Reply #41: I understand that the Iraqis want us out. I think most thoughtful

[truedelphi]

Compassionate Americans want our troops home.

But when you look at the big picture of Iraq - here's what you have

1) over 1.1 million people dead - in a nation of twenty million.
2) 3 million people that are refugees - they live outside their own home either internally in Iraq somewhere (for instance - Fallujah and Ramadi citizens who fled those two cities due to heavy military action there and then there also are expatriated Iraqi refugees who are now living in Jordan, Syria or wherever.

3) The loss of the infra-structure - communication system not intact, electricity, water and other utilities non-existent or sparsely existent. Medical equipment and pharmaceuticals very limited if not non existent.
4) Return of diseases that a civilized country like Iraq never expected including cholera
5) See 1 and 2 above - since people have been killed wounded or have fled - there are not the people left for the most part that normally would re-build a society. The doctors, nurses, engineers, accountants, teachers, equipment repair people, mechanics, computer experts, etc have, if still living, fled the country.

We know from history that Europe, in very bad shape in some places after May 1945, owed much of its recovery to the Marshall plan.

Beyond the above set of problems, I also don't know what legalisms exist - the Iraqis have a new government that is beholden to corporate American interests. This agreement, since seen by our Thugs in Office as contractually valid presents a whole slew of obstacles. It dis-entitles the Iraqis from gaining much profit from the oil beneath their land. It establishes that American companies such as Motorola have full sway in re-establishing the communications industry (I mention Motorola because I remember it being listed by SF CHronicle as being awarded the communications contracts) But every industry and infra-structure requirement for a return to civilization involves a contractual agreement with the Iraqi government and some AMERICAN corporate entity, such as Motorola (I just don't remember the specifics of which American corporate entity took which piece of the pie but that April 2003 article did discuss those).

And very upsetting to those of us who understand the situation with GMO's - it forbids the planting of any crop unless it is a genetically modified organism. (Except for those crops that we have not yet patented - which makes me always want to beat my chest and pull out my hair when I read reports that our troops took out another stand of date trees because the date trees supposedly offered a hididng place for insurgent. (Actually what the date trees offer is a way for Iraqis to be sustainable - the date trees are not GMO yet - and so a farmer with dates could continue avoid tithing his income to Monsanto Novartis et al.)

These problems will not go away by our leaving. Perhaps the Iraqis will need the UN or some other entity that they trust (if those people have any trust left - I certainly wouldn't if I was Iraqi)
to offer the aid that will begin the restoration of a decent life in Iraq.

OF course, all of this discussion is sadly rather superfluous, because the Corporate Oligarchy that is so clearly our method of established government is nOT GONNA let go of Iraq until 2013 - if even then.