Since no one else seems interested . . .
by Derek W. on August 27th, 2005
Which is, as usual, not good.
After missing three—count them, three!—deadlines set for finishing the draft of a new constitution, now people are already complaining about the draft that finally has been finished:
BAGHDAD - Five of the top Sunni Arabs in government spoke out Saturday against the draft constitution, a major blow to deadline efforts to craft a document that can win the backing of all Iraqi groups. Sunni negotiators sought changes in the draft on the eve of a parliament session to approve it.U.S. diplomats worked furiously to mediate a deal among the Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab delegations so that the National Assembly can receive a document accepted by all—enhancing chances for an easy approval by the voters in the Oct. 15 referendum.
More here.
Can you imagine four more years of this?
Pro-war pundits such as Michelle Malkin , who normally are very good at keeping readers up to date on the latest going ons in Iraq, have been strangely quiet about the constitution subject lately.
But conservative columnist Charley Reese points out what these pro-war drum-pounders seem to have forgotten. Here are some especially strong excerpts from his column:
The United States, which set up the rules for adopting the Iraqi constitution, has probably shot itself in the foot, as it usually does when it tries to play the imperial game. One of those rules states that the constitution is dead meat if it fails to get a two-thirds vote in three provinces. The Sunnis are a majority in four provinces. They call the draft constitution a plan for civil war.. . .
Those who opposed this war have been proven right, and those who advocated it have been proven wrong. Those who now say we have to stay and see it through are saying we have to stay and participate in a civil war and the imposition of a theocratic state. So, what are we going to get if we do stay? Nothing any sensible American would want.
. . .
Those who say we have to fight the terrorists in Iraq to avoid fighting them in the U.S. will soon, no doubt, be disabused of that stupid idea.
In other news, a new AP Poll is showing that nearly 60 percent of people now disapprove of the way the Bush administration has conducted the war in Iraq.
7 Comments
Alex K.
August 27th, 2005 at 9:57 pm
Ahem. It’ll be done long before then – aren’t you getting your deadlines mixed up?
Notice that it’s an AP poll. Point made.
Derek W.
August 28th, 2005 at 8:42 am
I meant four years as in, our troops are going to be stationed in Iraq for at least four more years.
The AP poll is hardly alone . . almost every poll done the last two or three months is showing the same thing.
SecDef
August 28th, 2005 at 11:35 am
“According FBI crime statistics, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, all of which are controlled by the Democratic Party, had a combined total of over 1,900 homicide deaths in their cities in 2003 alone. What is their “exit strategy?” Why are they not demanding deadlines from their city councils for an end to all crime fatalities by the end of 2006? Why are they not threatening to pack up the police department and move to the suburbs? Why are the Democrats so intent to blame President Bush for the continuation the Iraqi insurgency when they cannot even control the insurgency of criminals in their own cities?”
http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=16359
I know you aren’t a Democrat, but it has a point… :)
Jarret M.
August 28th, 2005 at 1:46 pm
In all objectivity, I have to agree with Derek that several major mistakes that have been made should’ve easily been avoided.
For example: we don’t have enough troops on the ground. Bush took away thousands when the generals said they were still needed.
Secondly, I’ve got to say that I’ve become less and less enchanted with the Iraqi interim government over the past year. At last tally, they’ve got only two fully operational, fully deployable platoons of soldiers. I mean, if they’re not interested in working out their differences, it’s not worth our time. The Sunnis need to get it through their craniums that they are NOT the rulers anymore, and the majority has every right to do what it pleases. It can cut them out if it wants to. Hopefully it won’t, but the Sunnis are acting like spoiled children- they want their agenda but won’t compromise and then whine to the American military to make sure they get their “fair share.” Newsflash- minority doesn’t decide the fair or share.
That said, I have to say that Iraq is a good idea in the sense that Al-Queda is going bonkers trying to kill Americans. Right now, the kill ratio is about 60 to 1, meaning that Al-Queda is spending an unlimited quota, but has a limited budget.
In four more years, regardless of what the Sunnis do, tens of thousands of terrorists will have gone to see Allah. And those are tens of thousands of terrorists who will never get a chance to attack us here.
SecDef
August 29th, 2005 at 12:01 am
Jerret,
1) President Bush asked the commanders before the war if they had enough troops, and they said yes. The funny thing is, if we had more troops in originally, we would be even more overstretched than we are now!
2) Iraqi Security forces have 38 Battalions (1 battalion = around 500-700 troops) at Readiness Level 2 (i.e. they can plan and conduct operations with coalition logistical and air support). By election time in December 2005, there will be about 230,000 Iraqi troops (to put that in perspective, the US Army has a little less than 500,000 troops).
I agree with the rest of your comments, though. :)
Michael
August 30th, 2005 at 2:07 am
Hey, Derek. You told me you were going to write an article on the Iraq war for the magazine. Where is it?
Oh, yeah. Great comments everyone!
VirtueBlog » Blog Archive » Americans want out of Iraq
September 7th, 2005 at 2:23 pm
[...] This follows up numerous other polls, including a Harris Interactive poll where 58 per cent of respondents think the invasion of Iraq has not helped to protect the U.S. from another terrorist attack, up five points since last November; and an AP poll previously reported on here at Virtue. [...]