By the Rivers of Babylon
posted by taddyporter
The evacuation to Kuwait of the the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division, USA, brings to an end the leading role of American military power in the unlawful occupation of Iraq. A praetorian detachment of 50,000 US troops will remain in Iraq for another year.
This is not the swift end to our Mesopotamian misadventure I expected when I voted for President Obama but, at least, the end is in sight. One more of the cowpies left behind by the dubya regime is on its way to being swept up and that will have to be enough for now.
Whether the Iraqi people will take advantage of our exit to establish a self-governing state remains to be seen. The Iraqi state is a colonial construct confected by the British from provinces they seized from the Ottomans in World War I. The separatist tendencies that have dogged its efforts toward national unity have only been strengthened by the aggressive war launched against Iraq by Bush. Integrated communities have been ethnically cleansed, communal divisions hardened, and the whole country, particularly the south, moved more closely into the orbit of Iran.
Everyone who opposed this aggression was right. Everyone who promoted it was wrong.
I want the occassion of the 4th Brigade's withdrawal to be marked by speeches and editorials and encomiums from those who were wrong apologizing to those who were right. I want to see video replay of the massive anti-invasion demonstrations that took place in 2002. I want the right wing's absurd theories of national security to be discredited for generations.
I want the destruction of more than 4300 American soldiers, sailors, and marines and the grief visited on their families to be hung around the necks of the GOP and their traveling warmongers for all time. I want American plutocrats taxed heavily to support their dependents and those thousands invalided by Bush's criminal adventure.
I want the armed forces of the United States returned to their proper role of Shield of the Republic, safeguarding the nation's lines of communication and defeating our enemies.
I want an end to this colonial buccaneering.
This is not the swift end to our Mesopotamian misadventure I expected when I voted for President Obama but, at least, the end is in sight. One more of the cowpies left behind by the dubya regime is on its way to being swept up and that will have to be enough for now.
Whether the Iraqi people will take advantage of our exit to establish a self-governing state remains to be seen. The Iraqi state is a colonial construct confected by the British from provinces they seized from the Ottomans in World War I. The separatist tendencies that have dogged its efforts toward national unity have only been strengthened by the aggressive war launched against Iraq by Bush. Integrated communities have been ethnically cleansed, communal divisions hardened, and the whole country, particularly the south, moved more closely into the orbit of Iran.
Everyone who opposed this aggression was right. Everyone who promoted it was wrong.
I want the occassion of the 4th Brigade's withdrawal to be marked by speeches and editorials and encomiums from those who were wrong apologizing to those who were right. I want to see video replay of the massive anti-invasion demonstrations that took place in 2002. I want the right wing's absurd theories of national security to be discredited for generations.
I want the destruction of more than 4300 American soldiers, sailors, and marines and the grief visited on their families to be hung around the necks of the GOP and their traveling warmongers for all time. I want American plutocrats taxed heavily to support their dependents and those thousands invalided by Bush's criminal adventure.
I want the armed forces of the United States returned to their proper role of Shield of the Republic, safeguarding the nation's lines of communication and defeating our enemies.
I want an end to this colonial buccaneering.
Posted at 3:48 AM
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