Getting Out Of Iraq

[leftchick]

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/20754/


<snip>


In the six months since the transition to Iraqi sovereignty officially got underway on June 28, 2004, the human cost of the U.S. occupation of that country has risen dramatically. U.S. military deaths have topped 1,200. A study published in The Lancet has estimated that 100,000 Iraqis have died as a result of war and conditions under occupation. Norwegian researchers, the United Nations, and the Iraqi government recently reported that malnutrition among the youngest children in Iraq has nearly doubled since the U.S.-led invasion of that country. And soaring rates of disease and a crippled health system are threatening to kill more than have died in the aftermath of the war.

This dynamic is unlikely to change in the near term. The Bush administration’s stated two-pronged plan of staging elections and putting Iraqis in charge of their own security is clearly the right objective. But on the ground this is failing for a variety of reasons. Iraqi elections held under U.S. military occupation and under election rules written by the U.S will lack legitimacy both inside and outside Iraq. Furthermore, the lack of UN election experts on the ground, coupled with continued fighting, and the fact that any polling location guarded by U.S. troops will be a military target, means free and fair elections can’t take place as scheduled in January.

Iraqis need to be in charge of their own security. But the Iraqi police and National Guard have largely failed to provide security for the Iraqi people and the situation appears to be only worsening. Iraq’s security forces are fighting in a war that puts anyone who is physically near or associated with the U.S. occupation at risk. At the same time, soldiers and police officers lack adequate training. One measure of the problem can be seen in their death toll. Over 1,500 Iraqi security force recruits and 750 Iraqi police officers have been killed. Iraqi security forces can’t succeed as long as the U.S. is leading a war on the ground in Iraq.

As Larry Diamond, who worked as a senior adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority, has noted, “There are really no good options,” at this point. But there are better options than the policies being currently pursued. The following five steps would lessen the violence and insecurity in Iraq:

[Skittles]

1. the idiot c onservatives I work with

told me "WE HAVE TO FINISH WHAT WE STARTED". I told them I heard that about Viet Nam for 20 freaking years.

[leftchick]

2. perhaps when they are sent to "finish the job"

they might change their tune. MORANS! :grr:

[Skittles]

3. oh it's bad

one day they were all discussing what "WE" should do in Iraq - a prominent theme being carpet-bombing the entire country - I yelled at them WHAT IS THIS *WE* SHIT? NONE OF YOU HAVE SPENT ONE G.D. DAY IN THE MILITARY.

[UL_Approved]

4. Damn straight

The conservative block tries to weasel out of paying taxes, makes every excuse in the book, and then says we need a military. Lazy, lying, thieving motherfuckers. EVERY LAST ONE!

[Skittles]

5. plus they want to force democracy on the people they want to carpet bomb

go figure

[Disturbed]

8. The New Iraq Democract

It will be declared after Allawi and his gang are voted in. The Occupation will be announced over with and from then on the U.S. and the Coalition will be defenders of the New Democratic Iraq. Any resistencee to that will be called treason.

[driver8]

6. Yeah, I love how they say "we"

There are a bunch of war mongers on this other board that I post on. They are always talking about "we need to do this, we need to bomb this, we will finish this..."

I finally told them, "You war monger hypocrites...put your money where your mouth is. It is easy to fight a war sitting behind your computer. If you guys are so gung ho, sign up to fight!"

I never heard a single word from any of them...freakin' chickenhawks.

Man, they piss me off!

[Skittles]

9. hey

sometimes they say to me well, did YOU serve and this 47 yr old gal can proudly respond well YES I F***ING DID. :D

[driver8]

13. Me too!

When they ask me, "Did you serve?" I tell them -- "I was in the Gulf the first time." Besides, I'm not the one talking shit...

Shuts them right up!

[teryang]

7. No kidding

No one bothers to talk about this with me because I always ask so when are you going to enlist?

Or if they are too old or disabled, I ask so when are the young people in your family volunteering to go to Iraq?

[saigon68]

10. ELECTIONS ?????????

WHAT COUNTRY CAN HAVE ELECTIONS WHEN THEY CAN'T EVEN POLICE UP THE CORPSES THE DOGS ARE FEEDING ON IN THE STREETS?

This is what the Nazis did to the JEWS in the Warsaw ghetto---DOGS FEEDING ON CORPSES.




A stray dog feeds on an Iraqi corpse. US Marines are now hunting down stray animals grown fat on the flesh from
corpses and which could harbor rabies(AFP/File/Cris Bouroncle)



http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=041210033510.1bgx7r1p.xmlWHAT

[KingChicken]

11. Everyone is masking our disgrace in Iraq....

There is an overwhelming force of people out there who are horrified about the possibility that Iraq will go down in the history books as another Vietnam. We will once again have to declare this "the saddest chapter in American History", at least next to Vietnam (for now).

Of course because we are American the quickest, cheapest way to deal with the situation is to simply deny that it's going on. Turn our heads and not pay attention, after all who wants to admit the disgrace of this country?

Reality will come back around eventually to smack everyone upside the head....

[Moderator]

12. Reason for move

This is an editorial/analysis article.