9 years ago
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The Real Problem in Iraq
The effort to defeat ISIS is colliding with the very nature of what Iraq and Syria are—or, more accurately, what they are not. By Dexter Filkins.
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http://www.newyorker.com
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IS militants look for collaborators after taking Iraqi city
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Iran-aligned Shiite militias gather to join fight against Islamic State gains
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U.S. fears Shi'ite militias could worsen Iraqi sectarian fires
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Pentagon to accept help from Shia militias in Iraq
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ISIS Finances Are Strong
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White House: Fall of Ramadi to ISIS a 'setback'
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ISIL military victory belies rosy U.S. progress reports. By Michael Crowley
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New York Times: “ISIS Fighters Seized Advantage in Iraq Attack by Striking During Sandstorm”
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Rout of Ramadi reawakens Iraq to 'brutal reality.' By Martin Chulov
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Fall of Ramadi to ISIS Weakens Rule of Iraqi Premier
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The fall of Ramadi was avoidable. By sundry and various Kagans [whilst cackling and rubbing their hands in glee]
Additional Contributions:
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+4Submitted 9 years ago by AdelleChattre
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+3Submitted 9 years ago by AdelleChattre
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+1Submitted 9 years ago by AdelleChattre
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The real problem in Iraq?.......President Obama's withdrawal.
By which you mean the withdrawal the Bush Administration negotiated? The one in the Status of Forces Agreement that Bush signed personally?
Arguably the problem in Iraq had more to do with the Bush Administration starting the war than the Bush Administration's negotiated withdrawal from it, which you seem to've misidentified as an Obama Administration move.
Me, it just makes my head spin. I ran out of fingers to count the trillions of dollars wasted on the Liars' Wars.
Sorry darling the withdrawal took place under Obama's admin, despite warnings of his commanders in the field and the obvious ineptitude of Iraq's new army.
Abiding by the Status of Forces Agreement the Bush Administration had negotiated with the Maliki government. Argue that McCain would've broken that agreement if you like, but there's no denying the Bush Administration signed off on the total withdrawal of American forces. Ostensibly it was an Iraqi decision, even if it was decided in Tehran.
During the election campaign: "Bush said Tuesday that he would keep the U.S. force strength in Iraq largely intact until the next president takes over ". Don't blame others for Obama's actions, it's too, too old and displays a pathetic excuse for intelligence.
He said that on Sept. 9, 2008. On Dec. 14, he signed the SOFA but you probably heard more on the news that day about the president ducking some shoes thrown at him.
Did Bush not "keep the U.S. force strength in Iraq largely intact until the next president takes over "? Honey , Obama's troops left Iraq, not Bush's. It's a little thing called Commander in Chief.
Oh, Sweetie, I’m sure your non sequitur is fine. If you want to hitch your wagon to the wisdom of the Bush Administration’s choice and schedule of force levels in Iraq, I’m sure that’s fine for you to do, too.
Yes, I’m sure I’ve heard of the notion of ‘commander in chief’ somewhere before, but thanks for taking out the time to mansplain it to me that way.
Bush's agreement to the total withdrawal of American forces was arguably the only thing he got right about that war, even if it came in the last few days of his administration. It couldn't have been easy for him to accept, but Maliki would not be convinced. The Iraqi president knew to whom he answered, and it wasn't Bush.
Bush’d made a rhetorical point of his deep misreading of the lessons of America's war in Vietnam. Comparing Iraq to Vietnam, he said “We'll succeed unless we quit.” The utter collapse of the U.S. economy in his last months in office must have taxed his immense intellect for him to've accidentally signed the SOFA he did, locking in the timetable for the complete American withdrawal.
Another, different lesson one could take from the American loss in Vietnam might have been that the U.S. never understood the conflict, never could’ve achieved its war aims on the terms it did understand and was willing to fight it with, and that no amount of ‘Vietnamization’ of the war was going to change what would happen as the U.S. withdrew. Let me remind you the national debt mushroomed to pay for that misguided adventurism.
Applied to the Iraqi civil war, those seem more accurate lessons than the lesser Bush’s version.
"Because of Barack Obama the mission in Iraq ended."
— Barack Obama on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 in a campaign ad