michael Lonie:Muqtada as-Sadr is still around. He was studying in Iran to try to become an ayatollah, that is a genuine member of the Shi’a ulema, which he was not before. His militia fell apart and the Iraqi Army went into Basra and cleaned the Sadrists out, something the British had been unwilling to do for several years. They were also pretty much smashed in Baghdad. As-Sadr was trying, when last heard from, to make a political comeback. I think he did not do too well in the last elections, where the religious parties were not too successful in general.
There are lots of Iraqis and no doubt they have different opinions about the US troops. I have always rather suspected that we would get French Appreciation from them. But implanting halfway decent consensual government in the Arab Middle East where there have been only tyrannies before is important for fighting against the jihadist terrorism whose attacks on us culminated on 9/11. This terrorism arises from the dysfunctional political culture of the Middle East, where the only political breathing space is in the mosques, which even the most determined dictator cannot shut down. Thus political opposition perforce takes a religious line to be effective. All secular ones are shut down. For the terrorism to be made negligible this must change and be reformed. The Iraq Camapign was a major step in doing this, one important campaign in a larger war.
As for those rubbishing the dreaded Neocons, on 9/11/2001 the Neocons were the only people who understood what had happened and were the only people who had a realistic idea of what to do about it. As far as I can see that is still the case. Nothing their critics have said, on either the looney right or on the left, have given evidence of understanding the problems or of having any clear idea of what to do about them. So we get from those critics 9/11 Trootherism, people who want to go back to the failed policies of the Clinton Administration (if not that of Carter), antisemitism masquerading as foreign policy critiques, and other irrelevancies. Wise up.
Jul 1, 2009 - 8:57 pm 29. Delia:UPDATE: From the AP, “The top U.S. military commander in Iraq on Tuesday accused Iran of continuing to support and train militants who are carrying out attacks, including most of the ones in Baghdad. Gen. Ray Odierno said the attacks have fallen in number but are still a problem. He made the comments just after the U.S. relinquished security for Baghdad and other urban areas to Iraqi forces, part of a security agreement that will see all American soldiers out of the country by the end of 2011. ‘Iran is still supporting, funding and training surrogates who operate inside of Iraq. They have not stopped and I don’t think they will stop,’ Odierno told reporters at the U.S. military headquarters outside Baghdad. ‘I think many of the attacks in Baghdad are from individuals that have been in fact funded or trained by the Iranians.’”
Michael, the small type gave my eyeballs a headache so I reposted it in ‘regular’ print.
Jul 1, 2009 - 10:41 pm 30. flickervertigo:Michael Lonie says…
Jul 2, 2009 - 1:13 am 31. flickervertigo:how you gonna starve russia into submission when the price of oil is going back up?
if the neocons said, in sept 2000, that they needed a new pearl harbor, what do they need now? …nuke first strikes on russia and china?
that oughta be good for a couple giggles.
Jul 2, 2009 - 4:26 am 32. vivo:A country gets what it deserves.
Jul 2, 2009 - 5:06 am 33. flickervertigo:the gas and oil are getting away from the neocons.
god forbid we quit blowing people up and, with the money we save, buy the oil.
i guess that’s too radical an idea, and not much fun, too boot…
Jul 2, 2009 - 5:20 am 34. flickervertigo:exxon, the AEI necons’ buddy (remember the AEI, whose PNAC spinoff admitted to needing “a new pearl harbor” in september of 2000, just before they were installed… etc etc etc?)
…anyhow, exxon wouldnt pay the iraqis what they want for their oil… did you notice that?…
we tear their country to shreds, kill hundreds of thousands, and after all we’ve done for them, they wont give us their oil…
ungrateful bastards
.
Jul 2, 2009 - 5:37 am 35. Jassem Othman:well, at least israel doesnt have to worry about iraq for a while.
The United States won the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it is impossible to imagine freedom and security adequately in the Middle East even the security of the world so long as Khamanei regime reigns in Iran, and the Al-Assad family dictatorships reigns in Syria and the Saudi monarchy in Saudi Arabia. The Iranians, Syrians, and the Saudi royal family, they all dare not acquiesce in the creation of the freedom and success in Iraq, because that would mightily threaten their own survival. All leaders in the region believe that America was planned beforehand by invading Iraq to remove Saddam’s regime. They believe if one president will be removed, in meantime all the other leaders in the region felt they likewise could be removed by US military force. They all have been trained combatants and sent them freely cross the borders from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Jordan in order to deliver money, weapons.
As for Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Arabia is your ally and in the same time is your enemy. obviously that Saudi government had strongly and strongly backed the Wahhabi thought throughout the world and that Islamist fundamentalism totalitarian movement financed and supported strongly and strongly by the stupid Saudi royal family and the wealthy Saudis, where the Saudis provide money for terrorist groups and support a global network of radical Wahhabi mosques and schools that indoctrinate young Muslims in the ways of Jihad. In other words “the Saudi enormous oil proceeds became in service of Jihad against Zionists and Crusaders.” Once, King Abdullah had condemned presence of American troops in Iraq.
But I really wonder interestingly!!! The US POSSESSES a lot of information proving the complicity of the Syrian regime and Iranian regime in the steady flow of terrorists from Syria and Iran to Iraq and Afghanistan as well. And that Evil regimes in the region “Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia” they humiliated the United States and harmed the America’s interests in the region, and though President Obama has announced he is sending an ambassador to Damascus, Syria.
Yet every American president from Mr Jimmy Carter to Mr Barack Obama has convinced themselves that they can reach a workable, long-term modus vivendi with the Islamic Republic?! Of course they know that any solutions of negotiation will NEVER be accomplished and though American administration or “Administration of Doves” does NOT WANT to hear these things “None are so blind as those who will not see.”
However, I would like to remind the humiliating defeat makers who are calling to the US withdrawal from Iraq. Any pullout from Iraq will lead to a big disaster and unforgivable crime, if you abandon the Iraq and the region in this case you really will lose the peace by abandoning the battlefield prematurely, above all you will hurt your influence in the region!!! And also if the United States going to withdraw from Iraq this will prove the case not only in Iraq, but also elsewhere in the Arabian Gulf, the Middle East, South Korea, Europe and another places throughout the world. On the other hand, today you could see most of the United States partners from States of Arabian Gulf became have an tendencies to build warm relations with Russia, North Korea and China. This is proving bad-faith toward the US.
Jul 3, 2009 - 1:50 pm 36. joeblough:Just a side note, the broad war stretches east to Thailand, Malasia and the Philippines and south into Africa.
BTW, we have every reason to believe that it is quietly setting down roots in South America as we consider this.
Jul 5, 2009 - 11:42 am