Big Thread O' Iraq (with bonus Iran!)

[Sky Warrior Bob]

Well, we've had troop surges before, and they haven't really helped things. As for increasing troop levels, that's more of something that comes into play down the road, it won't really change anything in the short term.

And of course, the various US forces will do their best to resolve the situation in Iraq. That's not the question Flare, the question is whether its the best decision that can be made, and if we can even trust Iraq to hold of their end of the equation.

Just throwing more money & troops at the current situation won't fix it. And from what Bush is suggesting, that seems its the only thing he intends to do.

And there's so much more that could be done. Personally, I like the idea of moving around the Sunni, Shite & Kurds around to their own distinctive areas. However, instead of letting the Kurds settle up North, on Turkey's boarder, I say put them in the oil rich areas.

Of the three groups, they seem the most disinterested in the oil, and therefore might be the best group to distribute it in a fair manner.

Talking w/ Iran shouldn't be such an issue. Its hard to say that we've done everything we can, when we really don't even negotiate.

And there is this recent poll which shows the troops being more dissatisfied with the way things are going.

Also, here's the recent interview that Keith did w/ Paul Rieckhoff, of Iraq & Afganistan Vetrans of America, and author of Chasing Ghosts.

SWB

[Fifthfiend]

SWB, merged your thread into the Big Thread o' Iraq, because I have to do something to justify my existence.

Anyway yes, I'm pretty sure George is on track to escalate this mess into a regional war.

I'm not sure where I heard it said but the pattern more or less holds true:

A. Administration warns of consequence X, which can only be prevented by our continued involvement in Iraq.

B. Continued involvement in Iraq contributes directly to occurence of consequence X.

C. Administration warns of even worse consequence Y, which can only be prevented by our involvement in Iraq.

And repeat.

Proven true where value of X = chaos, = fundamentalist Islamic law, = Al Qaeda infiltration, = civil war, = ethnic cleansing. It's like watching the federal Executive as Vegas hard-luck case, doubling down on 16 cause he's got nowhere else to go.

[Dragonsbane]

Of course, with that circular pattern of the solution advancing the problem, "state of emergency/wartime/heightened threat" powers are easier for the Administration to justify...there is a level of self-interest mixed in with the incompetence.

We really should be taking people out of Iraq by now, compare the length of our involvement with the time spent in other "conflicts" of a similar nature, and even with our actual, legal wars, and you will notice that we have been in Iraq too damned long.

[Sky Warrior Bob]

And while I'm sure this will be no big suprise to any, but apparently the Bush administration is overstating Iran's involvement in Iraq.

Personally, I want to see a Senator demand to see what prompted that raid on the Iran consolate in the first place, aside from the fact that its run by Iran.

SWB

[Fifthfiend]

Came across this, it seemed worth noting.

IRAQ: Lina Massufi, Iraq “I cannot stand the constant military raids in my home”

BAGHDAD, 22 Jan 2007 (IRIN) - “My name is Lina Massufi. I’m a 32-year-old laboratory assistant who works 10 hours a day just to make enough money to raise my children.

“My life has been like hell over the past three months. US and Iraqi soldiers have raided my house more than 12 times.

“My husband, Khalil, was killed during the US invasion in 2003 when he drove through a closed road and soldiers shot him dead.

“I live in Haifa Street, one of the most dangerous places to live in Baghdad today. The area is infamous for its huge number of insurgents. This is why Iraqi and US soldiers have increased their activity in the area, constantly raiding homes and arresting men for interrogation.

“Last month, they arrested my 23-year-old brother Fae’ek, who lives with me. He is a pharmacy student but nonetheless they took him and kept him in prison for more than a week - even after knowing he was innocent. He returned with signs of torture on his body and was crying like a baby because of the pain.

“I cannot stand the constant military raids in my home. Every time they [the soldiers] raid my house, they break the door. They don’t know how to knock at a door. One day, when I asked them why they were entering like that instead of ringing the bell, they laughed at me and called me an idiot.

“My furniture is all broken into pieces because of the way they conduct their searches. I no longer have dishes or glasses to speak of because they destroyed most of them during the raids.

“I have two children and for most of the time, they are scared. Muhammad, a four-year-old, cannot sleep well at night. He has nightmares every day and when he wakes up he cries, asking me not to let the soldiers take him as they took his uncle.

“Fadia, my daughter, who is only eight years old, doesn’t want to go to school because she says that if they raid our home and I’m not around, they would do something bad to her brother. But with her at home, she can help him not be afraid.

“Our neighbourhood is in the middle of a constant war. It is not safe for us to leave or enter our houses. Most of the shops around here are closed. We have to walk about 5km to buy food like vegetables and rice.

“Sometimes, when I return by taxi from my job, which is about 45 minutes from my home, I find the street closed and bullets flying around everywhere.

“I start to cry as I become afraid that something might have happened to my children even though I know that my brother is there. I know that when I get home, I will find Muhammad crying and Fadia scared but I cannot stay all day at home because if I leave my job, there will be no one to feed them.

“It is common to see at least three corpses on Haifa Street each day and sometimes up to eight, as happened last week. They are fighters, innocent civilians or soldiers. No one takes care of them [the bodies] because if you tried to get closer, you could become the next victim.

“I have nowhere to run to. I have to withstand this desperate situation hoping that one day we will live in peace again, even if it seems that it might take dozens of years for that to happen.”

In other news, I was reading a WSJ story about an Iraqi who worked for the US as a translator. He got half his face blown off by a roadside bomb and sent to Egypt, but now that he's better they want to make him return to Iraq. Where he doesn't want to go because he'll almost certainly be tortured and killed by the militias.

The fucking hell we've created.

[Lady Cygnet]

Originally Posted by fifthfiend

Came across this, it seemed worth noting.

IRAQ: Lina Massufi, Iraq “I cannot stand the constant military raids in my home”



In other news, I was reading a WSJ story about an Iraqi who worked for the US as a translator. He got half his face blown off by a roadside bomb and sent to Egypt, but now that he's better they want to make him return to Iraq. Where he doesn't want to go because he'll almost certainly be tortured and killed by the militias.

The fucking hell we've created.

What in the HELL were they hoping to find that justified raiding that poor woman's house TWELVE TIMES? Those poor little children will probably be having nightmares for the rest of their lives...what's worse is that I know that they aren't the only victims.

How much good has been accomplished in Iraq, really? Saddam Hussein is gone, which is good for the survivors of his atrocities, but that same good could have been accomplished by a tactician and a squad of hitmen. Even the election caused more conflict than it solved. If someone could provide infomation about the good that has come out of this war, I'd love to see it.

And how on earth does a guy get better after having half of his face blown off? Did they reconstruct his face? It seems cruel to force him to return to Iraq after what he's been through.