The same goes for Iran & Syria. We are developing interoperable armed allies in Afghanistan and Iraq. It does seem to be helping loosen things up across the Mid East and facilitate liberalization many places.
We did not invade Iraq.
We liberated it.
And we liberated it for *many* reasons. ALL Valid. ALL in themselves reason enough to remove madman Saddam.
And THAT is what must be repeated and understood over and over again to understand that we dont need to "get out" of Iraq. That we WILL walk away from a JOB COMPLETED of bringing democracy to a part of the world where it is sorely needed. And that job is getting done. With no thanks to the MSM and the support of precious few democrats.
The article you just posted is precisely the whole point of the Iraq War.
I have long posted on any website that will take comments that Reason #1 for the Iraq War was to give the Sunnis a new enemy to threaten their existence more than our nukes seemed to.
#2 was the Flypaper Strategy
#3 was to take $20B/yr in oil away from the Sunnis
#4 was to democratize the Mideast so they could argue with each other and see threats from within, not without
But #1 has always been to pit the Shiites against Mekkah.
The left and, it seems, Al Jazeera haven't fathomed this yet. Except France just said US troops need to stay in Iraq (to protect the Sunnis no doubt).
We could actually start to pullout tomorrow and the insurgents would suddenly go "wait a minute, come back!! we need you to protect us!"
We should expect horribly anti-American policies from the Shiite alliance if men like these continue their ascension to power. Add to that, massive oil reserves under the authority of these vehemently anti-American men. Their logic reveals a competition that would likely result in a scuttled world economy, just to spite the Great Satan. At least for now, I suggest we keep the ping-pong table in the basement