Apparently this news eats the Left’s lunch:
Iraq’s government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday.
So let me get this straight: We’re being “offered” the “opportunity” to station 50,000 troops permanently in Iraq, and all we have to do is agree to keep fighting Iraq’s civil war.
And somehow this proves how wrong we liberals have been. You see, the following liberal opinions:
- that Bush’s goal is continued occupation of Iraq;
- that the Iraqi government is entirely unready to provide for the security of their country*;
- that in the end this is all about corporatism and ‘U.S. interests’
are all conclusively debunked by
- the Iraqi “offer” of the “opportunity” to maintain 50,000 troops in Iraq;
- in exchange for “protection against foreign threats and internal coups”;
- and the promise of preferential treatment for U.S. corporations in Iraqi governmental contracts.
Well, gee. Is my face red.
Then again, let’s look on the bright side: Those contractors we keep complaining about will finally be…
home.
Yay.
* Somehow, this always needs explaining: Do I consider it an insult to opine that the recently-formed Iraqi government, formed in an atmosphere of sectarian violence, demobbed military, and crumbling infrastructure might be incapable at present of doing something that, let’s face it, the US military has mixed success with? No, I don’t. And neither does the Iraqi government, based on today’s news.
10 Responses to “Boy, did they show us”
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Trying to figure out what I’m looking at here. This is about Iraq’s parliamentary decision due at the end of the year as to whether to renew/revoke the U.S.’s permission to stay in the country, right?
Isn’t 50,000 troops about the amount to which the mainstream Democratic presidential candidates were planning to draw troops down to under their “withdrawal” plans?
When should we expect this down-by-2/3 shift to occur, if the plan is approved? Would troops start pulling out at the end of the year, or would this be an “indeterminate future” kind of thing?
Found this part interesting:
You forgot to mention “Using up military equipment so we have a good excuse to spend billions buying more”.
‘Course they’re also using up military personnel, but who at the country club cares about that?…
The initiative is highly unlikely to be successful.
Unless we have a parliamentary purge or some extralegal shenanigans are employed. But what are the chances of that?
President Bush’s National Strategy for Victory in Iraq defines victory as including “An Iraq that is peaceful, united, stable, democratic, and secure, where Iraqis have the institutions and resources they need to govern themselves justly and provide security for their country.” (emphasis added) If we’re providing security, the strategy has failed.
Although I still can’t figure out, what happens if it fails? Anything?
Iraq’s government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday.
“The Parliament of Poland is pleased to announce they have reached an agreement with their German visitors, offering them a long-term troop presence in Warsaw in exchange for strategic foreign and military coordination between the two independent nations…”
This is an example of how the Iraqi “government” has no sovereignty. It really is a puppet state. We saw that before with the fact that their decision to kick Blackwater out of the country was overturned by the Bush regime.
Haven’t we heard this song before? When are we going to start hearing about “Iraqization”?
So we get to protect the current crop of yahoos against anyone who might actually form a working government in return for completely unfulfillable promises of access to money when they have some that we didn’t give them?
This almost makes the last four years of iraq policy look sane.
(in my best Steven Wright voice)
Yes, they showed us. I was so wrong.