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Do you remember when the first contractor was beheaded?
It seems like so long ago, and what followed was a tragic spate of beheadings. Kidnappings are still prevalent in Iraq--in many third world countries, really--and it made the news every single time as some other person, for whatever reason had been carried off by the insurgents.
Do you remember when it was revealed how much of the Iraq rebuilding effort was being under written by contracting agencies?
Confusion, for me, first set in. Followed, immediately, by a deep sense of appalment. Why were our soldiers expected to go to a foregin country, risk their own lives, and protect these people, only to be blamed when...something that wasn't written into their misson failed?
I couldn't piece it together. Why did we have so many contractors in Iraq? Where was all this money going to? Where had all this money gone that we had already spent? And why was it that more was still necessary?
Then came the blaming. Military forces were seemingly being blamed--in moves akin to how they were blamed when journalists were taken hostage and murdered--for "job failure." Job failure? I thought, Who's writing the directions here to begin with?
Now the directions are finally being written, once and for all. The Iraqi government seemingly has found a spine on an issue worth getting upset over: it's people. Over 4 years later, an untold number of casualties on our own accounting (the official acronym is "WAG" for "Wild Assed Guess") and has given Blackwater, the largest military contractor present, a ticket home. The beltway is in a tizzy and Condolezza is involved, trying to calm frayed nerves, and the world is watching.
But is it a bad thing that there's one less cook in the kitchen? In a government as unstable as Iraq, it seems as if one thing that permiates the crisis is a lack of unity and agreement on any one issue. Yet here one has arisen: no longer are the people going to be merely numbers; merely pawns in an international, purposeless battle. Herein, people on this soil must come with a purpose, must state their cause. Since Blackwater doesn't "belong" to a cause, a tribe, or a country, they must leave. Now.
This may be the beginnings of a frail democracy moving in a promising way. If the parlimentary system--of which the ethnic Kurds have managed to write a Constitution where the whole of the situation balances on their favors--can agree on what they won't tolerate, then boundry lines can be ethically drawn on these subjects. It seems as if all of the parties agree they're ready to send the United States packing, and perhaps by shipping Blackwater out, this is the introduction to this farewell tour. There isn't a polite way to say to an invader "Get off my land" but this is a forceful introduction, and if, nothing else, sends a potent message.
It would also behoove Secretary Rice and President Bush (current) to notice this move on behalf of their long dwelled upon benchmarks. After all, if these benchmarks have been such a cataclysmic failure, then this move of such direct assertiveness sends a direct contradiction to the so-called failure. It seems to say, in no uncertain way, that perhaps failure needs to be re-assed, or at least success re-defined in a way that is hospitable to the Iraqi climate of psyche. Additionally, it would be wise for those in various comittees that fund our military to utilize this moment to push for some momentum: the Iraqis have shown a huge level of independence.
Perhaps it is time not for the "Baby Birds" to leave the nest, but for the "Parents."