October 16, 2006
Slowly the myths woven around the invasion and occupation of Iraq are being peeled away. Now it is being acknowledged that the occupation of Iraq is making the situation worse. The basic line of the war party is that withdrawal would mean that there would be a messy collapse into open civil war and it would facilitate the spread of international terrorism (jihadists). Hauling down the white flag would represent a massive defeat for the West.
Martin Rowson
Isn't Iraq already caught up in civil war caused by Shiite death squads and militia and the burgeoning Sunni resistance movement? Isn't the judgement one of there can't be a military solution to what is happening in Iraq? Hasn't the Bush administration all but given up on democracy in Iraq, and was casting about for “alternatives”? Isn't the client regime of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in Iraq on the ropes because it is making no progress in containing sectarian violence? Isn't it a now a case of salvaging the U.S. enterprise in Iraq? If the Bush administration is truly unwilling to consider getting out of Iraq, then what are its options?
There are no more eureka moments left for the Coalition of the Willing. Those days are well and truly gone.
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