The Other Shoe Dropped, Iraq Will Be Partitioned

[peanutbrittle]

snip

So far, we have been following a policy that envisions revolutionary change in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East leading to a Utopian and Earthly Paradise of the sort fantasized by Frum and Perle in their egregious book, "The End of Evil." The military strategy we have been following was inflicted on the armed forces by the Bush Administration in pursuit of that goal. Large forces were not thought necessary because Iraq, like the rest of the Middle East, was thought by the Bush Administration to be a "pile of tinder" awaiting only a match in order to burst into revolutionary flames. That did not happen. Instead the various "centrifugal" forces of tribal, and sectarian Iraq are tearing the country apart while at the same time protesting the authenticity of their "Iraqiness."

The game is actually over in Iraq. It has been decided in the streets and its outcome is symbolized by the piles of tortured corpses "discovered" each day by the same police who may well have been complicit in the "drillings" and shootings of the previous night.

Iraq is going to be partitioned. This may be either de facto or de jure but it will be partitioned. The process of disintegration launched by the United States in eliminating the mechanisms of state integrity has progressed so far that effective dissolution of the old Iraq is inevitable. The recent frustrated desperation evident in the statements of the US command in Baghdad, and the ridiculous futility of Dr. Rice's latest trip are unmistakable signs of disintegration. Indeed, the partition is now underway.

US forces have been pulled back into the capital for a so far unsuccessful attempt to quell the violence. Not only has this concentration been unsuccessful but it has stripped Anbar Province of troops that were need to deal with growing Sunni insurgent and Islamist power.

more...

http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/10/the_other_shoe_.html

[peanutbrittle]

1. Let us not forget this was Biden's idea

Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Biden endorses Iraq partition

By Seattle Times news services



An Iraqi man looks out of a makeshift shack in Baghdad, where protesters Monday called for better living conditions.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., saying sectarian violence is driving the country toward civil war, Monday proposed partitioning Iraq into three semiautonomous regions as part of a plan to defuse internal strife and speed withdrawal of all U.S. troops by 2008.

Biden said his plan will give competing religious and ethnic groups administrative authority over their regions. Each region would have a share of Iraq's oil revenue, which would be administered by a central government with limited authority. Biden, a leading Democratic voice on foreign policy, unveiled the plan at the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia.

more....

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002965929_iraq02.html?syndication=rss

[madame defarge]

2. Actually, it might originally be Peter Galbraith's idea...

as documented in his book "The End of Iraq." Biden is certainly a proponent of it.

[pooja]

3. I think its up to the Iraqi people, not us!!!!

[shadow 99]

5. Exactly. They can make up their own minds; if Iran lets them. NT

[Lerkfish]

9. LOL! how do these guys get in here, anyways?

:rofl:

[Lerkfish]

4. FWIW, my understanding is that the original Iraq borders were arbitrarily

assigned by the west anyways. Iraq was a complex sardine can of various incompatible groups, shoved together against their will.
Saddam, although by our standards a ruthless leader, nonetheless prevented Iraq from completely splintering apart, until we preemptively invaded.

not sure that partitioning is a bad idea, in the long run. Its bad that it happened under THESE circumstances, absolutely.

[MADem]

7. That's true--if you want to see incredible convolution as regards borders

though, get a look at Jordan's borders...it looks like Picasso's version of a penis!!!

The whole idea was to please the assorted and favored sheiks/kings in the area--everyone gets a piece, so long as they cooperate...!

[jimshoes]

6. It really boggles the mind

the mess the chimpministration has made of the middle east. It's going to take many years for that part of the world to find its own balance. All thanks to a bunch of dimwits with visions of grandeur. Well, dimwits, you've broken it,... irreparably, completely, irretrievably, broken it, as well as the entire Armed Forces, save the Navy and Air Force which I suspect you've got some grand plans for as well. A little advice, sil vous plait,... don't do it. You are no good at world affairs, you never were. Please crawl back under whatever rock you call home and leave the world to more sensible people.

[moobu2]

8. Turkey will be a little pissed about it

[mcscajun]

10. A nation arbitrarily cobbled together in 1924 by outside forces...

...was bound to be pulled apart sooner or later once the strongman, Hussein, was forced from the scene.

Think Yugoslavia.

It's just profoundly unfortunate that we had to be the precipitating force, rather than the Iraqi people themselves. We carry so much blame for all of this; will the world ever forgive us?