Black Friday in America – Terrible Thursday in Iraq
Hopefully you have the day off and will be able to relax and enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend.
While we mark the busiest shopping day of the year and enjoy the company of family and friends, the news overseas that might be ignored this busy weekend will no doubt underscore the absolute necessity for a thorough review of what our policy should be in Iraq.
One day after PM Maliki, a weak and tainted leader, agreed to talks with Iran and Syria, the Sunni insurgents launched perhaps the worst attack ever. The three car bombs killed over 150 people in Sadr City, the Shiite slum area in Baghdad that is home to some of the most violent militias in the country. There is no doubt that by the time you read this massive retaliation will have already happened.
The news is even worse because of the the cycle of violence that threatens more of our young men and women who are service in Iraq, and whose lives are endangered by the civil war. Yes, I call it a civil war, because that is exactly what it is. No poitical spin master can distort that reality.
Overriding all of this are the forces of danger whose efforts are merging at an intersection of possible nuclear confrontation. An Iraq weakened by civil disorder precipitates a stronger Iran and an emboldened Syria. Surrounding these nations are moderate countries like Jordan and Egypt and the Gulf states who feel threatened by the radical Islam that has enveloped Iraq. If Iraq falls into total chaos, there is even the possibility that armies from Iran and Syria will occupy the shattered country, and that Iran will again threaten to make the bomb.
This is a powder keg that requires careful and reasoned planning, a high level of military readiness and leaders who act with a real plan and not the impulsive reactionism that marked the begining of the Iraqi war.
