On Jul 24, 12:34=A0pm, Bush is Diabolical Terrorist Numero Uno
<violencebreedsviole...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:24:21 -0700, Major Debacle
>
> <Major_Debacle@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >Republicans sup****ted Saddam when he was killing his people wholesale.
>
> >Reagan fell all over himself to open up diplomatic ties with Iraq so
> >that he could give Saddam billions of taxpayer dollars in aid in his
war
> >against Iran. It turned out that many Iraqis sided with Iran and Saddam
> >turned his guns on them, too.
>
> >Isn't it ironic that Bush has now turned Iraq into a staunch ally of
> >Iran? And he did it for only $3 trillion dollars and only 4000 US
> >service people killed and 30,000 wounded.
>
> Hey man oh man are you one of the few enlightened ones or what
>
> I've been reading lots of books on Iran recently to try and understand
> America's Foreign Policy and I got a ROYAL HEADACHE
Looks like we can leave Iraq now!:
http://my.earthlink.net/article/nat?guid=3D20080724/4887fe40_3ca6_155262008=
0724-481485110
US envoy doubts Iraqis will revert to violence
By ROBERT BURNS (AP Military Writer)
=46rom Associated Press
July 24, 2008 10:04 AM EDT
BAGHDAD - Iraqis, having lived through years of sectarian warfare, are
unlikely to revert to mass violence as they sort out their future, the
top U.S. diplomat to Baghdad told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Ryan Crocker, a veteran Middle East diplomat who intends to finish his
tour in the Iraqi capital in January, said it may take decades for the
country to settle its many economic and social problems because of its
"high-wire" politics.
And while he would not rule out a return to widespread sectarian
violence - which has virtually ceased in recent months - Crocker said
the main indicators of change in Iraq point toward an eventual
reconciliation.
He cited a "powerful force" of popular sentiment in Iraq that has
underpinned the decline in violence. He was referring to Iraqis'
rejection of extremists on both the Sunni and the ****ite side - a
development that has given U.S. officials hope that the insurgents may
no longer have a foundation from which to fight.
Crocker said the change in Iraqi views toward their sectarian
rivalries was a long time in coming.
"And it would probably take quite a bit to ****ft it back," he said,
speaking in his office at the U.S. Embassy overlooking the Tigris.
"You talk to people (Iraqis), and they just say, `Never again. We
almost destroyed ourselves.' There is almost a kind of embarrassment
over it: 'How could we, Iraqis, do that?' "
Crocker said he sees signs that more ordinary Iraqis welcome the less
violent period that is now emerging.
"One of the encouraging factors is that as violent and as vicious as
that sectarian fighting was, it's kind of an anomaly here," he said.
"Yes, there are sectarian differences and Saddam's government really
went after the non-Sunni populations, both Kurds and ****ites, but that
broadly is seen as Saddam, not the will of the Sunni people."
Historically, he said, the sects have coexisted and intermingled.
He said the insurgency that began with Sunni dissidents, including
senior figures in former President Saddam Hussein's Baath party, has
been so weakened in recent months that it poses no serious threat to
the government.
"Under current cir***stances, it's not a threat and arguably not even
much of a challenge any more," he said. "There isn't a whole lot left
of that insurgency, at least certainly in an active sense."
At the same time, Crocker said the terrorist network al-Qaida, while
currently on its heels, could not be ruled out as a future threat
here.
"It could regenerate. It could come back," he said.
The ambassador also said he sees almost no chance that provincial
elections scheduled for October will take place earlier than December.
He described himself as cautiously optimistic that the government will
work out the compromises needed to pass legislation required before
the landmark elections can be held.
"The popular sentiment in favor of these elections is very, very
strong," he said.
Iraq's presidential council on Wednesday rejected a draft provincial
elections law and sent it back to parliament for reworking. That was a
blow to U.S. hopes that the vote could be held this year.
The election is seen as an im****tant step toward giving the Sunni
minority a bigger voice in government decisions about such matters as
budgets, public services and other matters that have been dominated by
the majority ****ites.
Crocker said he thinks the various contending political forces are in
a mood to compromise on the election law, although perhaps not until
the last possible moment.
"It's going to be an ongoing thrash, but we've been through this
before" with other political battles over im****tant pieces of
legislation, he said. "It's just a fact of Iraqi politics: it's all
high wire," Crocker said.
|
