Post by sometimeman on Sept 16, 2008 17:21:59 GMT -4
Iraq's Nouri Maliki breaking free of U.S.
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-influence16-2008sep16,0,7178094.story
Once dependent on American support to keep his job, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has consolidated power and is asserting his independence, sharply reducing Washington's influence over the future of Iraq.
It is time to face facts. The war in Iraq is lost from the point of view of the United States.
We did not destroy Iraq's WMDs; they did not have any.
We did not punish Iraq for 9-11; Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11.
We did not sever the ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda; they never existed (and Al Qaeda is a front for CIA and Mossad).
We are not getting Iraq's oil (as promised to pay for the war and reconstruction). Iraq just canceled all the no-bid contracts with western nations and instead will sell their oil to China.
Outside the Green Zone, the US has lost control of the countryside. The Iraqis see the US not as liberator but as cruel occupying tyrants.
The US has lost Iraq. It is time to walk out while we can still pretend it's our idea.