The Shape Of Things To Come
When the US pulled out of Somalia, the giant sucking sound you heard was the vacuum left by the US incursion being back filled with a new crop of bad guys. Same situation in the country, just a new crop of leaders running the show.
Today, there is a report in the NYT that talks about US oversight of Shiite commando units:
The plan to increase the number of American advisers is a significant departure from the overall American strategy of giving the Iraqis the lead role in fighting the insurgency. Indeed, the allegations of atrocities arose only after Americans began to give the Iraqi units more freedom to act on their own.
Wow, where I have heard this before? Somalia... Haiti. When we try to bring Western ideals of what is right and wrong into a land that has existed for thousands of years with a status quo, we are bound to be disappointed with the results.
The Shiites hate the Sunnis because their flavor of Islam is not the same - well, that was probably the reason that it started... much like the Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland... That may be the reason it started, but it sure isn't the cause of troubles now.
Both Sunni and Shiite hate the Kurds, calling them a sort of mongrel species - which is also what the Turks think about them, so they are pretty much screwed on both sides.
When we place our advisors into oversight of the Iraqi commandos, they will probably play nice. Of course, they know that we can't stay watching them forever... their time will come when they are free to roam at will again. About 10 seconds after the US leaves them alone.
Today, there is a report in the NYT that talks about US oversight of Shiite commando units:
The plan to increase the number of American advisers is a significant departure from the overall American strategy of giving the Iraqis the lead role in fighting the insurgency. Indeed, the allegations of atrocities arose only after Americans began to give the Iraqi units more freedom to act on their own.
Wow, where I have heard this before? Somalia... Haiti. When we try to bring Western ideals of what is right and wrong into a land that has existed for thousands of years with a status quo, we are bound to be disappointed with the results.
The Shiites hate the Sunnis because their flavor of Islam is not the same - well, that was probably the reason that it started... much like the Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland... That may be the reason it started, but it sure isn't the cause of troubles now.
Both Sunni and Shiite hate the Kurds, calling them a sort of mongrel species - which is also what the Turks think about them, so they are pretty much screwed on both sides.
When we place our advisors into oversight of the Iraqi commandos, they will probably play nice. Of course, they know that we can't stay watching them forever... their time will come when they are free to roam at will again. About 10 seconds after the US leaves them alone.
posted by bisbohemian at 6:59 AM
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