Slaughter in Iraq

Take a look at the suicide bombing casualties in the last week.  Once again - What did we win in Iraq?

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2011/0120/Karbala-and-the-surge-of-Iraq-attacks

pl

Comments

[Lysander]

Col,

I'm afraid it depends on what you mean by "we."

"We," the United States and "we," the people of Iraq, didn't win much at all.

But "We," the people who wanted to divide and destroy a potentially powerful Arab country won quite a victory, though it will be a Pyrrhic one, if Iran gets to pic up the pieces and rearrange them to her liking.

[John Minnerath]

Some conservative group called Vets for Freedom is lobbying for him to be moved up to 5 stars!

[William R. Cumming]

Do Iraqi casulties have any impact on US policy in Iraq? Did they ever?

[Charles I]

Let us hope your picture today doesn't say it all.

[b]

@John - "Vets for Freedom" asking for totally ridiculous fifths star for Petreaus are a right-wing Republican controlled group promoting their "candidate"

Who Are Those Guys Who Want Petraeus to Get His Fifth Star?

[Patrick Lang]

Charles I

I don't understand your point. pl

[SL Earp]

Made Iraq safe for Iran

[Green Zone Cafe]

Again, "we" didn't win anything; we lost a lot.

The Iraqis, on the other hand, have a chance to build a more decent state.

The bombings last week are from the vestiges of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

First, as an Iraqi member of parliament has already pointed out - an advantage of the opening of political dialogue - it's unforgivable that the Iraqi army and police still line up masses of recruits in public places accessible to suicide bombers. How many times has this happened since 2003, and why is it still happening? Incompetence, and maybe the Iraqi parliament and a freer press might force change.

Second, the bombing yesterday was another in a series of evil acts targeting ordinary Shia pilgrims for slaughter. It may be that the USA caused these murderers to be unleashed in Iraq, but one can only hope for their defeat by the Iraqi government. I think they will eventually be isolated and defeated.

[Patrick Lang]

GZC

I hope that your hopes are justified. pl

[Fred]

"That decision would require approval of Maliki and the rest of the Iraqi government, ..." So nice to know the American government has no say in the deployment of its army.

"..thanks to a new willingness of US forces to pay Sunni fighters to join organized militias targeting Al Qaeda fighters..." At least the CSM got this part right.

Lysander, I must disagree with your view. The 'we' that won still have the money and power within the US.

I think that General Petraeus in more likely to follow in the footsteps of Joe Lieberman and retire, soon to be forgotten, than to actually be elected president, especially as a Republican. The life-time politicians who still want the job will see to that.

[Jake]

We Won! We Won! We Won! We Won! Now let's go home...

[Buzz Meeks]

The Reich wing won with the "Patriot Act", Homeland Seurity, TSA, and airport groping. Rudy got a very lucrative speaking gig consisting of "9/11, 9/11, 9/11......", and consolidation of for-profit-propaganda ministries on the air and in print.

I have always considered Bush and his janitor Jim Baker stopping the first Gulf War akin to Eisenhower holding back on Berlin. We haven't won a damn thing. We have been reamed, steamed and dry cleaned by the dual nationals that infest the executive and legislative. A stab in the back.

[steve]

The responsibility for Iraq rests with the civilians who ordered the war, not Petraeus.

To the extent that Petraeus was/is running the show, that fault lies, again, with the civilian government in charge for allowing it.

This post is not meant to excuse or rationalize Petraeus's leadership.

[Stanley Henning]

A fifth star for GEN Petraeus? -hell no!
Let's cut the crap. He's trying to do a job that has no real purpose, but he does NOT deserve a fifth star for this nonsense! We need to get a grip and realize what is real and what is not! Sad but true!

[confusedponderer]

Buzz Meeks,
I regard George H.W. Bush & Jim Baker as the most formidable US president & foreign policy team in my lifetime. Real grown-ups.

The way the handled the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and German reunification was just superb.

[Charles I]

Well I couldn't comprehend electing Bush II a second time, tho the Dems were hopelessly inept, but I can now imagine President General Petraeus. . .

[VietnamVet]

confusedponderer,

George Herbert Walker Bush was America's last real President. During his Savings and Loans Crisis a thousand bankers were convicted. As of today, not one banker has been indicted for the 2008 Financial Crash. On the other hand, he guaranteed Gulf War II by not taking out Saddam Hussein.

His handling of the collapse of the Soviet Union has gotten accolades. However, he made one more gigantic mistake. He never acknowledged that the Vietnam War was a battle in the Cold War that never should have been fought but the USA won the Cold War by containment and showcasing middle class life in America. The Korean and Vietnam War Vets and all the Cold War Draftees never got their Victory March down Constitution Avenue.

Reality has vanished from America since the Corporate/Neocon/Nutcase, wedge politics, takeover of the Federal Government starting with Bill Clinton. The USA has embarked on an unwinnable bloody Forever War against Islam and the Middle Class is being eliminated.

[J]

Colonel,

Quae caret ora cruore nostro?

[J]

Colonel,

That was a quote from the Roman poet Horace -- What region knows not our blood?