Sunday, December 23, 2007

We’re from the United States government. We’re here to help you.

It’s hard to believe the Democrats took control of Congress.

Last year, for the first time since 1994, the Democrats took control of both houses of Congress. I was confident that the war would be placed on a path of finally winding down. But, unfortunately, the president has continued to receive the funding he needs to continue his insane war policy. Democratic leaders Pelosi and Reid have been mostly powerless to achieve their agenda as they lack a veto-proof majority.

This week a new twist and turn occurred in the Iraq War that does not bode well at all: the New York Times headline read “U.S. Helps Turkey Hit Rebel Kurds In Iraq”. This is a firm reminder of how the Administration has not at all thought through all aspects of this war. It also is shades of exactly how the Viet Nam War became expanded in to Laos and Cambodia, as that war expanded in to the entire region beyond the borders of Viet Nam.

According to the Times article, “The United States is providing Turkey with real-time intelligence that has helped the Turkish military target a series of attacks this month against Kurdish separatists holed up in northern Iraq, including a large airstrike on Sunday, according to Pentagon officials.”

“Sunday's airstrikes provoked outrage in Baghdad”Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish regional government, called the attack "a violation of Iraq's sovereignty." He blamed the U.S. military, which controls Iraqi airspace, for "allowing Turkish warplanes to cross the border.” And our “Allies” the Iraqi parliament “condemned the attacks”

“The American role in aiding Turkey, a NATO ally, could complicate U.S. diplomatic initiatives in Iraq, particularly efforts to push Iraqi political leaders to enact legislation aimed at promoting political reconciliation.”

Finally, "Turkey has threatened to mount a full-scale, cross-border incursion to clear out PKK camps in northern Iraq. That could effectively open a new front in the Iraq war and disrupt the flow of supplies to the U.S. military in Iraq, which receives 70 percent of its air cargo and a third of its fuel through Turkey.

A very strong argument can be made that our continued presence in Iraq continues to de-stabilize the region even further. Yup, the ‘surge’ is working just fine.

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