Mideast Dispatches

For the first time somebody dares to tackle the point view of the suffering Iraqi peoples. More than four million were displaced. Over half a million killed. Hundreds of thousands were injured. Iraq became like middle ages country!

One time the electricity and water were in every small tiny village. The history of Iraq for thousands years was looted from the Iraqi museum by the invaders. What else? This is happening in the 21st. century! Our media talking about few thousands American casualties, but no one is talking about millions of Iraqis are dying or suffering!!

As some one put it: Iraq had faced this destruction only once before, at the hand of the barbarian Holacko, the Chief of the Mongol invaders in the Middle Ages. At that time Baghdad was the world's capital of civilization. Now it is in the hands of G. W. Bush the Chief of the Neo-Con.

Thank you madam Ayed. You did the hard work about the truth of what is happening in Iraq. If such crime committed by other country in this world; what would be the reaction of the Canadian government and the others Western countries? Are the Iraqis not human being? Only the Sudanese in Darfur are human beings!! G. W. Bush must be brought to international criminal tribunal. He represents the worst of the Americans values. He has changed the image of the statue of liberty into the statue of Abu Ghureib.
Thank you CBC for allowing the discussion on your site. Keep telling the truth.

I wonder what would happen if the United States of America remembered how to fight a war!

Listening to the reports from Gen. Petraeus and Amb. Crocker and a story on The Current this morning makes me realize just how surreal the Iraqi situation is. The situation must be different if you're safely ensconsed in the Green Zone versus what is really happening in the rest of Baghdad. It seems if the violence is really going down, it's probably because the Shias and Sunnis have separated themselves. I compare Iraq with the former Yugoslavia. Why is it that the 'West' was willing to let that country disintegrate but not Iraq-despite the fact that ethnic cleansing is happening across the country. And meanwhile, you have the American people being fed misinformation from their news media like Fox/Faux News who wouldn't report the truth if their FCC license depended on it.

Got news for you, if you think GWB only became interested in Iraq after 9/11. My daughter was given a school assignment to write to GWB shortly after he got into the White House the first time expressing her opinion on drilling for oil in the Arctic Wilderness Reserve. She was against it. The reply. Thanks for your concern about IRAQ the situation is well under control!!! He was gunning for Saddam long before 9/11.

Remember the Osama bin Laden video that came out a few days ago. He said something about democracy that shocked me. He said "By now you must have realized the failings of the democratic system."

I was just blown away by how out of touch he is with the people in the west and the way we think. I was blown away because I assumed that he was referring to the American people. He wasn't. He was speaking to the President. I think that it's clear to both Osama and Bush that history will frame the fight in Iraq with Al-Qaeda triumphing over the Americans.

You can blame the democratic system for that. You have in front of you, information that says the troop surge reduced violence. Reduced it by half. Then you ask ordinary Iraqi's how they feel about their security.
What's their answer? Not good enough! And they're right. It isn't safe.

But then to use that as an argument against the troop surge is ridiculous.

Osama was speaking to Bush. He wanted Bush to know that he can't win. You'll never get credit for the success of the surge. And eventually you'll be booted out of the White House. And the person that takes your place will not continue in Iraq. Victory for Osama.

I am concerned that so many people think that Iranians are religious zealots. There are no more religious zealots over there than there are in "America".

Framing the debate around the idea that there is some Extremist Islamic tidal wave headed for the "free" world is not right at all. Sure, extremists have had a lot to say as of late. Those who think that "extremists" are only "over-there" and that we in the west are somehow "good-guys" are wrong. To many, including many westerners, Americans are just as radical, frightening and extreme as the self-flagelating Iranians we see on TV.

Richard, if your country was invaded by an overwhelming force, would you not fight as well? Consider the actions of US militias during their War of Independence. I suspect the British government and their mouthpieces considered them to be terrorists and savage killers as well. Given the combination of internal divisions lying below the surface in Iraq and the sheer incompetence of the administration of the war's aftermath, is it any wonder that is a failed state?

