Its been four years since the fall of Baghdad, and I would submit that very few Iraqis are better off today than they were before the capital fell. By nearly any measure most of Iraq is in worse condition than at any time in recent history, income, security, basic sanitation, electricity, access to clean water. I guess if you go into something without a plan, its easy to say that your plan didn't fail. Juan Cole has an interesting post on titled "How to get out of Iraq," worth clicking over to. Muqtada Al-Sadr has organized a big rally todayand has urged his Sadr Militia-men to quit targeting Iraqi Soldiers and Policemen and instead focus their efforts on US Forces. Bear in mind that his loyalists votes in the parliament are responsible for Nouri Al- Maliki being in place. So in some ways Al-Sadr is a legitimate politicial figure, imagine if Jesse Jackson or David Duke urged their followers to kill and got away with it... Its happening in Iraq.
We had four days off for Easter Weekend and had some much needed Rest and Relaxation, we're back to training tomorrow and I'll keep you updated on how thats going.
Presidential politics are getting interesting, Hilary and Barak have refused a Fox News Debate, John McCain seems to be staking his success squarely on the success of the troop surge. I generally won't talk much about my thought on politics here, though if you really care leave a comment or two.
1 comment:
Economics. Why don't we pinpoint more of the problem and the solution on economy. People who are impoverished have less to risk from violence, have more reason to believe that voilence will atleast do something.
People who have clean water, electricity, basic education, jobs, an economic stability are less likely to be attracted to violence, and fundamentalisms. I think the emphasis needs to be on economic rebuilding.
R
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