Posted on 09/03/2009 6:26:45 PM PDT by Kaslin
This column was written as a follow-up to the piece that ran here Tuesday demanding an end to the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. Both are getting wide attention.
Since U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq's cities, two months have passed, and so has the illusion that Iraq is smoothly transitioning to a normality free of sectarian violence.
Recently, Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of U.S. troops there, "blanched" when asked if the war was "functionally over." According to the Washington Post's Greg Jaffe, Odierno said:
"There are still civilians being killed in Iraq. We still have people that are attempting to attack the new Iraqi order and the move towards democracy and a more open economy. So we still have some work to do."
No, we don't, even if, as Jaffe reports, the presence of 130,000 U.S. troops "serves as a check on Iraqi military and political leaders' baser and more sectarian instincts."
After almost six and a half years, and 4,327 American dead and 31,483 wounded, with a war spiraling downward in Afghanistan, it would be indefensible for the U.S. military — overextended and in need of materiel repair and mental recuperation — to loiter in Iraq to improve the instincts of corrupt elites.
If there is worse use of the U.S. military than "nation-building," it is adult supervision and behavior modification of other peoples' politicians.
More than 725 Iraqis have been killed by terrorism since the June 30 pullback of U.S. forces from the cities. All U.S. combat units are to be withdrawn from the country within a year. Up to 50,000 can remain as "advisers" to an Iraqi government that is ostentatious about its belief that the presence of U.S. forces is superfluous and obnoxious.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
Grrrrrr, he seriously thinks our troops are ‘loitering’ in Iraq?????? What a jerk. God Bless the American Troops who give us the security to sleep safely in our beds every night.
George has drunk too much Potomac tap water. He should stick to baseball. The pull out was too soon.
Very relevant comment already made by John Robb in 2004 and referenced by him in his piece on Afganistan today...from his site:
What do you mean he should stick to baseball? You must mistke him for someone else
mistke = mistake
Tell it to Obama. He practices it every day with Honduras.
>>What do you mean he should stick to baseball? You must mistake him for someone else
No, I think not.
http://www.amazon.com/Men-at-Work-Craft-Baseball/dp/0060973722/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_a
Will lost me when he said Palin was ‘not qualified.’
And the current flounderer-in-chief is?
Haha, Will. You’ve been inside the beltway far too long and no self-respecting conservative pays you any credibility no more than they would any RINO.
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