Posted on 08/29/2006 6:28:33 PM PDT by dervish
Michael Rubin
The U.S. is losing in Iraq because American politicians and the general public have not decided they want or need to win. Many congressmen look at Iraq through the lens of the 2006 election: They care neither how their words embolden the enemy nor how their grandstanding impacts Iraq. Meanwhile, many commentators have cast accuracy aside to cater to, and cash in on, public ennui.
Iraqis are now as pessimistic as they have ever been. Corruption and organized crime run rampant. True, some metrics are positive: Oil production is on the rebound, shops are opening, agricultural production is up, and defense-ministry forces are increasingly trained and competent. But the corrupt police are running rampant.
While U.S. diplomats have become masters of their cubicles, Iranians have become masters of Iraq. We hold sway over the Green Zone; they hold sway over the rest of the country. Their dominion includes, increasingly, Kurdistan. Why? Because they have provided overwhelming force, patronage, and staying power.
Militias exist to impose through force what they cannot win through the ballot box. Iran exerts its influence through militias, and the U.S. fails to counter them. Left alone, they metastasize. While USAID takes weeks to allocate a paperclip, and months more to study its impact, the militias create elaborate charities to establish themselves in society. Thus Iran is replicating the Hezbollah strategy. It is no accident that Iran’s current ambassador to Iraq was formerly Tehran’s liaison to the Lebanese terrorist group.
How to win? We’re suckers if we trust Iran. In Iraq, we need to cut the supply lines to the militias, roll up Iranian intelligence, and replace Iranian charities with our own patronage. We’ve got to treat the commanders of Iran’s revolutionary guard as the combatants they are.
(Excerpt) Read more at nrd.nationalreview.com ...
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There are other commentaries from David Frum, Newt Gingrich, Mark Helprin, Lawrence Kaplan, Robert Kaplan, Michael Ledeen, Ralph Peters, Mark Steyn and Bernard Trainor.
Talk about a pile of Maccaca.
The US is not losing in Iraq.
The most interesting part is the comparison to how Iran through the Hezbollah proxy took over Lebanon.
I'd say that's a fair statement, and a thoroughgoing indictment of the Democratic Party, especially its Marxist wing.
I don't think, though, that the People are unaware of who is playing at what. They know what the 'Rats are doing.
The test tube of Iraq is to see if Islam can possible form a normal peaceful society. If Islam cannot live even with itself, there is no hope for it and it will simply have to be labled evil like Nazism was. Then it will have to be destroyed.
It is getting pretty obvious that Islam is nothing but a death cult, as they are targeting themselves more than the Americans. It is like feeding a pack of wild dogs, when you put out the steaks they turn on each other instead of just eating. They simply do not have the capability to form a normal society with the indoctrination of Jihad as a foundation of their religion.
What can you expect from a people that CHOOSE to be a Muslim, despite its foundation teachings of murder, child abuse and envy. One who chooses evil to worship, becomes evil.
Am I simpleton to think we just need to find the bad guys and kill them?? With extreme prejudice?
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