Article

2008-09-03 Iraq

Iraqi army readies for showdown with Kurds

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Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2008-09-03 00:55|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 This actually is a good thing, a sign that the country is starting to mature. The Iraqis have moved beyond the question of survival to the big questions of what the country that they all feel ownership in is going to look like. The Sunnis have given up the idea of regaining the control they had under Saddam Hussein; now the Shiites are going to have to realize that being in the majority doesn't give them ownership either, the dream they've been clutching ever since they discovered that they actually were a majority of the population.

That doesn't mean the next bit won't be painful, though.

Posted by trailing wife ">trailing wife 2008-09-03 08:18|| 2008-09-03 08:18|| Front Page Top

#2 Oh joy!

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2008-09-03 08:47|| 2008-09-03 08:47|| Front Page Top

#3 I agree with Trailing wife. This is very impressive. Now, if we could just get Americans to show this kind of maturity...

Posted by Richard of Oregon 2008-09-03 11:22|| 2008-09-03 11:22|| Front Page Top

#4 Perhaps the worst argument of early America was the fight between Federalists and anti-Federalists--which was never really resolved, only forced by George Washington's suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion, which is still argued as illegal and unconstitutional.

That is, the anti-Federalists won.

And this same argument has been going on for two decades in the EU, and it is now becoming acute in Iraq.

Posted by Anonymoose 2008-09-03 11:49|| 2008-09-03 11:49|| Front Page Top

#5 My conservative instincts suggest to me that Iraqis will revert to type within a decade. Note that upon independence (from European or American rule), a lot of countries were organized as democracies including Iraq, Cuba and the Philippines. Maliki is doing a lot of the things I would expect from a would-be dictator. A key move is arranging for the expulsion of American troops because they might interfere with his plans for a life term in office.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2008-09-03 12:56|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2008-09-03 12:56|| Front Page Top

#6 As we all post, al-Maliki is pressuring President Bush to sign a get-the-hell-out (SOFA) agreement by 2011. What pressure? He can revive the civil war at the bat of an eye. Do we respect Iraq's territorial integrity in 2012 if they start murdering Kurds?

Posted by Regional Peace 2008-09-03 18:04|| 2008-09-03 18:04|| Front Page Top

#7 If I recall correctly, every stage of withdrawal was contingent upon Iraq meeting certain standards in terms of control of the violent, rule of law, and democratic steps, not absolute time.

Posted by trailing wife">trailing wife 2008-09-03 18:10|| 2008-09-03 18:10|| Front Page Top

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