It’s a Quagmire, Stupid!

by Marie

It was a quagmire foretold. Before Americans grabbed their bowls of popcorn and sat their fat butts down in front of the TV to relish “Shock and Awe.” Their ignorance of the political, cultural, religious and economic factors in Iraq allowed them to believe that an invasion would be simple. That smashing Saddam and Iraq would satisfy their lust for something we call “victory.” Their arrogance and belief in the power of American military might precludes them from seeing that a US victory in Iraq is an impossible dream. That the only open questions are how long we stay, how many more injuries and deaths will occur and how much more it’s going to cost the US.

heads cannot admit defeat or what questions remain. They will never admit defeat. This country could stay in Iraq for twenty years and bankrupt the US, and they still wouldn’t admit defeat. Denied their “victory” (translation, US control of Iraq’s oil (it will last a lot longer with us there because it won’t be as quickly pumped), US permanent bases in Iraq to bomb surrounding countries at will and a US puppet Iraqi government), they will blame Americans for the defeat. That Americans lacked the will to win.

But Bush isn’t the problem. He’s never been the problem. The problem has always been the Vichy Democrats. The ones as incapable of speaking the truth as Bush is. The wimps, the ignoramuses and/or liberal war hawks. The same ones that voted for the IWR, Patriot Act and the bankruptcy bill. The ones that weren’t out front and center forewarning that Bush’s tax cuts would cause the National Debt to mushroom and never shut up as it did. They are still the problem (and I don’t mean DINO Lieberman who at least has been honest about loving this war from the beginning to this day).

Nobody knows if al Qaeda is sending recruits into Iraq for training, but if they are, their numbers can’t be all that large and many of them will die instead of being redeployed to a new mission. It’s a stupid reason to cite for why the US should withdraw from Iraq, and Democrats using it are again demonstrating the same lazy thinking that got us into this mess in the first place. Seems to me that Iraq could become an even better training ground for al Qaeda if we were out of there. With the Shia in control, Iraq could be more like the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, and al Qaeda might even be welcomed to fight against the secular Sunnis. Or the Sunnis would welcome them in the short run to fight against the Shia. Or Zarqawi or Sadr would welcome them. Tough call since al Qaeda doesn’t have a natural ally in Iraq except for maybe Zarqawi, but he’s a Jordanian, if he exists at all.

Nobody knows if the US invasion of Iraq has made the US less secure, from a military standpoint. It’s not as if other countries are mobilizing on our borders, preparing to invade because our military heavy equipment and arms are stuck in and being destroyed in Iraq. Maybe it makes us more secure because as long as we’re stuck in Iraq, we’re not threatening other countries and creating even more enemies around the globe. Destroying the US Army may lead us to appreciate that beyond its symbolic value, it is of little use in our national defense.

Nobody can articulate exactly how the US presence in Iraq (or Kuwait) for one more day will improve the situation. We broke it and haven’t a clue as to how to fix it. The people of Iraq may be similarly clueless, but they have a vested interest in fixing it that we don’t have, and 80% of them would prefer to fix it without us there . I don’t have any romantic illusions that they will resolve it quickly or peacefully. Or that what they create will be admired or envied. We are, after all, talking about a people that couldn’t get it together enough to do what Serbia, Iran or Rumania did. (How embarrassing it must be for them to see what a whiny little weenie Saddam is. How they feared a man who can’t even handle being deprived of a shower, exercise or cigarettes. ) The Kurds would undoubtedly like us to stay forever, because as long as we’re there, nobody is paying them any mind, leaving the corrupt Kurdish leaders to steal with impunity.

Nobody is talking about the only thing the US can do for Iraq: reparation payments. Halliburton et al. are not only incapable of rebuilding in the midst of a low level guerrilla war, their prices are exorbitant. Iraqi corruption construction surcharges are cheaper than American ones, provided we ban Chalabi and his cronies from this. (If the Iraqis have any sense, they would ship Chalabi to Jordan.)

Remaining in Iraq is the only thing worse than moving our butts to Kuwait. What the hell would we be waiting in Kuwait for? To rush back in if a full blown civil war ensues? Why would we want to give Iraqis a common enemy again? Cooling our heels in Kuwait may be palatable to Americans but that’s only because we are in denial. Denial that we broke it, can’t fix it or buy it (at least not at a price we’re willing to pay). A denial that is encouraged by the Vichy Democrats like Kerry who only yesterday said, “I learned thirty years ago that we must ask the toughest questions of all when our troops are in harm’s way.” No, John, we must ask the toughest questions of all before our troops are in harm’s way. You, John, are part of the problem and therefore, not part of the solution. (And you still sound like a clueless pompous ass.)