Recent Postings from the region Iraq at VocalNation.net http://vocalnation.net/user/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:53:53 +0100 http://www.vocalnation.net/images/promote/vn_feed_image.png http://www.vocalnation.net Feed provided by vocalnation.net. Click to visit. Subscribe to this feed by copying the URL from your browser's address bar into your feedreader of choice. You may choose to use a web-based feedreader such as Google Reader, NewsGator, Rojo, etc. or one of the many browser-plugin feed readers. http://vocalnation.net/posting/196356/My+Plan+for+Iraq+-+By+Barack+Obama/ ...
"The good news is that Iraq’s leaders want to take responsibility for their country by negotiating a timetable for the removal of American troops. Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. James Dubik, the American officer in charge of training Iraq’s security forces, estimates that the Iraqi Army and police will be ready to assume responsibility for security in 2009."

"Only by redeploying our troops can we press the Iraqis to reach comprehensive political accommodation and achieve a successful transition to Iraqis’ taking responsibility for the security and stability of their country. Instead of seizing the moment and encouraging Iraqis to step up, the Bush administration and Senator McCain are refusing to embrace this transition — despite their previous commitments to respect the will of Iraq’s sovereign government. They call any timetable for the removal of American troops “surrender,” even though we would be turning Iraq over to a sovereign Iraqi government."
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"...correspondents say Iraqi MPs would be more likely to back Mr Maliki if the deal includes such a timetable."

"The US and Iraqi governments have been negotiating a detailed bilateral Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) since March and it was supposed to be concluded this month.

Many Iraqis want to see an end to the American military presence in their country, but are fearful of the consequences for security. "]]> Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:12:57 +0100 Posting196350-1215565977 http://vocalnation.net/posting/82421/IRAQ+HEARINGS%3A+Sen.+Obama+Questions+Gen.+Petraeus/ Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:42:56 +0100 Posting82421-1208209376 http://vocalnation.net/posting/1132/+Iraq+on+the+Improve+-+Thomas+Ricks+on+NPR%27s+Fresh+Air/
A few key points:

The surge has been successful in that it has improved security, but unsuccessful in allowing for political progress of the central government.  

As a response to the central government's inability to get things done, provincal governments are beginning to popup all over Iraq at the grassroots level.

The primary focus of the military's strategy since General Petraeus took the helm has shifted towards "protecting the Iraqi people".  

The U.S. has been cutting deals with sunni insurgent groups, actually giving them weapons and money in order to fight Al Qaeda and police their own neighborhoods.  In some instances the U.S. military has even fought along side of them.  This has proved to be very effective.  Iraq's central government isn't too happy with this - this may be because the government is Shiite dominated.

One reason for the decrease in violence is that many of these areas are now "ethnically cleansed".  About 10% of the population has fled iraq.  Some fear the situation may flare up again once the refugees begin to return.

Private military contractors (Blackwater etc.) are regarded by the military with "loathing or contempt", that they don't have the best interest of the country in mind, and are regarded as "cowboys".

The moral of the troops is starting to get very low due to their extended tours.  A lot of people in the military are worried about there being a sharp decline in the number of career service men.]]> Sun, 02 Dec 2007 05:42:31 +0100 Posting1132-1196574151 http://vocalnation.net/posting/970/No+End+In+Site+-+Movie+Trailor/
Here's the basic storyline:  Many of the iraqis did initially greet the U.S. as liberators after the invasion.  Things started to go to shit afterwards, largely because the Bush administration had not planned for rebuilding all the infrastructure that had been taken out during the invasion.  Some of the top generals including General Shinseki and Colin Powell were warning that there wouldn't be enough troops to pull it off.  Intially the iraqis were trying to get involved with the reconstruction, but the reconstruction contracts were all awarded to U.S. companies, even though the iraqis typically got the work done a lot sooner.  Things got really bad after all of their career politicals were fired (debaathification), and there military was laid off and decided to start raiding weapons caches.  

Bottom line: the planning and execution of the reconstruction effort in Iraq has been run incompetiently.

No End in Site - Website]]> Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:42:27 +0100 Posting970-1194849747 http://vocalnation.net/posting/615/Looking+back+on+the+years+since+9+11/
No doubt, 9/11 was a travesty. But in terms of human lives, it was a drop in the bucket compared to what has occurred since. Three thousand lives were lost on 9/11. Somewhere between one hundred thousand to a million Iraqi civilians have now been killed. The equivalent of a hundred 9/11s.  Two million refuges have fled the country. These numbers are seldom mentioned solely for the fact that they are Iraqis. But it wasn't Bin Laden that took their lives, nor could it be said that America is solely to blame...

It's easy to go to war. Being attacked as we did was a result of many factors vastly more complicated than "they hate us for our freedom".  With the subsequent Iraq invasion, the Bush Administration actively sought conflict.  They removed Saddam like they were ripping of a scab. The plans to invade Iraq were finished well in advance of September 11th.  As far back as 1998 the NeoCons were pushing Clinton to invade Iraq.  (The military can't sit idle for long before budgets are cut and the economy begins to suffer). But hindsight is 20/20. How do we start mending these wounds?]]> Fri, 14 Sep 2007 06:45:18 +0100 Posting615-1189752318 http://vocalnation.net/posting/149/What+Iraq+Shows+Us%3A+The+Breakdown+of+the+System+Leads+to+Chaos/ Picture what would happen if the police and the military were disbanded.

How long would it take for looting to break out?

How long would it take before people would start killing without any fear of consequence?

Would gangs start to grow? Would society start to fragment into feuding militias?

How long would it take before chaos took hold and the entire system collapsed?

We can answer all of these questions by looking at what Iraq has now become. But let�s first go back and analyze how the system was dismantled.

Within months of the U.S. invasion, we had successfully removed the entire governmental system of Iraq. The mission was accomplished with a finality and excellence that no other nation could ever even dream of doing. We took out their power stations, their communication networks, and their government buildings. Then once we had Baghdad, we disbanded all of the government officials and the entire Iraqi military and police force. We called it De-Baathification, as we were taking Saddam�s Baath party out of power.

We had dismantled the system that the nation of Iraq was built upon with surgical precision� and was in that moment that we ensured the chaos that we are seeing there today.

The goal of transforming the nation of Iraq into a pro-western democracy is a commendable one. As much as the left is known to empathize with other cultures, I don�t know anyone who would gladly give up the freedoms that America offers in exchange for a life under one of these oppressive regimes. But in hindsight, it has become clear that the strategy we took was shortsighted and incomplete at best.

The U.S. has equaled military power. The U.S. could probably tear apart the governments of all oppressive regimes throughout the world. But what would result would be worldwide conflict. A system of government cannot evolve into a democracy by completely tearing it down. If Iraq has taught us anything, it is this: The breakdown of the system leads to chaos. ]]> Sat, 12 May 2007 10:28:53 +0100 Posting149-1178965733