We’re Outta There By Early ‘07
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in The War On Terrorism, The World, WarThis shouldn’t come as any surprise, but this isn’t encouraging news for me.
As I’ve said before, I feel that if we don’t have a presence in Iraq for a while, sectarian violence is going to get worse and tear the country into thirds. I mean seriously, you have a regime like Saddam’s in place for so many years, and you think the Kurds, Sunnis and Shi’ites are going to play nice after we’re gone? Jeezus, I hope they do but I certainly don’t hold out much hope that it’s going to happen.
But hey, read this from the Telegraph and share your comments below:
All British and United States troops serving in Iraq will be withdrawn within a year in an effort to bring peace and stability to the country.The news came as defence chiefs admitted privately that the British troop commitment in Afghanistan may last for up to 10 years.
The planned pull-out from Iraq follows the acceptance by London and Washington that the presence of the coalition, mainly composed of British and US troops, is now seen as the main obstacle to peace.
According to a senior defence source directly involved in planning the withdrawal, Britain is the driving force behind the scheme. The early spring of next year has been identified as the optimum time for the start of the complex and dangerous operation.
What do you think is going to happen if we pull out so soon?
UPDATE:
The military is denying a pullout timetable. Good.
Still, I can’t help but wonder if this is just a public denial of a true story simply to make sure that the terrorists aren’t readying for a specific date. Misinformation is always a part of our military communications strategy, and this could be no different. Time will tell.
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 5th, 2006 and is filed under The War On Terrorism, The World, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 5th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
Quite frankly, I believe that it matters not when US and British troops are withdrawn or in the longer term whether they are withdrawn or not.
Anyone who believes that Iraq will stand in its entirety for the medium term (say 5 years) is dreaming.
The split to thirds was not pre-ordained, but is inevitable. There is too much blood, too much history, to long a history for it to be otherwise.
The Shi’a want a Shi’a state.
The Kurds want their Kurdistan, including the bit still inside Turkey.
The Sunni want to be in charge again, despite being only 20% of the population.
The hatred between Sunni and Shi’a is “low level” but tangible.
The hatred of Sunni by the Kurds is palpable, particularly for the suppression of the Kurds over the past 30 years.
I suspect that the relationship between Kurd and Shi’a os in the nature of “any enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
March 5th, 2006 at 11:12 pm
I completely agree with probligo. When the US withdraws is of no consequence. We may as well withdraw now. Our “removal” of Saddam has been accomplished. Are we now to undertake the problem of a three-way civil war between Kurds, Shi’ites and Sunnis? If so, how??? We have no solution for that, and we never did. One of the many reasons we should never have gone in the first place. Take out one sadistic tyrant, and how many others will spring up to take his place? Yes, it would be nice if we could clean up the mess we caused, but clearly we can not. It’s time for another plan, but when will that be formulated? Not within the next few years.
By the way, why is it important that the US spread democracy and christianity to other countries? Why do we believe, as a nation (supposedly) that all nations should mirror our own?