http://fanonite.org/2007/11/19/winning-hearts-and-minds/

And the final thing to be clear about is that it is that the withdrawal of the occupation is a necessary prerequisite for things to begin to calm down in Iraq. Sorry, Americans, but you are not the solution, you are the problem. Evidence? How about the recently revealed fact that the violence in Basra has declined by 90% since the British withdrew (of course, almost immediately after the British withdrew the Iraqis in Basra were saying that things had calmed down a lot and they felt a lot safer going out, but now that the British have provided actual numbers, maybe people will start believing it).

And the final thing to be clear about is that it is that the withdrawal of the occupation is a necessary prerequisite for things to begin to calm down in Iraq. Sorry, Americans, but you are not the solution, you are the problem. Evidence? How about the recently revealed fact that the violence in Basra has declined by 90% since the British withdrew (of course, almost immediately after the British withdrew the Iraqis in Basra were saying that things had calmed down a lot and they felt a lot safer going out, but now that the British have provided actual numbers, maybe people will start believing it).

Showing this kind of disrespect for your subject does not do you credit.

And by the way, I am not a fan of Muqtada As Sadr really, but the choices are not good, and compared to the Malikis and Al Hakims who have simultaneously enslaved themselves to both Iran and Bush, at least he is a nationalist, and not beholden to any foreign entity bent on dominating Iraq.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this. It is right on.

This war did not start in 2003. It started in 1991 with the systematic destruction of Iraq’s civilian infrastructure, water, transportation, power, with the results the pentagon understood would occur. Epidemics of water borne disease, and massive deaths of children. Under Clinton and Hillary’s good friend Madeline ‘We think it (the death’s of ‘hundreds of thousands’ of children) was worth it” Albright’s sanctions the economy was wrecked and the middle class was broken.

We destroyed their ecomomy, their social fabric, their museums, their libraries, their police, their army, their health system – and instituted a government based on sect which had no antecedant in Iraqi history. Five years of devastation, occupation, humiliation on top of 12 years of crushing sanctions.

We didn’t destabilize Iraq. We destroyed it.

And we wonder why there is violence. Well, Arabs tend to violence as we all know. Right?

Or maybe not:

“Coalition Soldiers In Iraq Are The Disease, Not the Cure

Here at the Agonist a long running argument has been about whether or not a pullout of US troops would lead to even worse violence than exists now. My argument has been that while there might be a spike in violence, the Coalition pulling out is the prerequisite to fixing Iraq’s violence issues (and, for that matter, pretty much any of Iraq’s problems.)

The data points continue to pile up that when the US or Britain leaves an area violence actually decreases. Here’s another such point:

The British army says violence in Basra has fallen by 90% since it withdrew from the southern Iraqi city earlier this year. Around 500 British soldiers left one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces in the heart of the city in early September and stopped conducting regular foot patrols. A spokesman says the Iraqi security forces still come under attack from militants in Basra, but the overall level of violence is down 90% since the British troops left. Britain is scheduled to return control of Basra province to Iraqi officials next month, officially ending Britain’s combat role in Iraq.

Occupying a country, if you don’t do it properly, increases rather than decreases violence. A majority of Iraqis want the US out. Perhaps they have a good reason for that. Foreign occupation troops aren’t the solution to Iraqs problems. Nor is occupying Iraq any longer a solution to any problem the US has. It’s time to leave. Let the Iraqis deal with the aftermath. The “pottery barn” rule doesn’t apply when the owners and employees are all begging you to “just leave the shop, sir. We’ll pick up the pieces. No, no, you don’t own anything. Please, just leave the store. Please, oh arghhh! You broke something else. And something else! No! No! Just leave. Leave!!!”
That’s the situation.

Time for the US to just leave.”

And while we are leaving, perhaps Moqtada as Sadr deserves a little more respect. Col. Lang seems to think so:

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2007/08/who-is-moqtada-.html

We are all a little in denial until reality pays us a visit. You’re cool Yogi-one.

Mark my words, the war ain’t even started yet and the powers that be are up for a short sharp shock if they seriously believe they can push this new world order crap.

The world is in pressure cooker mode. Time to release the steam, give a few real freedoms. Stoke the pot and watch that cooker explode. It could explode anywhere and at anytime, which could give new meaning to losing face.

I was trying to sound hopeful….but as they say, maybe I’ll feel much better if I just give that up, eh?

Many, many other tags, but I’ll leave that to Mr M whose far better than me at pointing things out. So that’s why Mrs Clinton has to take over in the natural progression of things.

Bush I > Clinton I > Bush II > Clinton II

Dummy war on Iraq > dummy moral crusade > real war in Iraq > real moral crusade.

We are about to witness the new world order.

Were it not for the fact that in WW2 WE, THE PEOPLE, DEFEATED HITLER, who, at the time, had the world’s most efficient army (marching across all of Europe, no less, and bombing London, no less) in less time than it’s taken to wage this Bush/Cheney Keystone Kops “war”…

Were it not for the fact that, nowadays, up is down…etc.