February 21, 2007
Experts Warn British Drawdown Could Lead to Violence
I thought folks like John Murtha and Nancy Pelosi were telling us that a withdrawal from Iraq would result in a peaceful nation of lollipops and bunnies.
Obviously, I misunderstood:
Britain's planned reduction in its force in southern Iraq could empower Iran and lead to more bloodshed between rival Shiite Muslim groups, analysts warned Wednesday.The area around Basra is less violent than Baghdad, and sectarian killings are rare, in part because it is overwhelmingly Shiite. But the government's authority there is rivaled by armed groups that are "thoroughly intertwined with criminal enterprises," according to a report from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
"In the coming year, the drawdown of British forces in the deep south will likely be accompanied by an upsurge of factional violence as the long-delayed fight for local supremacy begins in earnest," said the report, written by Iraq security specialists Michael Knights and Ed Williams.
Of course, these guys are just Iraq security specialists, so they probably don't know near as much as Okinawa Jack and Blinky.
I've heard neither Murtha nor Pelosi say that everything was going to be snuggles and rainbows if we pulled out. Their point is that we shouldn't have been there in the first place.
A wrong action is not turned into a right action by infinitely prolonging it.
Posted by: Doc Washboard at February 22, 2007 12:09 AMA wrong action is not turned into a right action by infinitely prolonging it.
So you're cool with the millions dead genocide thing then?
Posted by: Purple Avenger at February 22, 2007 12:19 AM"I've heard neither Murtha . . . say that everything was going to be snuggles and rainbows if we pulled out."
--Doc Washboard
"The minute we're gone they will take care of al Qaeda by themselves," Murtha said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "Al Qaeda will not even be a factor in Iraq once the United States is gone."
--John Murtha
I saw nothing about "snuggles" or "rainbows" there, Daryl. Try again.
Purple:
Iraq was about September 11, Cheney implied again and again.
Oh, wait: now it's about WMDs.
Oh, wait: now it's about getting Saddam out of power.
Oh, wait: now it's about genocide.
I suspect your concern for a hypothetical future genocide in Iraq (as opposed to the actual deaths of our soldiers) is fueled by your desire to find some rationale--any at all--to be in Iraq. If the genocide meme fizzles out, you'll find another, just as you likely have again and again since 2003.
Before the war, our soldiers were not dying in Iraq. Now they are. IEDs were not killing dozens on a daily basis. Now they are.
I'm thinking that some of those soldiers should be over here protecting our ports and borders, just in case some terrorist decides to fight us over here instead of over there. It has happened. It will probably happen again.
I don't like seeing innocents die. It bothers me most of all, though, to see innocents die at our hands. What do we say? "I'm sorry you're dead, Iraqi family, but I'm sure you'll appreciate the [fill in the blank] we've brought to your country"?
Posted by: Doc Washboard at February 22, 2007 09:30 AM
