This is stark, and it is maddening. This NY Times article says it succinctly:
The Iraqi defense minister said Monday that his nation would not be able to take full responsibility for its internal security until 2012, nor be able on its own to defend Iraq’s borders from external threat until at least 2018.
Those comments from the minister, Abdul Qadir, were among the most specific public projections of a timeline for the American commitment in Iraq by officials in either Washington or Baghdad. And they suggested a longer commitment than either government had previously indicated.
Pentagon officials expressed no surprise at Mr. Qadir’s projections, which were even less optimistic than those he made last year.
President Bush has never given a date for a military withdrawal from Iraq but has repeatedly said that American forces would stand down as Iraqi forces stand up. Given Mr. Qadir’s assessment of Iraq’s military capabilities on Monday, such a withdrawal appeared to be quite distant, and further away than any American officials have previously stated in public.
This means: US troops in Iraq until at least 2018. That means: ten more years of Iraq occupation and ten more years of US troops in harm’s way and ten more years of death and maiming in Iraq.
Friday is another Iraq Moratorium Day. I hope you know what to do.
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You may previously have suspected that the Iraqi occupation would continue for decades, but this article appears to be a confirmation of the worst.
We really need to pick up the pressure if this insane, barbaric occupation is to be ended.
that impression from the candidates hemming and hawing about withdrawing and their weaselly definitions of withdrawing which are all variations on the occupation theme. I like how they get the “defense minister’ to break the news. Kind of like us blaming the Iraqis for not standing up, hard to stand up while being tortured killed or threatened.
I think the sites below might clue you in as to why and how “longer” happened.
Bush, Maliki Break Iraqi Law to Renew U.N. Mandate for Occupation (Dec. 20, 2007)
Operation “Iraqi Freedom” Exposed: Bush Negotiates Permanent Presence in Iraq
Maliki has never stood a chance between Bush breathing down his back and his own Parliament with their own thoughts.
We need to get rid of the “devil!”
right out of my mouth. I was going to post something, but you nailed it.
Yes, I do know what to do and I’m happy to do it. Thanks for the reminder, though.
Words fail me. Stop these criminals!
as I have all along….
at this moment I do not think it will be sufficient….
and nothing will change until after the elections no matter what…..
That tactic doesn’t work and is a waste of energy unless you are just into hanging out–which is a legit reason for going. But effective political action lies elsewhere. The left’s irrelevance in politics comes from a combination of no organization, little community, and very isolated pockets of people who have more than a vague notion of what is really going on–i.e., the truth about the power structure.
Spend some time listening to George Carlin to learn how deep it goes.
Carlin is a guy I feel close to because he comes from the street, something I got to know pretty well and it mystifies me how dumb-ass middle class bloggers are who have no idea that you can often see the truth from that level–the level of the hustler. The people who rule this country are street hustlers writ large–I’ve known some on the streets and have known a few that have operated where I live inside the beltway. Even folks on the left think that if you vote and play by the rules and attend demonstrations that the hoodlums who think it’s funny to break someone’s face with a baseball bat are going to be impressed. Wow, what bullshit! Demonstrations don’t mean shit–they’ve discounted all that a long time ago–go ahead, march around see what happens–they’ll laugh at you and rightly so. You want to get their attention show some guts and power. Make life difficult for them if they ignore you. Right now the left is doing nothing, nothing at all. No plan, no leaders, no organization only complaining and whining endlessly. I’m tired of it. How do you think they got into Iraq? Through 9/11 that’s how—and we still can’t get the left to look at what happened then–they believe the fucking government!
The left believes it’s all that moron Bush who’s the source of trouble. All of a sudden Bush appeared and then there was evil–wow, sounds plausible. Everything was fine then Bush. Go ahead believe that and see what happens. Power is power no matter who’s in Congress or the Oval Office. Why hasn’t Waxman done anything about corruption which is at a level unknown in my lifetime? Why hasn’t he dealt with the Sibel Edmunds case? I can answer that question and nearly all of you cannot–you just think the guy is “weak” or something. I’ll tell you why he and Pelosi and the rest don’t do anything because they can’t–they don’t have the power. They don’t want to be casualties in mysterious plane crashes nobody investigates–you dig what I’m saying–that’s reality. Tough guys don’t fuck around on the street–if they do they become vulnerable–you have to be willing to keep your rivals in fear or you’re fucked–it’s the same in DC. Go ahead and call me names like “conspiracy theorist” or paranoid but I’ll tell you to read the classics–I have and people do the same thing today as yesterday. This American exceptionalism bullshit is demeaning to the country–it is a ridiculous fantasy that has no relationship to the truth nor did it ever have. I still love this country but I don’t have stupid fantasies about it. Check out Mark Twain, George Carlin, Hunter Thompson, Gore Vidal and a few others and get a clue.