Comment by Jim Campbell
Please don’t anybody reply with “Get the troops home now” or some other sort of nonsense without being willing to defend your position. This is all just talk, U.S. troops will not be leaving any time soon Iraq would implode under an invasion or air strikes from Iran.
Yes folks it’s all about Oil but not like the liberal whiners were carrying on about during the Presidency of George W. Bush. Iraq provides oil to the U.S. at market price. We are there to insure stability of oil for the rest of the free world. Sadly freedom isn’t free.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, I’m J.C. and I approve this message.
Iraq is more dangerous than it was just a year ago, after a surge in bombings, assassinations and violence by Shi’ite militias, according to a report released today.
Death toll: U.S. soldiers patrol a street in the city of Kirkuk, 155 miles north of Baghdad. June was the deadliest month in two years for U.S. troops in Iraq
In his quarterly review to Congress, a top government adviser accused the U.S. military of glossing over the issue, just months before soldiers are due to leave the country.
The findings come during a ‘summer of uncertainty’ in Baghdad over whether American forces will stay past a year-end withdrawal deadline and continue military aid for the unstable nation.
Surge: Today’s review concludes that Iraq is more dangerous now than it was a year, as a result of bombings like this one in Baghdad on Thursday.The review follows the bloodiest month for the U.S. military in two years, after 15 soldiers died in June.
U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart W. Bowen Jr, who wrote the report, concluded by saying: ‘Iraq remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to work.’
Violent: The report to Congress says Iraq ‘remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to work’He added: ‘It is less safe, in my judgement, than 12 months ago.’
Mr Bowen cited the 15 soldiers who died last month, nearly all of whom were killed in attacks by Shi’ite militias determined to force American troops out on time.
He also noted an increase in rockets launched against the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, where government offices and foreign embassies are located, as well as constant assassination attempts against Iraqi political leaders, security forces and judges.
The report also called the north-eastern province of Diyala, which borders Iran and has an often volatile mix of Sunni and Shiite Muslims and Kurds among its residents, ‘very unstable’, with frequent bombings that bring double-digit death tolls.
Mr Bowen accused the U.S. military of glossing over Iraq’s instability, noting a statement in late May that described Iraq’s security trends as ‘very, very positive’ but only when compared to 2007, when the country was on the brink of civil war.
By contrast, Mr Bowen talked of ‘the very real fragility’ of national security in Iraq today.
A spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq declined to respond.
If the U.S. military leaves on schedule, the American Embassy in Baghdad will pick up the responsibility of training Iraqi police.
Mr Bowen called the job ‘challenging’ for the fewer than 200 advisers who would be based in three sites but tasked with supporting Iraqi police in ten of Iraq’s 18 provinces.There are an estimated 400,000 policemen in Iraq.
Baghdad and Washington are negotiating whether to keep the U.S. military in Iraq beyond the December deadline.
A discussion today about the Obama administration’s offer to keep 10,000 troops in Iraq to continue training security forces has been postponed, despite earlier hopes by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the meeting could yield an agreement.
Al-Maliki says the decision ultimately will be put to parliament.
While many officials from both nations believe Iraq is still too unstable to protect itself without U.S. help, keeping a large presence of American troops may be difficult to sell to an Iraqi public tired of eight years of war.
dancingczars
jcscuba
I do say get out military the hell out of there. But not yet. Here’s what I wrote to my young nephew, who’s falling for all the usual insanity out there.
Yes, GW did one great thing in responding as fast as it was possible to the attack on our America. His allowing the generals, the professionals, to handle Iraq and Afghanistan were right. Over time, he made mistakes there–e.g., not taking the oil from Iraq that truly belongs to the US. Most Americans don’t know or forget history. All the oil in the Middle East was discovered by the US . Don’t believe me? Read “Nationalization is Theft” here: http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=21879 It was US oil industry experts who discovered the oil in those places, built the wells and ran them for many many years. Saudi Arabia, Iraq–you name it–American companies did it all. And then each of these damn regimes nationalized what we had done all the work for. In that sense, no matter in which country these wells reside, they properly belong to US. Don’t expect any US president ever to do what ought to be done–take our property back.
So, in short I don’t want to use the term “we” in regard to making decisions. Good decisions are made by one person at a time. As for voting, I did not vote for McCain. He’s no good either. But what America has in there now is what has been called “an evil non-genius. With that I agree. I do hope that someone appears by election time that I could vote for. Meanwhile, hang in there dear nephew. America is too good for the kind of future you are afraid of. Too many good individuals in America but unfortunately behind the scenes for now.
Love,
Uncle Bob
As to your post J.C., yes part of it IS about oil. But if “Iraq provides oil to the U.S. at market price”, I say so what? And the notion that “[w]e are there to insure stability of oil for the rest of the free world.” is in my view not any reason to be there. That oil is OURS. Take it over. Leave troops enough there to defend OUR property. Sell the oil to the Iraqis if they can hold off Iran and leave our troops alone. Sell it at whatever price we can get for the payment Iraq owes to the US for what good we did do there. The rest of the oil would go to the US at no cost at all. If Iran attacks Iraq, let Iraq try to fight them off. Our troops there, guarding our oil, must of course not be allowed to enter the the Iraq/Iran war. The US should, though, not allow it to happen. How? Like we did in Japan in WWII. Only our one or two bombs on Iran would end the entire Islamic totalitarian war against what’s left of the free world. It would say to all the rest of those barbarians, “You’re next.”
Fiction? Only in the sense that it won’t happen. But ought to. That we own the oil is not fiction, but fact.
Hi Robert, your comments are quit interesting. If you think about it the U.S. has never been in a “War” per se. In war the object is to take and hold land, vanquish the enemy rape pillage in plunder. The U.S. has not done that. U.S. Military action as for the most part been reactive or proactive but never with the intent of prolonged occupation and ruling the vanquished. To the contrary, in WWI and II, we reacted to threats to our allies, and literally rebuild Germany and Japan, in the Police action in Korea, we have a presence to help protect South Korea, one that I believe is time to revisit, sending those troops to a better place makes sense to me. Why have them around for fodder should the North flip out? They can be managed with submarines missiles and possibly drones. Vietnam another police action, in and out in 8-10 years officially but there much longer starting after the French were wiped out at Dien Bin Tu. Move to the present day, Yes Iraq should be providing us with a way below market price on oil. Perhaps even free as you suggest to pay back for the operation. Thinking the oil is ours is folly. It’s not it belongs to Iraq. Our purpose was not to take their oil. How many U.S. troops do you suppose would be required to prevent sabotage by Iraqi’s or others to the pipe lines? Iran is very much involved supplying troops and insurgents into Iraq. Nope we won’t be pulling out any time soon. It’s a shame Obama’s dad didn’t do the opposite:-) The use of nukes as you state is not an option, but letting these rag headed bastards know we won’t hesitate to put in the codes can be a worthwhile gesture, but not to crazy folks that want a holocaust and to die any way. In closing Iraqi oil as well as Kuwait’s oil does not belong the the U.S. Good comments Robert, like minds can agree to disagree. Thanks for your comments, J.C.