There Is No Good Solution In Iraq

The Repubs insisted that the United States attack Iraq, then mismanaged their illegal war, which never should have happened in the first place. And now, no matter whether we stay or go, both the US and Iraq are fucked. Those are the undeniable and horrible facts. And now the Repubs are whining, “It’s really nasty and unpatriotic to keep blaming us for the outcome in Iraq when our brave soldiers are dying there.” Last night, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked Michael Ware what might be the practical effect of the just-passed $124 billion war spending bill that the president has promised to veto. Blitzer: “Our Michael Ware has covered the war since it began. Today he's in New York. Michael thanks very much. Good to have you here stateside. What would it mean practically speaking -- and you've been there from day one. You've spent four years covering this war -- if the Democrats had their way and by the end of March of next year, U.S. combat forces pulled out of Iraq? “Ware: Well, at that point, or very soon thereafter, you would have some kind of regional conflict in the Middle East almost without a doubt. You would instantly see the Shia militias that essentially are driving this government. They're the ones who own this government, because this government isn't a government in the sense that we understand it. “It’s a loose alliance of these militias. The U.S. intelligence says it's backed by Iran, so you would immediately see them consolidate their power. That means consolidating Iranian influence. They'd also look to expand that. Now the Arab states in the region, America's allies, have been screaming about this since before the invasion, would not be able to sit back. They would have to respond by supporting the Sunnis. So you would see the country immediately turn into an Iranian proxy kind of territory or Iranian sponsored territory and then an al Qaeda dominated Sunni-Arab regional backed semi state, war with each other that would suck in all the regional players. It's nothing but disaster.” Blitzer then asked what General Petraeus would likely say in September since President Bush has said it will be clear in September whether the so-called new strategy has worked or not. “Ware: OK, for a start I think many people are looking to General Petraeus' remarks and his reference to September as him coming to deliver the magic solution. Well it's not that at all. Simply what General Petraeus is going to do in September is have a look at the strategy that they're using now, and he's going to say if it's working or if it's not, he has no expectation that he's going to say, it has worked and that the job's over and that it's finished. He's merely going to say, we continue this and go forward or we need to look at other options. We're now hearing top military commanders talk about what some of those other options are. A major general in Iraq has now opened the door to the possibility that the solution in Iraq, the political solution everyone talks about, may be a non-democratic state.” So even in September, Blitzer summarized, if things are going as best they can, the generals may conclude that what is needed is another strong man like Saddam Hussein to control the situation. “Ware: Indeed. What this U.S. major general who commands a division in northern Iraq pointed to was precisely that...he listed the elements of U.S. victory…and I said to him you can have all of those things without a democracy -- his response -- indeed. You see that across the Middle East. So, that's what shaping as the alternative. That's plan B, a strong man with a quasi-democracy who first and foremost delivers security.” If it weren’t so stupid and tragic, it would be hilariously funny. After all the lies, posturing, bullshit about spreading democracy, innocent blood shed and billions of dollars spent, it turns out that the final best outcome will be Iraq going back to having a strong leader who dictates policy. However, when you think about it, it’s perfect. The Bush administration has claimed all along that it wanted to give Iraq the kind of government we have in the United States. To that end, Iraq is now prepared for a corrupt, thieving, lying regime headed by an autocratic, fascist warlord. Exactly like the United States.