Surging Troop Levels in Iraq – Bush´s Failure to Deliver Justice
Rauf Naqishbendi
February 13, 2008
Five years into the Iraq war, thousands of American and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives have been lost and hundreds of billions of dollars have been expended and there is no end in sight. Strategies have been altered only in military terms and there has been an appalling lack of diplomatic missions. The Iraqi people have been promised freedom yet their voice regarding the present and future of their country has been muted by Washington´s iron fist. The latest in the Iraqi saga is the surge in American troops as a counterinsurgency to combat terrorism. The Bush Administration claims progress. Even so, they acknowledge that a genuine government coalition is necessary for lasting peace and security. However, harmony amongst the religious and ethnic groups that make up Iraq´s population is a near impossibility.
The Bush administration has utterly failed in diplomatic maneuvering. One can´t cite a single effective diplomatic engagement in its foreign affairs. A clear example is its Iraq policy: this President from the onset has been adamant that force is required to pacify Iraq. Using force engenders destruction and bloodshed, and often unpredictable nasty surprises. Pragmatic leaders consider force their last resort. But the Bush administration has detached itself from diplomatic articulation and used military aggression as the only option, defying every reasonable measure that could be implemented in dealing with Iraq.
Military generals in Iraq claim attacks against US troops have been reduced by nearly 60%. For instance, last December there were twenty-two American casualties, compared to ninety or more the year before. Mathematically, of course 22 soldiers are much fewer than 92 soldiers. But is this good news? Is the loss of 22 soldiers fine? Sure, everything is relative and to prove one´s view or refute another´s numbers and statistics can be instrumental, such as the crooked and cooked economic numbers dumped on the American public by the government. But using numbers to indicate the pacification of Iraq and the security of American troops is deceitful. The reduction in violence doesn´t mean there is peace in Iraq. All it means is there has been less violence, which could be temporary due to insurgents fleeing areas with a heavy concentration of US troops just to go elsewhere, and continue the wild goose chase. Years ago the same thing happened in Afghanistan when insurgents took time to regroup and then returned much stronger to cause an even worse headache not only for America but also Pakistan.
Pursuing the military option has failed miserably, yet the infatuation with mighty gunfire seems prevalent. Of course, it isn´t only the US´s problem to figure out what to do with Iraq – the Iraqi people themselves don´t know what to do with their country. Iraqis are housed in a phony and artificial country with which they don´t wish to be identified. Kurds are Kurds, Shiites are Shiites and they both take exception to the violent Sunni Moslems who seek to be dominant and the only power ruling Iraq at any cost. And that is a good reason to isolate them by partitioning Iraq into three countries so that they would be squeezed between Kurds and Shiites.
The surge in troops will eventually prove futile in establishing tranquility in Iraq. Notably, it must also be realized that the current troop levels cannot be maintained due to a lack of troops available. Because of the troublesome situations in Iraq and Afghanistan army recruitment is dismal, and the fighting army is psychologically diseased. Continuing in its current course will soon result in America having one of the most emotionally disturbed and demoralized armed forces in the world. Needless to say, another problem with the current course is that the cost of the Iraq war is on the rise, and soon there will be the hurdle of soliciting funds to finance a war that is seeing no material progress.
A tranquil Iraq cannot be achieved without fulfilling the demands of the Iraqi people. It is their country and they know better than Bush what policy will serve them best. They resent Bush´s ruling through his puppets and would rather rule themselves. It is time for the Bush administration to listen to the Iraqi people and acknowledge that there will be no peace in Iraq without the Iraqi people´s consent. What should prevail is not what Bush coerce on the Iraqi people but the desires of the Iraqi people. The Iraq map should be redrawn, as the majority of Kurds and Shiites have agreed. It is not up to Bush´s despot Arab monarchs, Israelis, and chauvinistic Turks to decide for the Iraqi people, but rather the Iraqi people must choose their own destiny.
Iraqis haven´t demanded more American troops, nor do they ask for the American plan for Iraq. What the Iraqi people ask for is the disintegration of their insane republic and a declaration of statehood for each of the major groups that make up its population. Last year the US Senate overwhelmingly ratified the partitioning of Iraq into three autonomous states: Kurds in the north, Shiites in the south and Sunnis in the middle. But President Bush defied them and arrogantly refused to assent
Surging troops and mighty gunfire have had their melancholy day. Undermining the Iraqi people´s plea to partition their country has had its painful price. Thus, the continuation of the current policy will assure that greater tragedy will befall the Iraqi people, and will be a regrettable setback for the US. It must be realized that a glory of sunshine will fall upon Iraq as three countries while the present dreariness will have to be endured as the price for maintaining this unwanted republic as one.
