The "complete withdrawal" from Iraq is a pretext to re-invade. White hats can't ride in and save the day if they're already sitting in the saloon.
Just ask the Lebanese, the Gazans, the Burmese, the Persians, the Algerians, the Irish and the Iraqis themselves.
But, the really great thing about Obama's "end to the Iraq War" is good liberals getting all party loyalist because Mittens thinks it's a bad idea...
Crow's Eye: Maintaining a commitment to Pointless Acrimony™ and Hate Filled Invective™! Also available in corvid mischief and traditional sly dog's mistrust.
9 comments:
This, along with Gaddafi's execution, opens a royal way for greater sable rattling towards Iran. Look for US mercs to create chaos through bombing campaigns which, of course, will be blamed on Iran. Two birds with one stone--Lack of security in Iraq requires US presence to quell Iran's "troublemaking". Muqtada al Sadr will be all over US news as the next "Top Terrorist"--a Shiite leader with ties to, GASP!, Iran.
Neocons within and without Obama's team of advisors are salivating. Capital's War Machine, like Capital itself, is never sated.
btw, on a previous post: I find your posts remarkably lucid despite the evocative intensity. Not to discount your labor with distilling thought into words. It's a precarious balancing act when you're conscious of how what's felt always outruns thoughtful description. Even I fumble here in trying to commend while commiserating.
"sabre" not "sable" ha--it is cold
I am going with electoral gamemanship/resume padding. Obama could have done this as soon as he entered office, but that wouldn't have had the same luster after 4 years in the 'what have you done for me lately' arena of America politics.
I also think you are right too, read the fine print, USG is keeping some advisors in Iraq's house as placeholders just in case they have to reinvade later.
Obama is going to have a lot to crow about on the campaign trail; health care reform, withdrawing from Iraq, getting OBL, getting Qaddafy and the humanitarian war done 'right' in Libya, and so on.
I'm obliged, Anatole. I think if the the brass thought they could get away with a hot war in Colombia and Venezuela, they'd pull the trigger without a second thought.
Justin,
Right on cue:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/10/21/lindsey-graham-lets-get-in-on-the-ground/#comments
The comments are a slog through some serious Obamapology.
Sounds like a rerun of Saudi Arabia. I predict an influx of Americans in polo shirts who prefer short haircuts.
Obama didn't want to say goodbye. He doesn't look or sound happy about it, and up until a few days ago he was still trying to persuade the Iraqi gubmint to invite us to hang around for a while.
Meanwhile, Romney has cornered the market on neocons, batch-hiring the whole stinking lot of them a few weeks ago. I think this is going to be a serious electoral headache for Obama and the Obombettes, and I think he knows that when things go south in Sadr City, he's going to be the punchline to "Who Lost Iraq?"
from Wired.com, via Avedon:
Ackerman: "But the fact is America's military efforts in Iraq aren't coming to an end. They are instead entering a new phase. On January 1, 2012, the State Department will command a hired army of about 5,500 security contractors, all to protect the largest U.S. diplomatic presence anywhere overseas. [...] It's a situation with the potential for diplomatic disaster. And it's being managed by an organization with no experience running the tight command structure that makes armies cohesive and effective."
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/10/obama-iraq-eternal/
I concur that the US presence in Iraq is hardly coming to end. But, we're dealing with imperial spectacle here. Our conservative cousins are up in arms, already, about "surrender" and "defeat," as if the goal in Iraq was ever stability and a "win." Our liberal kin, on the other hand, seem wont to make a formerly conservative argument that Obama has "succeeded" where Bush failed.
They're all just engaging with the spectacle, really.
Thousands and thousands of Americans will be in Iraq for the foreseeable future. But, by announcing an official end to a ten year war, the Obama admin has made it possible for future Presidents to revisit Iraq as a new venture.
withdrawal is pretty apropos; I wonder when the withdrawal will set in and we feel the itch to fly over some other sovereign nation.
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