As for Getting Real in Washington, how can you equate a withdrawal from Iraq with a future terrorist attack? Every intelligence agency in Washington says that this war has been a boon to Al Qaida. This war has only made an attack more likely, not less. As for there not being a terrorist attack in the USA since 9/11, how about Spain, Britain and Indonesia? And why no attacks in Canada; we're not "fighting the enemy over there so we don't have to fight them here".

An appropriate target for US forces after 9/11, given the rhetoric of the GWAT, would have been Saudi Arabia and/or Pakistan, but then, they are our friends. This was a strategic war, but anyone with half a brain can see it was about access to oil, a staging base for threats against other ME countries, and a misguided vision of trying to turn Arab societies into nice, compliant, Jeffersonian democracies.

I'm just an old man from N.B. living in the U.S., been here many years but go home often .
I remember when Canadians thought for themselves and didn't swallow anything the media said whole .
Iraq is a mess although improving slightly , but the vitriol in the preceding blogs is disgusting . Name one, just one case, where the awful Americans weren't first with the most to help their fellow man . All i can say is if you can't have a civil discourse do two things. (1) Sit Down.
(2) Shut up .

Reply to Rholm:

You have absolutely hit the nail on the head! For what Saddam was doing wrong (and he was doing wrong), the US overturned his government in the hope of improving global security and regional stability. Indeed, oil prices stabilized for a few years, and several rouge states in the Middle East (Syria, Libya) brought their behaviour more in line with international (UN and NATO) expectations. Locally, however, it is up to every citizen of every country to stand up to criminals, terrorists and extremists. If your neighbour flies an inflammatory banner, engages in violence or sponsors criminal activity in your neighbourhood - and you do nothing - you cannot blame whichever government entity is 'in charge'. All politics are local. Take responsibility.

As Winston Churchill once said; "never, never, never give in." I urge our British, Australian and American allies to stay the course in Iraq and Afghanistan. I maintain that we should also do the same in Kandahar, not matter the cost, lest our brave and glorious soldiers die in vain.

We will prevail, if we can hold our ground, with tooth and nail if necessary.

Iraq would have disintegrated when Hussein passed from power and we would have had to fight our way in. It is better to comfort the danger there while the whip is our hands.

This was well written article. I participated in a BBC program two weeks ago with British Military, Diplomats and UNHCR reps. In the UK area (Basra) things are returning to normal after the pullout. But, the UNHCR rep said that in the US areas, refugees have jumped from 10K per month to 60K. There are now 4 million refugees and a disintegrating society. We (Americans) however could care less as long as Bush and the military are happy. Sad.

Anyone who believes that these articles are being researched, written, and dispatched from the 'safety' (a relative term) of an hotel room hasn't been paying attention.

Quote:
"During Sept. 2007, while U.S. General David Petraeus and others in Washington report on U.S. efforts in Iraq, the CBC's Nahlah Ayed and Margaret Evans report *from the streets of Baghdad*."

Thank you, Ms. Ayed and Ms. Evans, for your courageous pursuit of truth.

Stay safe.

DS

Barber's opinion that this situation is a flawed business decision is wrong. It was a very good business decision considering the record profits for Haliburton, the gas and oil companies, munition and war machinery manufacturers. These profits will have to paid from the taxes of the general population. I guess it would be unthinkable to have these organizations put back a portion of their profits to help offset this enormous debt.
There has been almost no attempt to negotiate with any of the Arab countries or organizations to create a plan for peace except those who are already toadies to the the U.S.. The Western mindset is incapable of creating a vehicle that can address the cultural sensibilities of this area. They exhibit a hubris that protects their own corporate interests and the perception that they engaged in a war that is justified and a victory. To find a solution to this horrific situation the Arab powers need to be involved and injustices such as the Palestinian Occupation need to be resolved.

I wonder to what extent the most recent recommendations by Petraeus are going to be used to relieve the suffering of the people of Iraq and help restore order... and to what extent they are simply going to be wrung through the PR machine to help an incompetent and immoral administration save face and untimately turn a profit?

As long as there is presidential immunity and a U.S veto in the UN, justice will never be meted out... and all this from the self proclaimed "World protector of Freedom".

