Home
Goodbye, Iraq Last Updated: 4:14 AM, January 1, 2012
Well, that didn’t take long: Now that President Obama has brought US troops home — to fulfill a campaign vow — Iraq is devolving into political chaos verging on civil war.
Barely 100 hours after the troops were withdrawn, Baghdad was rocked by more than a dozen explosions — including suicide car bombers — that left at least 63 people dead and 194 injured.
The attacks followed the pattern long favored by al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists — before the Bush-Petraeus troop surge reined them in, of course.
And they also followed the stunning political onslaught launched by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — ordering the arrest of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and threatening to purge his government of all political dissenters.
AP
Car bomb attack in the neighborhood of Karrada in Baghdad, Iraq.
Maliki went even further last week, threatening to dissolve Iraq’s fragile power-sharing unity government and warning of “rivers of blood” if the rival Sunnis seek an autonomous region.
So much for Obama’s confident boast that Iraq is now “sovereign, self-reliant and democratic.”
Actually, the latest developments raise serious questions about why Obama pulled the rug out from a continued US military presence rather than try to negotiate an extension — as strongly urged by military leaders.
Not surprisingly, the White House considers the political turmoil and mounting death toll a mere blip on the radar screen.
“This kind of political turmoil has been occurring in Iraq periodically, as they have taken a step forward and, occasionally, backwards,” said spokesman Jay Carney.
Pretty big step.
Hashimi has fled to Kurdistan, prompting Maliki to threaten “problems” if the Kurds protect him. He’s also vowed to release confidential files he claims implicate his foes in terrorism.
This kind of dysfunctional turmoil — not to mention the terrorist violence — was all but eliminated by the US presence, which basically acted as a check on warring factions.
Now, there’s no one left to do that.
Vice President Joe Biden has been on the phone with Maliki, warning him to remedy what he called “a perception problem.”
That’s soft stuff — but to do anything more would be to admit that Team Obama waltzed out of Iraq long before the nation was ready to govern and protect itself.
Yet, this is no small slip back.
And it’s a direct result — predictably so — of Obama’s misguided decision to pull the troops out for blatantly political purposes.
Mission accomplished? Far from it.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Well, that didn’t take long: Now that President Obama has brought US troops home — to fulfill a campaign vow — Iraq is devolving into political chaos verging on civil war.
Barely 100 hours after the troops were withdrawn, Baghdad was rocked by more than a dozen explosions — including suicide car bombers — that left at least 63 people dead and 194 injured.
The attacks followed the pattern long favored by al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists — before the Bush-Petraeus troop surge reined them in, of course.
And they also followed the stunning political onslaught launched by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — ordering the arrest of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and threatening to purge his government of all political dissenters.
AP
Car bomb attack in the neighborhood of Karrada in Baghdad, Iraq.
Maliki went even further last week, threatening to dissolve Iraq’s fragile power-sharing unity government and warning of “rivers of blood” if the rival Sunnis seek an autonomous region.
So much for Obama’s confident boast that Iraq is now “sovereign, self-reliant and democratic.”
Actually, the latest developments raise serious questions about why Obama pulled the rug out from a continued US military presence rather than try to negotiate an extension — as strongly urged by military leaders.
Not surprisingly, the White House considers the political turmoil and mounting death toll a mere blip on the radar screen.
“This kind of political turmoil has been occurring in Iraq periodically, as they have taken a step forward and, occasionally, backwards,” said spokesman Jay Carney.
Pretty big step.
Hashimi has fled to Kurdistan, prompting Maliki to threaten “problems” if the Kurds protect him. He’s also vowed to release confidential files he claims implicate his foes in terrorism.
This kind of dysfunctional turmoil — not to mention the terrorist violence — was all but eliminated by the US presence, which basically acted as a check on warring factions.
Now, there’s no one left to do that.
Vice President Joe Biden has been on the phone with Maliki, warning him to remedy what he called “a perception problem.”
That’s soft stuff — but to do anything more would be to admit that Team Obama waltzed out of Iraq long before the nation was ready to govern and protect itself.
Yet, this is no small slip back.
And it’s a direct result — predictably so — of Obama’s misguided decision to pull the troops out for blatantly political purposes.
Mission accomplished? Far from it.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
