Dude, I haven’t had to do homework in soooooo long….

Nobody could have anticipated that destroying Iraq would strengthen Iran’s influence.

If I have to take the time to read an entire article, I’ll never have time to comment!

Okay, I didn’t read the whole thing. But I did do some heavy skimming. So there!

And what I mostly got out of the essay was how well-meaning and hardworking individuals, trying to do their best under difficult circumstances, are being subsumed by a tidal wave of strategic mistakes and endemic corruption.

Read it.

Well, 5 to 6 years 4100 dead and 600 billion dollars and what have we created???

Another Iran.

Someone needs to go to jail over this.

Eric in Austin

Tbogg, I hate it when you get serious. Deadly serious.

It was infuriating to read how the troops are being ground down by this administration. The exodus of Captains and NCO’s is going to hurt the Army for years to come.
OTOH, it was heartening to learn once again how clear-eyed some of the troops are. As usual, the grunts have a better picture of the situation than their leaders in Washington.

There’s nothing more American than when faced with a no-win situation — declare victory and depart the field!

When the Sunnis of Anbar turned against Al Q in 2007, the last significant U.S. military objective was realized.

The Iraqis don’t like foreigners — whether they’re American, non-Iraqi Wahhabists, or Iranians. The claim that Iran or Al Q could take power after our departure from Iraq is reminiscent of the early 60’s claim that Red China would take over Vietnam if the US departed that country.

The strength of native nationalism is under-rated even tho the occupiers must battle it daily!

The Iraqi Arab Sh’ia have more in common with their Iraqi Arab Sunni cousins than they do their Iranian co-religionists.

And everybody hates Al Qaeda outside the mountains of Afgh/Pak.

The U.S. has already “won” the Iraq War and the longer we stay the less that “winning” gains us.

As it stands, it appears that Iran is making the choice between sticking it to the US or achieving a more stable neighbor (once the US bugs out) by picking “sticking it to the US”.

Once the US pulls out, the chaos they have fomented to make the US bleed will fall right into their laps. When the time comes for an Obama administration to have a regional conference and direct talks with all involved, I don’t doubt this will pointed to the Iranians in no uncertain terms with the expectation that they will walk back their negative involvement to avoid being hoisted on their own petard.

A quick US pullout would give us a bloody nose, but Iran would absolutely get their share of splatter.

Is this going to be on the final?

Yes. I did the essay portion, I’m just waiting for the true-false and multiples…

Well the wingers like to compare Obama to Carter. Maybe that’s the Bush plan, bomb Iran and cause them to grab however many thousand American hostages out of Iraq and saddle the new guy coming in with a ready-made hostage crisis.

As long as outside reading is aloud, I just read this on Altercation: http://www.comw.org/pda/taskfo.....rawal.html

“For those who say we’re damned if we stay and damned if we don’t.”

I think the faster we get out the better the result. There is simply nothing we can do there except die and kill. And we will never be seen as anything but a money tit..and an occupier.