Iraq has become like quicksand in slow motion, sinking everyone who has a piece of it, slowly, steadily but surely. Once in a while, an eye opener like Haditha pops out for everyone, left, right and centre, that gives us a chance to look inward and do the necessary crosschecks. A chance, once again to straighten out the mess in Iraq by being objective, admitting the reality, and acting upon it.
The relevant people holding an irrelevant road map, however, have had their eyes wide shut for a long time, and the war has forced them to live in a cobweb of lies, from which they don't have the balls, the desire or the smartness to come out. In all likelihood, they are probably going to self disintegrate once their delusional comfort zone is taken away. So they stay where they prefer to stay, in the name of WMDs, in the name of Freedom and Liberty and watch the troops die, who serve honorably but unaware of the ego-driven politicians who put them into harm's way.
To address a problem, the first step is to recognize the problem, which in turn requires standing up for the basic principles working within which a reasonable solution can be found. This benign observation is deeper than you think, because standing up for principles requires understanding the principles, which means:
for George W, appreciation for Texas slangs, workouts at his Texas Ranch, and not meeting a grieving mother,
• for Dick, appreciation for Halliburton,
• for Alberto Gonzales, appreciation for curbing the human rights and of course listening to your phone calls in case you are talking to Bin Laden,
• for Rummy, appreciation of the secret torture and detention centres,
• for Condi Rice, appreciation for the Nobel Peace Prize, only if the Iranian President bites the carrot.
So, where do we go from Haditha?
Let me start by saying, I've never liked the Iraq war although I support, in a sort of way, the invasion and subsequent occupation of Afghanistan. The reasons are two fold: for one, the Taliban, the erstwhile rulers of Afghanistan harbored the terrorists, not the small fishes but the biggest ones, the masterminds, the roots of all evil Osama Bin Laden and Zawahiri, actively and openly without any fear of backlash from the world, and secondly, they took the entire Afghan society back to the medieval age of darkness.
The Taliban got their false sense of security from Pakistan, or more precisely, from the ISI, Pakistan's CIA equivalent. What they never realized was that they were created for a purpose and not in the name of religion, as they were made to believe. When things got too hot to handle, they were abandonned and left to the mercy of whoever got to them first, which happened to be the United States.
In its war against terror, the United States made the blunder of all blunders by letting the top Al Qaeda leaders escape along with Mullah Omar, the Taliban Supremo. To this day, what baffles me is the initial Gandhian approach taken in Afghanistan, specifically asking the Taliban to hand over Bin Laden or make him leave the country, knowing fully well that the Talibans are not exactly famous for their vegetarian habits.
Article comments
1 - Al Barger
Really Q Bit, this is more frankly pointless talking to yourself, reading from your own not very good map with little regard to the actual road in front of you.
What is the lesson of Haditha, you ask? Why, it's the exact same answer you'd have given anyway. You didn't need a lesson for that, and your judgement has nothing to do with what may or may not have happened there. It's the same boilerplate you would routinely give.
Plus, it doesn't make sense. That's not even to say that I disagree with your assessment, but it doesn't make sense in its own right. Assume for the sake of argument that our Marines killed two dozen innocent civilians. OK then, we should abandon the other 25 million, cut and run? How does one follow from the other?
2 - Q Bit
AB:
I'm not saying that because of Haditha, the troops should leave.
The troops should leave because there's hardly any point of staying there, except more casualties. Is that what you want?
Staying the course is not helping AB, it's simply hurting.
What's the worse that could happen if the troops leave? A civil war? Isn't that already happening now? Sometimes, civil wars aid in getting a long term stability. History will attest to that fact.
The presence of the troops is fuelling the insurgency and we are just playing into the hands of the terrorists.
Incidents like Haditha only adds to the widespread apathy towards the United States.
3 - Joey
I would tend to think that the region is going to remain as unstable as before we entered. Perhaps because of the century's of culture that wrought the current paradigm. I don't see the U.S. making any real progress from here, and upon departure... will leave a huge vortex that will instantly be replaced by the strident, that is to say, those with the quickest feet. Who will that be? The terrorists. They have the agenda, the weaponry, the callusness, the feverpitch, the ability to strike ruthlessly at whomever (man, woman, or child) who gets in their way, or who they can "instruct" in the ways of furthering objectives (i.e. suicide bombers, sappers, etc...). The patriots in Iraq are the terrorists, the common people just hope they don't become collateral damage. That's the common defense... "please God, don't let me be collateral damage... and if I am I pray that it is to further harm the infidel." That's the mindset of courage in that part of the world. And innocent lives will be taken, children will die. Tyrants will rule, and incidious crimes against humanity will continue... as they have for millinia... it's the nature of the region.
Maybe we thought we could leave a better legacy than that. But there is a curtain of darkness there, of unspeakable hidiousness, and we can't fix that. It's an indelible stain on the population. All we are doing is adding to it, we must exit, take further action here, and be done with the world. We don't belong to the world, and the world doesn't belong to us. We are a separate people should grow to accept that. If the great global experiment teaches us anything, it's that we don't belong out there. Let those out there, remain there. And us, remain here.
4 - Q Bit
Joey:
I don't think if the US troops leave, the terrorists will fill the void. Perhaps, in the beginning but not for a long haul-it's impossible.
What I am worried about is the role of Iran in the event US troops are not there. The Shiite majority will probably have the power and that's going to be disastrous for the United States and it's policies in the Middle East. It is well documented that the Shiites in Iraq enjoy the blessings of the top Iranian clerics.
I think the troops are going to stay, like it or not, for a long time, albeit in a much limited role just to keep Iran in check, which is important because of insane ambitions of the Iranian Government.
5 - Kenny
I wonder why no one's asking about the 'complicity' of these so-called victims. With the exception of the children, you can make a coherent argument that these adults at least knew (if not participated in) the placing of the IED that started this whole mess. After all, this is an insurgency, and unlike other types of warfare...our enemies are civilians!
I'm afraid the bad guys are going to get another free-pass from the world media because they're so good at blending in with the local populace (because they are the local's....hmmmm)
6 - Q Bit
Kenny:
I am sorry, you cannot make that argument coherent because it would probably imply that every Iraqi civilian is a terrorist or an accomplice.
That's not true.
7 - Al Barger
Q Bit- For my money, I'd say you're making your argument better in the comments (particularly #2) than in the original story- probably mostly by brevity. Throwing in the kitchen sink doesn't help you. All the Freudian crap about Bush and his Daddy, for example, actively detracts from arguments that perhaps otherwise have some merit.
8 - Q Bit
AB:
Sometimes it helps to trace the roots.
I do agree that it could hv been shortened.