The Petraeus Paradox: Why We Can Never Leave Iraq

[ihavenobias]

http://news.aol.com/newsbloggers/2008/04/09/the-petraeus-paradox-why-we-can-never-leave-iraq/

The Petraeus Paradox: Why We Can Never Leave Iraq
Posted Apr 9th 2008 5:07PM by Cenk Uygur

In the video below I summarize what General Petraeus told Congress yesterday -- and show why according to his logic we can never, ever leave Iraq: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uxe4BDBc-Y&eurl

Despite what George Bush believes, we do not live in a black and white world. So, Gen. Petraeus is neither pure evil nor pure good. As an officer serving in Iraq, he risks his life on a daily basis (maybe not as much as the people below him in the chain of command, but certainly plenty enough -- and hell of a lot more than the rest of us). He was smart to make deals with the Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia. This -- and not the extra troops -- brought the level of violence in Iraq down for awhile.

On the other hand, he was originally in charge of training the Iraqi troops and he was a miserable failure in that regard. To this day, many years later, they still remain woefully untrained. Since they are not ready to accept responsibility in for security in Iraq, we have to remain there. But to be fair, this is not really Gen. Petraeus's fault. They didn't want to be trained. They don't want to be part of the Iraqi Army http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2008/3/28/102022/318/Diary/A-Challenge-to-the-Media-Who-is-the-Iraqi-Army- . But that is what leads to Gen. Petraeus's greatest failure.

He refuses to recognize or acknowledge that the central government of Iraq is a fraud. It is neither central nor a government. It does not effectively govern any part of Iraq outside of the Green Zone. The Kurds run the north, the former Sunni insurgents now run the Anbar province and the Shiite militias run the south, including Basra. The so-called central government has been reduced to simply another large Shiite militia.

So, why are we backing one Shiite militia over another? Especially one that is more linked to Iran then even the Mahdi Army? There is no good answer for that. That is why Gen. Petraeus has been dutifully avoiding that topic for the last several days. And this is the core of my problem with Petraeus. He is following orders set by this administration and not being honest with Congress or the American people. He knows the central government of Iraq is a joke, has no real power and is tied to Iran http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2008/4/8/10411/38400/Diary/Why-is-General-Petraeus-Helping-Iran- . Yet, he helps to perpetrate this fraud upon the American people so that we can stay in Iraq longer.

The whole point of this exercise is to hand off this mess to the next president so that Bush can pretend he didn't lose Iraq. And for Petraeus to be complicit in that kind of political manipulation is unacceptable and unforgivable.

www.theyoungturks.com

[gateley]

1. Cenk did an EXCELLENT job on this --

and I hope "The Patraeus Paradox" becomes part of this campaign's lexicon.

Thanks for posting this!

[OhioChick]

2. Thanks for posting.

K&R
:kick:

Only need 1 more Recommend. :)

[truedelphi]

3. Very well expressed. n/t

[gateley]

4. Kick nt

[CherylK]

5. Bump!

[samsingh]

6. kick

[TBF]

7. Which is exactly why we entered Iraq in the first place -

The repubs (at least the GWB type) don't WANT to ever leave. If Iraq didn't exist they would have to invent it. They need a convenient excuse to keep troops in the area to keep track of and guard the oil. If anyone thinks Cheney had anything else in mind (ok, that and his shares in Haliburton - which are carefully not in his name but elsewhere in his family)... they are sorely mistaken. The dems campaign slogan this time should be "it's the oil, stupid!".

[Fireweed247]

8. It is the same reason they 'can't' seem to fix the oil meters

that have been broken since the beginning of the war :eyes:

[riderinthestorm]

9. Way too important to drop. K & R!!

A crazy enthusiastic k & r.

This is all so, so obvious. I am sickened that this isn't out there as common knowledge, full force.

Thanks for posting. This part bears repeating....

"He refuses to recognize or acknowledge that the central government of Iraq is a fraud. It is neither central nor a government. It does not effectively govern any part of Iraq outside of the Green Zone. The Kurds run the north, the former Sunni insurgents now run the Anbar province and the Shiite militias run the south, including Basra. The so-called central government has been reduced to simply another large Shiite militia.

So, why are we backing one Shiite militia over another? Especially one that is more linked to Iran then even the Mahdi Army? There is no good answer for that. That is why Gen. Petraeus has been dutifully avoiding that topic for the last several days. And this is the core of my problem with Petraeus. He is following orders set by this administration and not being honest with Congress or the American people. He knows the central government of Iraq is a joke, has no real power and is tied to Iran"

[CherylK]

10. Bump!

[navarth]

11. kick