We're NOT fighting them over there...

[NorCalDem]

so we don't have to NOT fight them over here....

is that gonna be the new spin on this?

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/10/mosul.html

....“It’s the perfect storm against the old festering background,” warned Brig. Gen. Raymond A. Thomas III, who oversees Nineveh and Kirkuk Provinces and the Kurdish region. Worry is so high that the American military has already settled on a policy that may set a precedent, as the United States slowly withdraws to allow Iraqis to settle their own problems. If the Kurds and Iraqi government forces fight, the American military will “step aside,” General Thomas said, rather than “have United States servicemen get killed trying to play peacemaker.”

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On a side note, I wish Obama would just call McCain on his "you said the Surge(TM) wouldn't work" bullshit and clearly state that any success that the Surge has brought (although quite good) is merely temporary and as soon as US soldiers withdraw from the region, inevitable sectarian violence and bloodshed is GOING to happen. Our new "stand by" policy confirms this. Does any reasonable person not believe this to be the case? This is what happens when you go around and bomb countries, kill their political leaders (good or bad), occupy their cities, and "hunt" for mysterious badguys. It's especially dangerous in a region with thousands of years of ethnic struggle and civil war, rampant sectarian violence, etc. etc.

The unfortunate truth is that unless we want to stay there for a couple generations and try to patch things up (at gun point) at the cost of $10 Billion per month (probably $150B in 2060 when we're just about done cleaning up) we're going to have to withdraw our troops, then "stand by" and watch as Iraqi's, and other "outside" and unfriendly influences our presence brought to and/or emboldened in the region, slaughter each other. The same thing happened when we left Vietnam. The same thing, to some extent happens after nearly EVERY war. Read your damn history! When you stir up a hornets nest people get stung!

Iraq, and the people of that country have some issues that need to be worked out. But so does every country! When we leave, they will sort out those issues. In the meantime, no amount of bombs, lost men/women, and good old-fashioned American depleted uranium are going to do anything to help the situation.