It is too late for the US to "sell out" Iraq. The US military busted hump to insure that the Iraqi military and police have de facto control over the entire country.
BECAUSE THEY ASSUMED THAT SOMETHING WOULD GO WRONG, AND IRAQ WOULD BE ABANDONED, JUST LIKE VIETNAM.
The worst that can happen now are sectarian troubles, which may have been inevitable, anyway. But their outcome is certain if they happen: the Sunnis will lose.
The other alternative is that Iran will invade. But all Iraq needs is an air force, tanks and artillery, and their military is so vastly superior to Iran's that they will kick seven bells out of them.
There is a good chance that we have been quietly training their combat pilots, who can take their planes home with them and "instant air force"; and all the other hardware, such as tanks, tracks, and tubes, we are planning to leave behind anyway.
But how can this be? Unlike the rest of the Middle East, where the largest coherent military unit is the brigade (5000 men), Iraq now has 10 divisions (15-25,000 each), trained in division operations, and organized by a Corps command staff.
To put it bluntly, five brigades under effective divisional command and control can beat fifteen brigades acting independently. It is that much of a force multiplier.
10 Divisions under a unified Corps command makes the Iraqi army potent enough to take on Iran's 14 divisions three times over.
Yes, the US military has worked off the assumption that sooner or later they, and the Iraqis, would be betrayed, and the Iraqis would be left to their own devices. So they did everything in their power to insure that nobody, but nobody, is going to take Iraq down.
They fought and died to make Iraq free. They're not about to sit around and watch cowardly creeps and traitors destroy what has cost so very much to build.
And when Iraq survives as a free and democratic nation, its existence will be a continual reminder as to how wrong the democrats really were, just as eastern Europe is testament to how wrong democrats really were.
Interesting take. You may be right.
bump for post #78. If you have any kind of ping list for this kind of stuff, put me on it!