You just want to see gloom and doom everywhere, don't you? I disagree with the author's conclusions. We have not sealed the fate of the Sunnis. They have a choice to go along with the new government or not. If they choose not to go along, everyone loses because there will be a civil war and the Kurds and Shiites can't field an army big enough to protect the oil infrastructure and provide security.
At the end of the day, the voices of reason may win out. The smart Shiite leaders recognize that they can't move forward without the Sunnis, no matter how much they hate them. That's why al-Sistanti and al-Sadr, of all people, oppose federalism in the draft constitution. The way I see it, we have already achieved most of what we set out to achieve. The removed Saddam and the Baathist government. We provided the Iraqis with a chance to build a representative government themselves. And now we are providing them with a chance to fight for their government. >This was written into the WSJ and I thought it pretty much summed it up: > >It is a hobson's choice. Our invasion and occupation has created more >problems in the Middle East ironically just when there are hopeful >signs in Israel and Palestine. We have found a way to bring together >the very two nations we worked so hard to keep apart - Iraq and Iran. >Combining their oil and gas resources, they could displace Saudia >Arabia as the single most powerful alliance in the Islamic world. > >On the other hand, we have all but sealed the fate of Sunnis and >secular Iraqis who, over time, will be persecuted and either >imprisoned or driven from their homeland by an increasingly religious >government. The liklihood of a divided Iraq with the southern region >affiliated with Iran and the northern Kurdish region becoming the >staging area of an already growing Kurdish (and terrorist complete >with bombs and civilian dead) rebellion against Turkey. > >And in the middle of all this, taking a beating with every passing day >is a beseiged American military. Casualty rates are now approaching >100 fatalities a month - triple the rate in prior months. As time has >passed, the insurgency has become better organized and more lethal - >just what you would expect. And Americans, like the British before >them, survive by holding up inside encampments and when they venture >out - they die. > >So there we are. We cannont "win" because there is no definable >victory point. We cannot leave because chaos and regional instability >will surely follow in the form of civil wars and we cannot stay >because our very presence reinforces the nationalistic beliefs of the >locals that we are merely occupiers trying to protect our access to >their oil wealth. > >A fine bit of leadership I would say, finer still when you realize it >was all predictable. Mission accomplished. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| All-in-one: antivirus, antispam, firewall for your PC and PDA. Buy Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=60 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:171087 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
