Another Bad Day In Iraq
by Steve
It’s been another bloody and costly day for US forces in Iraq, as two US Blackhawk copters collided during Operation Iron Hammer activities in Mosul, killing at least 12 US soldiers and injuring at least nine more. One of the Blackhawks was trying to avoid ground fire when it collided with the other copter. There is a report that the copter was trying to avoid a ground-fired missile when it crashed into the second copter. Another report said that the first copter had already been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade when it was trying to avoid the missile. Both copters were responding to an ambushed US patrol when they went down. In other words, our guys were dragged into a situation as if they were sitting ducks.
In a related story, following on the heels of Bush’s recent “Let’s Cut and Run Before the November Election” timetable, the Iraqi Governing Council is now saying that they will take over from the Coalition Provisional Authority of Paul “Deer in the Headlights” Bremer within six months. Most noteworthy is that the announcement from of all people Ahmad Chalabi, came after a meeting this morning with Bremer, where it appeared that the Iraqis have told the CPA that after they take over from the CPA, the CPA will be dissolved and the Council will assume full sovereign powers. Chalabi said that the coalition will dissolve and the occupation will end by June 2004, just in time for the campaign season here at home.
Left unsaid by the Americans is what will happen to our troops. The Governing Council is now saying that after June 2004 the US military would be in Iraq only as “invited guests.” But the appearance is that we are being thrown out by the Iraqis, and specifically Chalabi. At this point, it will get interesting if the Iraqis want us gone and Bush/Cheney insist that we stay. What will we do then? Defy the wishes of the Iraqis? Regardless of whether it plays out this way, since Pacemaker Dick and the rest of the PNAC cabal have wanted Chalabi to assume power since Day One, they will be accountable for whatever comes after Chalabi tries to assert power in Iraq.
Even though the Bushies are saying that the exit from Iraq will not be driven by political concerns, some are alarmed at the possibility that we will leave Iraq too soon, only to see a more unstable situation left behind. In other words, the Bush Administration and its all-star PNAC foreign policy team is on the verge of screwing up Iraq as bad as we have already screwed up Afghanistan, where both the Taliban and Al Qaeda are making a comeback in a campaign that according to our own military is just as dangerous as Iraq.
Swell. What else do you want to screw up George, and who else's sons and daughters do you plan to endanger overseas in 2005?