Goodbye, Iraq
The Bear on Jan 07 2012 at 8:40 am | Filed under: Election 2012, Iraq, Middle East, Politics
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Barely 100 hours after the troops were withdrawn, Baghdad was rocked by more than a dozen explosions — including suicide car bombers — that left at least 63 people dead and 194 injured.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.
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.
SideBear: Ten years of blood and treasure with over 4,000 dead wasted, all to satisfy one man’s ego and reelection bid.
Iraq will become a puppet satellite of Iran in no time at all.
Next up, Afghanistan.
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