Neo-cons warn against losing Iraq peace

[bemildred]

WASHINGTON - A familiar group of mainly neo-conservative hawks, many of whom championed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, released an open letter to President Barack Obama Thursday urging him to retain a substantial military force in that Middle East country beyond this year.

Released by the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), the successor organization of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) that championed the 2003 US invasion, the letter warns against reported plans by the administration to reduce Washington's troop presence to 4,000 after December 31, the date by which, according to a 2008 US-Iraqi agreement, all US forces are to be withdrawn.

Washington has about 45,000 US troops in Iraq, down from an all-time high of 170,000 in late 2007, when they were used to tamp down sectarian violence that brought the country to the edge of all-out civil war.

The letter was signed by 40 policy and defense analysts, including a number of former senior George W Bush administration officials who played key roles in the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq; among them, the former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), Paul Bremer; his spokesman, Dan Senor; former undersecretary of defense Eric Edelman; vice president Dick Cheney's Middle East aide, John Hannah; and former White House aides Karl Rove, Marc Thiessen, and Peter Wehner.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MI17Ak01.html

[xchrom]

1. in fact, they'll HELP lose it. nt

[Maine_Nurse]

5. Nah, the loss will happen no matter what we do or don't do...

although not as fast as in Afghanistan. It wouldn't matter if every military member of every country camped out there in a united front, peace will probably never take lasting hold.

[yourout]

2. There is still a lot of oil they can get there hands on and the MIC needs the contractor cash.

[Old and In the Way]

3. Any mention of a 3rd Pearl Harbor?

A shame we don't treat them as the war criminals they are.

[bemildred]

4. We still need to salvage the win in Vietnam, it's not too late.

:sarcasm:

[plumbob]

7. Yes, it is.

[msongs]

6. great! let the neocons go to Iraq themselves and be the change they want nt

[yurbud]

12. so long as they are allowed no weapons, no US troops, and no mercenaries

and give them tee shirts that say in Arabic ''the war was my idea.''

[neoconn]

8. What do we call people who do not learn from thier mistakes?

Most of the neocons mentioned in the post absolutely believe in war as a cure all and in the theory of American geopolitical dominance. (With a handful of nepotism). They CAN"T conceive any type of reduction and/or withdrawal without equating it to failure. Their policies helped create most of the conditions we have now so what makes them think we should continue to listen to them? ......

[yurbud]

9. the only time these guys deserve public attention is to throw rotten fruit at them...

[yurbud]

10. let's send the neocons to Iraq to explain why an ongoing occupation is a good deal

while they're making the case, we can pull the troops out just in case they fail.

[yurbud]

11. I would seriously like to see these assholes explaining to a cross-section of Iraqis....

why this war was a good idea.

Since none of them would have the courage to actually face the people whose families they have maimed, killed, forced from their homes and into prostitution, I would settle for a video conference.

[tcaudilllg]

13. Let's capture them and send them over there.

We'll see how grateful the Iraqis are for their "liberation". Afterwards we'll send the remains to Egypt, where Imperial America's yoke is still apparently very strong.