occupation

My response to an op-ed in The Washington Post about Iraq.

This op-ed demonstrates the hubris in neo-con thinking. The first mistake was Bush invading Iraq. There’s a very apparent pattern we’ve repeated over and over again in that country. We helped Saddam gain power because the president that preceded him was a bit too friendly with Russia. We gave Saddam weapons to get rid of the Russians and ignored the brutality in his regime when he used the very same weapons to kill thousands of Kurds. Decades later Bush #2 decided that Saddam had to go, and we picked a new leader to rule. Maliki. Now that Iraq is falling apart again via the hands of the person we picked to rule, we are once again looking for a new replacement for him. We’ve played this game time and time again and every time it does not work, but for some reason the neo-cons think all they have to do is find a new ruler and put him in power, while crossing their fingers hoping it will work this time. And on top of that they think permanent US military occupation will make everything better. That’s not a solution and It’s time we break that cycle and let the Iraqi people decide who’s going to be president. They are the only ones who can end the sectarian war. When it’s all said and done Iraq will probably dissolve into 2 or 3 separate countries. Our meddling will continue to make things worse if we listen to the neo-cons. If Iraq can’t exist as a country without armed US troops keeping it together at gun point, then Iraq should dissolve. President Obama did the right thing by ending the war and bringing our troops home. I just hope he does not fall victim to mission creep and gradually restart the war. I’m pretty secure in my belief that he will not do that. When he sent advisers to Libya a lot people (including myself) were skeptical about his intentions to just advise and not send more than what was needed. He kept that promise, so I’m trusting him to do the same this time with Iraq.

*this was written on July 4, 2014. I had to change the “post on” date for cosmetic reasons.*