The Bush administration has utterly failed in diplomatic maneuvering. One can´t cite a single effective diplomatic engagement in its foreign affairs. A clear example is its Iraq policy: this President from the onset has been adamant that force is required to pacify Iraq. Using force engenders destruction and bloodshed, and often unpredictable nasty surprises. Pragmatic leaders consider force their last resort. But the Bush administration has detached itself from diplomatic articulation and used military aggression as the only option, defying every reasonable measure that could be implemented in dealing with Iraq.
Military generals in Iraq claim attacks against US troops have been reduced by nearly 60%. For instance, last December there were twenty-two American casualties, compared to ninety or more the year before. Mathematically, of course 22 soldiers are much fewer than 92 soldiers. But is this good news? Is the loss of 22 soldiers fine? Sure, everything is relative and to prove one´s view or refute another´s numbers and statistics can be instrumental, such as the crooked and cooked economic numbers dumped on the American public by the government. But using numbers to indicate the pacification of Iraq and the security of American troops is deceitful. The reduction in violence doesn´t mean there is peace in Iraq. All it means is there has been less violence, which could be temporary due to insurgents fleeing areas with a heavy concentration of US troops just to go elsewhere, and continue the wild goose chase. Years ago the same thing happened in Afghanistan when insurgents took time to regroup and then returned much stronger to cause an even worse headache not only for America but also Pakistan.
Pursuing the military option has failed miserably, yet the infatuation with mighty gunfire seems prevalent. Of course, it isn´t only the US´s problem to figure out what to do with Iraq – the Iraqi people themselves don´t know what to do with their country. Iraqis are housed in a phony and artificial country with which they don´t wish to be identified. Kurds are Kurds, Shiites are Shiites and they both take exception to the violent Sunni Moslems who seek to be dominant and the only power ruling Iraq at any cost. And that is a good reason to isolate them by partitioning Iraq into three countries so that they would be squeezed between Kurds and Shiites.
The surge in troops will eventually prove futile in establishing tranquility in Iraq. Notably, it must also be realized that the current troop levels cannot be maintained due to a lack of troops available. Because of the troublesome situations in Iraq and Afghanistan army recruitment is dismal, and the fighting army is psychologically diseased. Continuing in its current course will soon result in America having one of the most emotionally disturbed and demoralized armed forces in the world. Needless to say, another problem with the current course is that the cost of the Iraq war is on the rise, and soon there will be the hurdle of soliciting funds to finance a war that is seeing no material progress.
A tranquil Iraq cannot be achieved without fulfilling the demands of the Iraqi people. It is their country and they know better than Bush what policy will serve them best. They resent Bush´s ruling through his puppets and would rather rule themselves. It is time for the Bush administration to listen to the Iraqi people and acknowledge that there will be no peace in Iraq without the Iraqi people´s consent. What should prevail is not what Bush coerce on the Iraqi people but the desires of the Iraqi people. The Iraq map should be redrawn, as the majority of Kurds and Shiites have agreed. It is not up to Bush´s despot Arab monarchs, Israelis, and chauvinistic Turks to decide for the Iraqi people, but rather the Iraqi people must choose their own destiny.
Iraqis haven´t demanded more American troops, nor do they ask for the American plan for Iraq. What the Iraqi people ask for is the disintegration of their insane republic and a declaration of statehood for each of the major groups that make up its population. Last year the US Senate overwhelmingly ratified the partitioning of Iraq into three autonomous states: Kurds in the north, Shiites in the south and Sunnis in the middle. But President Bush defied them and arrogantly refused to assent
Surging troops and mighty gunfire have had their melancholy day. Undermining the Iraqi people´s plea to partition their country has had its painful price. Thus, the continuation of the current policy will assure that greater tragedy will befall the Iraqi people, and will be a regrettable setback for the US. It must be realized that a glory of sunshine will fall upon Iraq as three countries while the present dreariness will have to be endured as the price for maintaining this unwanted republic as one.
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