Where are these posters coming from with their advice or admonitions to "quit complaining and DO something" ? As though everything has a solution and you really can unscramble eggs.
We should pool all our efforts and follow behind the US (and in this case Britain) as though they were destructive children and pick up the mess, perhaps encouraging them to continue their destructive paths in other countries?

All or most of that money poured in for reconstruction is unaccounted for; some embezzled outright and much misspent in the policy of preferential use of US companies and US personnel. I've heard that 68% of iraqis are unemployed. How are you going to stop greed? Any ideas? The US couldn't even stop it in their own country.

The Iraqi constitution has been rearranged to allow for privatization of most business and they are working for the privatization of oil companies, their chef d'oeuvre.
It's not easy to believe in the good intentions of posters who support the invasion of any sovereign country for any reason other than protection from direct and serious threat. And simplistic solutions are mind-boggling. Anyone who actually believes that
the "trouble in Iraq" has much to do with the character of Iraqis and couldn't possible occur in "civilized" countries need only consider the US civil war, 1860-1864. You simply add racism to your abysmal ignorance.

Patrick uses statistics to support the view (like Petraeus's own charts and diagrams) that something positive is occuring but if he read the article at all he would realize that just because the rate of bombings has dropped from 42 to 23 in one month doesn't mean things are getting better - as Ayed takes great pains to point out - it just means there's a lull in the action. Everyone knows that the US is wavering and will pull out at some point very soon. The factions are laying low, waiting for that to happen, then they will resume the civil war with greater vengeance because, and never forget this, it's about post war power.

The only reason Henry Kissinger could think of to explain the American rush to invade and occupy Iraq was that the invasion of Afghanistan wasn't enough. He wanted the US to show that they would never accept the dictates of radical Islam nor the kind of world "they" wanted "us" to live in. Kissinger's problem, of course, is that he can't tell one Arab from another and has a woefully myopic view of the entire region. It is this kind of thinking that blinds us all to any other solution for the problems of Iraq and the equally myopic view that some here profess that somehow Iraq brought this on themselves. They didn't. The US did and no other. Cry all you like about unnecessary finger pointing that last fact is absolutlely true whichever side of the political spectrum you care to call your own. The US created this mess: 4 million refugees, hundreds of thousands dead, infrastructure completely destroyed. The list of crimes against humanity is very nearly endless.

There was nothing simplistic about the article and it wasn't about imperialism or greed. It's about war crimes and the impact of those crimes on a blameless society. Whatever the sins of Saddam Hussein Iraq didn't deserve this result. The US has no one to blame but themselves and it is well past time when they rectified that criminal decision.

This article is as unsettling as it is eye opening: Petraeus lives with his troops perhaps but Ayad lives with the people she interviews. I would sooner give Nahla Ayad's opinion more weight than an American General serving the political interests of a military occupation desperate to succeed at something, ANYTHING. When Iraqi people speak the least we can do is listen, particularly as the article clearly points to a deepening malaise that's gripping much of the country. As ever in war it is the poorest who suffer the most. The Kurds are relatively content in the north well away from the strife in the "Sunni Triangle' and the Shi'a south. If electricity (as Kenny says) has exceeded "pre-war" levels would he be so kind as to point out which areas because obviously not all are benefiting equally.

Vietnam was touted as part of the global spread of communism. It was argued that Vietnam was a domino state that if left to fall would open the opportunity for the next country to fall. Unable to fight the army directly the communists adapted their methods and wore down the US public. The US left. What happened to America? Nothing...the war stopped and America carried on. Vietnam became communist but none of the other states did....so there was no communist spread so feared by the US. A communist Vietnam had no impact on the US other than the loss of military revenues for some corporations.

Unless the US is prepared to stay in Iraq until the Iraqi government can control these cultures, civil war and eventual breakdown of the cultures into different countries is inevitable.

There are two issues that will prevent this. First, Iraqi politicians are all from these different cultures....they hate each other and it doesn't appear that they'll compromise very much to solve these other problems. There has been little progress in the past few years so why would we think there would be going forward? The second issue is loss US voter patience. Voters are tired of the mess, the cost and loss of US lives. The country has and will continue to vote Democratic and with that voter mandate will likely leave Iraq within the next few years.

