This is Why
Mar. 21st, 2008 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forsythDo you want to know why we're mired in a civil war we helped unleash in Iraq?
It's because the people who started the war know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the Middle East.
First, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has repeatedly claimed Iran is training Al Queda. Which is false. Iran hates Al Queda, Al Queda hates Iran. And, he conflates Al Queda, the terrorist network headed by Osama Bin Laden, with Al Queda in Iraq, a group formed in Iraq to fight the US occupation, which just took the Al Queda brand name. But that's standard issue stuff for Bush, Cheney, McCain, and the rest of the war crowd. But Al Queda in Iraq is a Sunni group, and Iran is mostly Shi'a, and the civil war in Iraq has largely been Sunnis killing Shi'a, and vice versa.
John McCain is running on his reputation as a war hero and tough guy, who'll be "strong" on Iraq and terrorism and whatever, but he doesn't have the slightest idea what he's talking about. Exactly like the current resident of the White House.
For instance, here's Matthew Yglesias on a quote from George W. Bush. And here's the quote:
Out of such chaos in Iraq, the terrorist movement could emerge emboldened -- with new recruits, new resources, and an even greater determination to dominate the region and harm America. An emboldened al Qaeda with access to Iraq's oil resources could pursue its ambitions to acquire weapons of mass destruction to attack America and other free nations
The truly stupid parts are twofold: First, the idea that Al Queda in Iraq could somehow take over the entire country, including the oil fields. A loose geurilla terrorist network can't take and hold territory. Plus the oil is in the Shi'a south, and Kurdish north, and Al Queda in Iraq is a Sunni group. This is truly stupid thinking.
And secondly, the claim that Al Queda in Iraq, or the original Al Queda, would get a recruiting boon from us leaving Iraq? The US military itself has profiled the average Al Queda in Iraq soldier as being there BECAUSE we've invaded and occupied Iraq. Here's a quote.
"Mr. AQI is a man in his early-to-mid 20s. Chances are he came to Iraq from either north Africa or Saudi Arabia. He's single. He's lower-middle class and has some high school experience, but probably not a diploma. To earn his wages he worked in construction or maybe drove a taxi. Mr. AQI probably didn't have any significant military experience prior to joining AQI. His relationship with his dad isn't so great. And while he's been religious for as long as he can remember, he wasn't, you know, a nut about it.
So what brought Mr. AQI to Iraq? At the mosque, he met a man who could tell Mr. AQI just wanted to belong to something. That man told Mr. AQI he had something Mr. AQI needed to see. Very often, according to Colonel Bacon, it was an image from Abu Ghraib. Or it was a spliced-together propaganda film of Americans killing or abusing Iraqis. The narrative that weighed heavily on Mr. AQI, Colonel Bacon said, was that it was his "religious duty go to Iraq," where he would serve as "an avenger of abused Iraqs."
But Iraq wasn't what he thought it would be. Mr. AQI wasn't an infantryman, where he'd bravely stand and fight Americans, he was pressured into being a suicide bomber. Nor were his targets the Americans he wanted to hit -- they were the Iraqis he came to avenge. According to Colonel Bacon, in some cases, Mr. AQI was happy to be in American custody, where he would no longer cause Iraq any more pain."
These are the yahoos we let lead us to war. They don't have the slightest idea what they're talking about, it's all just posing as "tough". This is why we're in the middle of a disaster, and it's why none of them are suited to be President. And why Bush should be impeached.
It's because the people who started the war know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the Middle East.
First, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has repeatedly claimed Iran is training Al Queda. Which is false. Iran hates Al Queda, Al Queda hates Iran. And, he conflates Al Queda, the terrorist network headed by Osama Bin Laden, with Al Queda in Iraq, a group formed in Iraq to fight the US occupation, which just took the Al Queda brand name. But that's standard issue stuff for Bush, Cheney, McCain, and the rest of the war crowd. But Al Queda in Iraq is a Sunni group, and Iran is mostly Shi'a, and the civil war in Iraq has largely been Sunnis killing Shi'a, and vice versa.
John McCain is running on his reputation as a war hero and tough guy, who'll be "strong" on Iraq and terrorism and whatever, but he doesn't have the slightest idea what he's talking about. Exactly like the current resident of the White House.
For instance, here's Matthew Yglesias on a quote from George W. Bush. And here's the quote:
Out of such chaos in Iraq, the terrorist movement could emerge emboldened -- with new recruits, new resources, and an even greater determination to dominate the region and harm America. An emboldened al Qaeda with access to Iraq's oil resources could pursue its ambitions to acquire weapons of mass destruction to attack America and other free nations
The truly stupid parts are twofold: First, the idea that Al Queda in Iraq could somehow take over the entire country, including the oil fields. A loose geurilla terrorist network can't take and hold territory. Plus the oil is in the Shi'a south, and Kurdish north, and Al Queda in Iraq is a Sunni group. This is truly stupid thinking.
And secondly, the claim that Al Queda in Iraq, or the original Al Queda, would get a recruiting boon from us leaving Iraq? The US military itself has profiled the average Al Queda in Iraq soldier as being there BECAUSE we've invaded and occupied Iraq. Here's a quote.
"Mr. AQI is a man in his early-to-mid 20s. Chances are he came to Iraq from either north Africa or Saudi Arabia. He's single. He's lower-middle class and has some high school experience, but probably not a diploma. To earn his wages he worked in construction or maybe drove a taxi. Mr. AQI probably didn't have any significant military experience prior to joining AQI. His relationship with his dad isn't so great. And while he's been religious for as long as he can remember, he wasn't, you know, a nut about it.
So what brought Mr. AQI to Iraq? At the mosque, he met a man who could tell Mr. AQI just wanted to belong to something. That man told Mr. AQI he had something Mr. AQI needed to see. Very often, according to Colonel Bacon, it was an image from Abu Ghraib. Or it was a spliced-together propaganda film of Americans killing or abusing Iraqis. The narrative that weighed heavily on Mr. AQI, Colonel Bacon said, was that it was his "religious duty go to Iraq," where he would serve as "an avenger of abused Iraqs."
But Iraq wasn't what he thought it would be. Mr. AQI wasn't an infantryman, where he'd bravely stand and fight Americans, he was pressured into being a suicide bomber. Nor were his targets the Americans he wanted to hit -- they were the Iraqis he came to avenge. According to Colonel Bacon, in some cases, Mr. AQI was happy to be in American custody, where he would no longer cause Iraq any more pain."
These are the yahoos we let lead us to war. They don't have the slightest idea what they're talking about, it's all just posing as "tough". This is why we're in the middle of a disaster, and it's why none of them are suited to be President. And why Bush should be impeached.
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no subject
Date: 2008-03-21 03:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-21 03:38 pm (UTC)Which is hardly an argument for saying we need to stay there.