Michael Rubin:Iraqi president Jalal Talabani has called Iran "Iraq's Real Friend."
Whenever any Iraqi politician — Chalabi, Talabani, Maliki, Barzani, Muqtada al-Sadr or anyone else — hugs Iran, there's a tendency in Washington to say "Aha! They were pro-Iranian all along." This is dead wrong. They're all politicians and can waffle with the best of them.
The real issue is that these politicians are barometers of power. Iraqi politicians are survivors, and they will align themselves with and accommodate power while fleeing weakness. No one will sacrifice himself to be pro-American if America is weak.
Okay, fine, the usual "we didn't screw up" line on the Iraq invasion. But here's the magic:
The question U.S. officials should ask themselves is: After expending so much blood and treasure, is it really noble to abandon influence, or should we recalibrate policy to surge influence? The hostility of the Obama administration to power and influence is sadly a tragedy upon which historians will comment.
Read that last paragraph and
try to tell me this gentleman's work is done.
3 comments:
The argument seems to be that the US should occupy Iraq indefinitely to ensure it remains free and democratic, for values of "democratic" that do not include "electing leaders unfriendly to the US".
Historians & Their "Commenting":
The hostility of the Obama administration to power and influence is sadly a tragedy upon which historians will comment.
Of course he means the foreign policy of the Admin.: We all know how hostile to power & influence H. R. Clinton was & is. (They spent an eternity screaming about her, remember?)
Not to mention the power & influence of shoving, cramming, ramming & jamming Health Care Reform down our real American throats. That, however, doesn't count when trying to paint the Prez as whatever they're trying to paint him as.
After expending so much blood and treasure, is it really noble to abandon influence, or should we recalibrate policy to surge influence?
Jesus H. He couldn't wedge any more neo-con booyah turd-cliches in there without the use of advanced hydraulics.
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