Reduced Violence Is Good...

But if Iraqi's aren't going to use the opportunity to make political progress - meaning they have to compromise with each other - then why are we there?

• CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - Senior military commanders here now portray the intransigence of Iraq's Shiite-dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq, rather than al-Qaeda terrorists, Sunni insurgents or Iranian-backed militias.
• Indeed, some U.S. Army officers now talk more sympathetically about former insurgents than they do about their ostensible allies in the Shiite-led central government.

Ouch. The "if we leave it will blow up" argument rings pretty hollow when the "government" we are supporting is not interested in governing. Whether it is incompetence, unwillingness, or impotence, the result is the same. This situation begs the question "What are we doing here?" What is "victory" in this context?

Editor's Note: The "if we leave it will blow up" argument has always rung hollow because President Bush has maintained from day one that if the Iraqis asked us to leave, we would do so immediately, irrespective of potential consequences...
--Brian
- posted by john @ 7:13 AM