All's War the Ends War

Quite possibly the American "occupation" of Iraq will end before George W. Bush leaves office in Jan '09.

It was quietly announced that the American and Iraqi governments will start negotiations early in 2008 to bring about an end to the allied occupation. This will in essence bring to a formal conclusion the U.N. Chapter 7 Security Council involvement in the occupation and administration of Iraq.

Lieutenant General Douglas Lute told reporters in the White House: "The basic message here should be clear. Iraq is increasingly able to stand on its own. That's very good news. But it won't have to stand alone."

The number of American troops in country will drop to something like 50,000 troops. Out of sight, out of mind - the remaining troops will be permanently stationed at bases outside of the large cities. This is similar to the way it has been done in Japan, Germany and Korea. Having a large well armed troop presence should discourage internal or external forces from threatening the fragile government there.

Thankfully this should remove the Iraq war as a major issue from the upcoming presidential election.

How history will judge this war and the President's decision remains to be seen. If Iraq becomes the successful model for the rest of the region as Bush and his advisor's claimed it would be then history will be kind. The fact that South Korea became a powerful economic force in the modern world took the sting out of an unpopular conclusion to an unpopular war and left Harry Truman well regarded in history's bloodshot eyes.

The Butcher of Baghdad is dead and so are his sadistic sons. The Iraqi government will never gas the Kurds again. The Shiites in the south are free from Saddam's boot. These are all good things. Thousands have died on all sides, this is regrettable. That there will be no more mass graves filled with the bodies of the innocent means at least in some way none died in vain.

As for America's so-called imperialistic designs the fact that we actually can't wait to turn over sovereignty to the locals should put to rest any comparison to the Roman or British Empires of old. Surely America is imperialistic in our desire to make the world safe for business and trade. How horrible.



CW