What then? Iraq will embroil in a civil war....the UN may or may not get involved. When the dust settles there will be 3 countries.....maybe Iran will extend itself.
Oil will go up in price (this will benefit climate change ironically). What will happen to America? See Vietnam.

An expanded Iran poses no further threat to the US than it does now. The civil war will be messy, many will die. But, nothing terrible will happen to the US, as in the average US citizen, when they leave.

The US created and is responsible, entirely, for the current mess in Iraq, as well as the smaller mess that was Saddam before it. Having rich oil resources has been a curse for the people, and a blessing for the elites, in many countries. The few exceptions have been Canada, the U.S., the UK and Europe; oh yes, we must remember that most of the major oil corporations are based in these countries, as well. So they all have something in common. Nevermind. The great curse: may your country have bountiful resources AND may your people want to distribute its riches equally. If you are outside the great white "North", that is guaranteed to bring in the marines, sooner or later (whether British, Russian, or American but wait...are the Chinese next?). Follow the money, it's always the money. Human lives are simply collateral damage on the way to very fat bank accounts. What's a few hundred thousand dead, even a few million dead, compared to billions and even trillions in the bank!

The UN is nothing more than a remainder of what the pecking order is in the world. The US is at the top, and everyone else is trying to take its place. Don't kid yourself kids, the UN is where the powerful go to play chess at the expense of the pawns. Just imagine if the Soviets had won the cold war, or if in 20 years China emerges as new world power. Your freedom comes at the expense of someone else's suffering. If you want to stop their suffering you will have to be willing to take some of their suffering and sacrifice some of your freedom. Are you willing to do that?

Nalah:
Thank you for an excellent report. This is the kind of information that politicians should be made to read and should be front and centre on the CBC news hour. It seems that the ordinary people of Iraq have been forgotten in all the political posturing going on in Washington. Too bad that the Bush administration could not be made to spend a week with an Iraqi family to see what awful suffering their policies have brought about.
Keep on reporting on the human side of war as not too many reporters seem to be interested.
Thank you,
John Robertson.

Accept the sad fact that the situation in that troubled part of the world will not start to improve until after the next American presidential election and inauguration is completed. George Bush is far more concerned with not being blamed as the loser of the Iraq war than doing those things required to improve the lot of the Iraqis. His version of his legacy, and that of the neo-conservative faction that manipulated 2 elections to put him in office, is far more important to him. I am so frustrated that the American population continue to allow his kind to drag a once proud country into the dirt muddied by the blood of their own soldiers. I am certainly no saint and I believe I will be called to account for my transgressions when I stand before the Pearly Gates. I take solace that George will have to stand there also...and I wouldn't want to be him.

lol, most of the comments on here are fatuous at best: anyone who suggests that this is not about American imperialism, that the country is (or will be) better off as a US protectorate, or that we really shouldn't dwell anymore on why the *invasion* happened in the first place just adds to my belief that we are doomed as a species.

lol, most of the comments on here are fatuous at best: anyone who suggests that this is not about American imperialism, that the country is (or will be) better off as a US protectorate, or that we really shouldn't dwell anymore on why the *invasion* happened in the first place just adds to my belief that we are doomed as a species.

You've GOT to be kidding.
The Iraqi people KNOW when a road side bomb is being installed? They KNOW when a stranger moves in next door? And what are they supposed to do? Whom are they supposed to trust?
Today - especially today, I am ashamed to call myself North American.
How did we ever get to this point?
Wasn't it a shock for the United States (and equally for us Canadians) to have been touched by terrorism on 'our side of the ocean'?
All we've done (and we Canadians are guilty by association because we live with and along side the US sharing resources, our economies and our relative wealth and power); is to continue to terrorize other people in the world by imposing our version of 'democracy' - what democracy?
These people are frightened, they are helpless, they are terrorized. Their whole way of life has been taken from them. Stand up? How?
They can do nothing, and we can do nothing.
If there was a solution to this incredible mess, it would have been applied by now.
God help America.

Excellent post, nice to hear something written from a point of view other than "across the ocean hindsight moralizing politicist". I agree that the situation cannot be considered better until it is truly better from the average Iraqi point of view, and they certainly aren't going to use the worst period of war violence as the baseline for better-than.

