(Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, June 11, 2008; Page A01)
BAGHDAD, June 10 -- High-level negotiations over the future role of the U.S. military in Iraq have turned into an increasingly acrimonious public debate, with Iraqi politicians denouncing what they say are U.S. demands to maintain nearly 60 bases in their country indefinitely.
Top Iraqi officials are calling for a radical reduction of the U.S. military's role here after the U.N. mandate authorizing its presence expires at the end of this year. Encouraged by recent Iraqi military successes, government officials have said that the United States should agree to confine American troops to military bases unless the Iraqis ask for their assistance, with some saying Iraq might be better off without them.
"The Americans are making demands that would lead to the colonization of Iraq," said Sami al-Askari, a senior Shiite politician on parliament's foreign relations committee who is close to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "If we can't reach a fair agreement, many people think we should say, 'Goodbye, U.S. troops. We don't need you here anymore.' "
~
“Unwanted”.
Oh!. But it is a hard thing to hear and an even harder thing for many to accept. But we need, we must embrace it! Accept it as the reality on the ground, so to speak. While a great number of Iraqis did not desire our invasion before we made our now infamous shock and awe landfall, even more do not desire our continued presence after the ruddy fact!
The occupation of Iraq was and is framed by our own global interests and, no, I am not talking about the spreading of some absurdly idyllic Democracy. (As if it was no more than buttering toast in the damned morning!) Since we have been unable, or unwilling, to admit publicly that this was the only intention of the top concocters of our corpse strewn incursion to begin with, we will soon be forced to admit that it is the sole reason for our eventual ousting.
Of course some will say, “The Iraqis just don’t have an appreciation for democracy or The West!”
Poppycock!
Some will say, “If we had known that they would treat their Christian liberators as such we would never have helped the godless bastards in the first place!”
Poppycock!
Others will breathlessly utter, “It was a mishandled war and given another planner or a smarter president everything would have gone fine and dandy!”
Poppycock!
Others still, “If Bush had listened to the pre-war assessments and sent more troops the Iraqis would be living in a bustling democracy and we could be proud of our achievement and bold vision!”
Oh! For the love of Mike! Poppycock!
It wouldn’t have mattered if 300,000 troops were being led by Patton himself over the sand dunes of Mesopotamia, an invasion and occupation of Iraq would never have worked!
Sure, if we had had a smarter, more thoughtful, well spoken president things may have gone smoother for us. Perhaps all would have looked and felt flashier, think "Star Wars" instead of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", and with fewer casualties (on both sides), but make no mistake about it, it would have ended the same. Undemocratized and horribly broken.
The Iraqi people have suffered greatly and paid a horrifyingly steep price at the hands of our hegemony.
~
George W. Bush, as most of you know, has said many inane, lowly, and idiotic things on a good number of topics in his lifetime and during his tenure as Head Liar of the United States of America, but the most egregious line came at the expense of the Iraqi people. What offensive line do I speak of besides when he raised his hand and winked, “I do solemnly swear to uphold the constitution”?
How about, “The Iraqis owe us a huge debt of gratitude.”
Gratitude? Gratitude? Gratitude?!
Poppycock!
“But, poetryman, we did liberate the Iraqis from an evil tyrant. They owe us a thanks for that, at least!”
Poppycock!
The Iraqis owe us no favors! They owe no allegiance to the US empire! What they owe us is a complete ass kickin’!
I’m sorry, but to anyone who thinks otherwise, I've one thing to say...
