US: Iraq Government Almost Out Of Time

AP ^ | August 19 2006

[jmc1969]

At least 19 people, including a U.S. soldier, were killed in Iraq Saturday as Shiites gathered for the peak of a major religious ceremony.

But in an exclusive interview with CBS News, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he sees a perverse sort of progress.

"I see indications that both sides believe that a balance of terror has been established," Khalilzad told CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann. "They have demonstrated to each other that they can inflict pain on each other, and neither can get rid of the other."

That "balance of terror" led to record levels of violence in Iraq last month – with nearly 3500 Iraqis dying violently – and that was a trend that continued Saturday.

The U.S. military said an American soldier was killed in Anbar province – a stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgency.

The sustained killing threatens the stability of the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's fragile government of national unity.

Khalilzad said Maliki may be running out of time to change course.

"I think he has another three or four months to reverse this most important issue, the sectarian violence," he said.

The U.S. ambassador does see one government that is working in Iraq.

"There are Iranian agents in this country," he told Strassmann. "What I mean is that there are people from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards – 'Parasan' as they call it. There are people associated with Iran's intelligence agency.

[WOSG]

"GWB is learning that now, and future American President are not going to risk their political careers trying to reform the world again.

Ok, fine. However, no one will ever be allowed to criticize the US for supporting dictators. My whole life I've heard the US supports that guy or this idiot and so the US is a hypocrit."

You are so RIGHT!

We cought so much cr*p after 9/11 blaming the USA for 'backing Arab dictators' and that cr8p about the US being behind Saddam in 1980s or 'blowback' for supporting Islamicists fighting against USSR, etc.

Well, guess what... it's not the US that likes militias, violence, hates freedom, hate democracy, it's our Islamofascist foes. If the world loved freedom and democracy we wouldnt have the violence and wars we have. Some times we have to work with the dictators because they have the power, sometimes our best plan is to try to destroy them and/or reform them.

"
Well, if democracy and freedom (which I will never believe myself) isn't the answer, then you better get used to being friends with folks like Saddam Huessein, Assad of Syria, and other Hitler types.....and no bitching when they kill half their population in political purges. And, when the violence turns on America no whining."

Well. I always have and always will believe that freedom is the ONLY way to run a society. Simply because many in the Arab world havent grasped it, doesnt make it not a good idea. ... But the point is NOT to let it get to violence in America ... So, we still have to have a strategy to win the GWOT even if we learn that most Arabs are just nutty conspiracy-believing anti-Americans.

We are trying to give Iraq the opportunity for freedom and democracy but the forces of repression and backwardness are very strong. If it was easy, we'd be done by now.

Bombing indiscriminately is wrong idea, it would totally validate the anti-American zealots. IF we bomb at all, let it be the terrorist leaders, like we did Zarqawi. We should also be taking out every IED bomb planter and executing them. Death penalty for being an insurgent will at least reduce prison overcrowding.

Taking off the pollyanna shades while maintaining the hope of freedom for Arabs and not merely violence, what we REALLY need is a complete overhaul of our PR in the war, our strategy with respect to propaganda, our cultural and ideological weapons ... We need to defeat the pig-headed islamofascists as an ideology that has respect in the Arab world. Once that is done, the military side of it will be a piece of cake...

[Doc91678]

Hope someone from the AP watch the History Channel this evening. It was about post war Germany. Their guerrilla war against the Allies. We shot and hung the terrorists. The English used the guillotine. The French just shot many in reprisal. The Russians were merciless. They killed hundreds.
That went on for almost five years.

[LS]

Disagree 100%. It was, and is, time for a culture change in the ME. What Wilson "learned" was that you can't artificially create nations where none existed---exactly the opposite of how we should have handled post-Soviet Yugo, where they did have a mix of peoples and it "worked" somewhat under Tito.

But regardless, we cannot go on in the ME with dictatorships that are either a) beholden to or b) terrified of these mullahs. Democracy can work, and when people get a taste of freedom, they will start to fight for it.

Even with all of western civ behind us, and some 500 years of increasing democratic traditions, it still took us four years, several rebellions, and then, eventually, a civil war to straighten things out. I don't know why people think that an even more diverse people can pull it together quicker. I think the Iraqis are doing ok, all things considered.