Its also interesting how few people (certainly other commentators) recognize the significance of the fact that Iraqis can remember further back than the beginning of this particular war.

I enjoy these reports from Nahlah Ayed, as they tell the story from a more personal level. Unfortunately it does not seems to offer any hope for things to get better.
As Rholm states the solution will eventually have to come from within Baghdad or Iraq, as the people themselves find the answer. It may be that a new dictator will first have to appear to regain control of the country, and then with time will allow for a more democratic system to take hold. In any event I think the best hope will be for a charismatic leader to come forth that can unite the people across religious / ethnic lines, and get the Iraq people working together to isolate the extremists. This will probably require a separation from the western powers in Iraq, as to some any one supported by the west is automatically an enemy.

All the commentary so far is about the West; should we be in Iraq or should we not. What about the other guys? What about the religious nutbars that are tapping into a ready source of munitions, and firing them off at western troops, competing sects, or each other? These people are never held accountable in western thought. They are viscious, deluded killers. Who will bring them to justice? They've hijacked Islam as their cause, and it is mainstream Islam that will have to push them back out. Why don't I hear their voices?

History repeats itself -- so what's new eh! Isn't the current Iraq war a re-run of thousands of years of hatred and atrocity amongst the inhabitants of the area. Iraq is a construct of the British and has no legitimacy as a nation other than the ability of ruthless politicians to hold it together.

An American withdrawal will ultimately lead to the breakup of Irag into Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish sectors. These sectors will ultimately fall under the rule of Iran, Syria and Turkey, and this event will mark the commencement of another round of brutality.

Why the Americans invaded in the first place is bizarre, but they are only the most recent of invaders to be defeated by the brutality of the area and its people. Maybe they need to teach more world history in US schools!

Whether Bush is a war criminal or not is certainly open for debate. The fact that the US invasion of Iraq was illegal and ill-advised is pretty much a given at this point. Everybody loves to bash on him now because its so easy. The part most people don't seem to get is that its going to be a lot worse.

The US is the most powerful country in the world, but even they can't afford to spend the kind of money they are throwing into Iraq. America is going bankrupt and its going to have massive implications for everyone. The US runs on money, not on blood...its not going to be casualties that get them out of there, its going to be the cost. When they elect a new president next year, the end will be in sight for the US in Iraq.

You hear every once in awhile about the US and Iran talking about the situation in Iraq...basically that is America negotiating its surrender, in Iraq, to Iran. Everyone knows that Iran and Syria are having a field day with the US Army in Iraq (covertly of course, you don't ever try to fight fair against America because you can't win). In less than 5 years, and probably less than 3, the US will withdraw either mostly or completely, and then a puppet regime of the Iranians will take over Iraq and the West will have created itself another enemy that will hate us for a good long time. (Thanks again, US foreign policy!)

My heart goes out to the poor Iraqis who have to deal with the war on a daily basis. Their criteria for judging the success of the surge will be very different from that used by the debaters in Washington. They will not use the cool calculus of a statistician trying to show that the surge is a statistical success. Instead, they will use the beat of their hearts to judge the success of the surge.

This misbegotten war has troubled me ever since it started. It is clear that it was started under false pretenses and has only worsened the overall situation regarding terrorism. As the debate unfolds in Washington, I am struck at the toll that the war has taken on the US political system. I watch in disbelief as a General, no doubt well meaning, has reported to his superiors that the surge should be maintained until at least next summer. I sincerely doubt that continuation of the surge without political settlements will lead to peace.

The Iraqis need reconciliation—the Sunnis, the Shiites, and the Kurds need to be brought together through a peace conference. This process should be initiated by the UN Security Council with all reconstruction costs being born by the Americans and their Allies. The UN should send in peace keeping troops, again funded by the Americans and their Allies.

Will this happen? I doubt it. The drum of war still reverberates loudly in Washington. I hope I am wrong.

