Trapped In Iraq

America is fucked if we stay in Iraq.
and America is fucked if we try to leave.

Thank you George Bush for giving
America no safe way out of Iraq.

and now John McCain is
offering America
more of the same!

Excerpt from "Why We Didn't Remove Saddam" by George Bush [Sr.] and Brent Scowcroft, Time (2 March 1998): While we hoped that popular revolt or coup would topple Saddam, neither the U.S. nor the countries of the region wished to see the breakup of the Iraqi state. We were concerned about the long-term balance of power at the head of the Gulf. Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have violated our guideline about not changing objectives in midstream, engaging in "mission creep," and would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible. We had been unable to find Noriega in Panama, which we knew intimately. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting it in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Under those circumstances, furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-cold war world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the U.N.'s mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different--and perhaps barren--outcome. I've been told that the same passage appears on page 489 of Bush and Scowcroft's book, A World Transformed (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998).

 

"Why We Didn't Remove Saddam"

George Bush [Sr.] and Brent Scowcroft

Time (2 March 1998)

•  We're gonns be there for at least his first term

  I don't think Obama will end the war in 16 months, like he's promised.

  Why because he's never voted against a funding request for Iraq his whole time in the Senate.  Of all the promises he's made, that's the first one to go south.

  And don't forget there are still republicans in the Senate, if he tries to go around them, (which I doubt he will) there will be hell to pay.

  by The Third Way on Wed May 21, 2008 at 02:51:28 PM PDT

•  I wanted to keep this short and sweet

  The chaos of a regional war is what would happen if the US leaves before stability occurs, but that is a different post.

  by VirtualTruth on Wed May 21, 2008 at 02:53:40 PM PDT

•  Thank you VT

  It;s nice to see that not everyone at Kos is a "bring them home now" person.  I think we should cut our troop presence In Iraq dramatically, but we shouldn't leave entirely.  

  Hopefullly we can get the Arab League or the UN to fill the vacuum but until we do, we're there.

  by The Third Way on Wed May 21, 2008 at 03:07:50 PM PDT

•  We should leave

  Iraqi Shiites will brutally consolidate power.

  Iran is already on the side of the party which will come out as the winner.

  And there will be your stability - Iraq and Iran together.  It's about time we recognize this is what's going to happen - they signed a military cooperation agreement years ago.

  This "regional war" thing is just a fabrication of the Republicans to scare us into staying in Iraq forver - stimulating terrorism the whole time.

  by CA Libertarian on Wed May 21, 2008 at 03:12:21 PM PDT

•  Stratagy

  The best policy-we marched in, we are marching out.
  Leave the contractors to finish what we paid them for. If they refuse to stay, get a refund. Plain, simple and win/win .
  Of course, GE will use it's media arm to make this plan unethical.
  We have paid billions to have nothing finished. From Ms. Bush's unfinished children's hospital to the infastructure of the entire country, nothing we have paid for has been started let alone finished.
  Move on. Tell them to fix the electricity, water and oil stuff or give us our money back.
  If they refuse, the national guard can surround the headquarters of Haliburton, GE and the rest and get the money by hostile takeover.

  by rmfcjr on Wed May 21, 2008 at 03:42:37 PM PDT