I think Patrick has missed the entire point of this article, assuming he even read the same one. It had nothing to do with the evils of American imperialism, it had to do with the realities facing the Iraqi people. Refusing to accept responsibility for what has happened in Iraq is disgusting. That goes for both Americans and Iraqis. But interpreting every article that refuses to paint a rosy picture of Iraq as an attack on Americans is absolutely ridiculous. The disaster that the US incursion over there has nothing to do with 'America' or 'Americans' and everything to do with the specific decisions made with regard to Iraq. Attacking reports on the suffering of Iraqis out of a sense of patriotic defensiveness is outright moral cowardness. It was a nice idea that the US and its allies could save Iraq- who would not support that? but the real world is a bit more complex. Pretending that every tidbit of criticism is part of anti-American sentiment (although some certainly is that) is part of the very problem that led to this- that sense of moral superiority and infallibility is destructive. The problem lies with the individuals who made the decisions, not 'America'.

Everybody says they want the US to pullout of Iraq. They all say the war was wrong. People, the war was a strategic move. Have you ever thought to wonder why there has not been a major attack on Western nations, zero in North America in fact? It's because the terrorists and Islamic dictators have to decide which battle is more important to fight. The battle in their backyard or the one in a distant land. Those who want to return the civilized world back to the stone ages, are too busy fighting in Iraq to focus their resources on us in the West. What will you do if the US pulls out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and another 9/11 occurs or worse? Are you willing to fight the war here in your backyard, or would you rather fight the war in Iraq? Are you willing to give up your safety and security so that those in Iraq may not have to endure the suffering they are facing? If yes, then let's bring the troops home and fight the terrorists on our soil instead.

A hearty round of applause to the CBC for another simplistic article on American imperialism and greed. If anyone had actually listened to the testimony yesterday to the House it was clear Gen. Petraeus was advocating a draw down of troops. For the past 30 days reports from highly respected organizations such as NPR and the Brookings Institute have pointed out there has been a drop in violence in Iraq since the surge began. Neither organization can be characterized as right wing.

Violence in Iraq must be curtailed. No argument there. The conduct of the war, pre-surge was unacceptable. No argument either. The question is "What would be the outcome if US Troops left this year?". According to the recent ABC New Poll (not Fox), 55% of residents in Baghdad wanted American troops to stay in their current role. A significant minority of people living in Anbar Province feel safe now. This is up from 0% back in March (pre-surge). In the Kurdish region new shopping malls opening are the big news (as well as the first bowling alley).

This is clearly not enough but to simply characterize that the war is lost or an immediate withdrawal is in order would only set the stage for much worse events to occur.

I would suggest to those that instead of simply bemoaning the state of the American imperialism you'd be better off advocating Canadian foreign policy should be focused on pushing the Arab world, the Iraqi Government and the UN to actually engage and help solve this crisis.

It saddens me deeply that on today, of all days, so many people can make such simplistic generalizations about this war and the reasons behind it.

It is pathetic to believe that people will look at this conflict, blame a few choice "stupid" American politicians and a few "greedy" American corporations and feel that they have identified the source of a conflict that is thousands of years old.

I completely disagree that the US has magically created the murderous conditions in Iraq. Never forget that it is ordinary Iraqi's who are murdering EACH OTHER. They kill each other for religion, power and racism. Things OUR society is supposed to abhor.

The only reason that these conditions did not exist prior to the US invasion is that Saddam imprisoned, tortured and killed anyone who stepped out of line with his policies. And their friends and families.

The Iraqi people are now so desperate for a break in the violence that if the US were to pullout the power vacuum would see the same sort of people taking power that the US deposed 4 years ago.

Agree or disagree with this war, but do so honestly. And don't forget history. Ask yourself what horrors were exacted on the Vietnamese by the Communist North after the US pullout.

This is a very negative story. It leaves out all the good things that have happened. Many American defense contractors such as Haliburton have made a lot of money and will continue to for quite some time. America has secured itself a supply of oil that will last them at least 10 years at thier current rate of consumption. That should be able to fuel the next 2 presidents' conquests. Will it be Iran or Venezuela?

Bush should be brought to justice at international courts for war crimes just like the criminals of former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. What's the difference between those genocides and this illegal attack on Iraq. Invading another country, destroying the infrastructure, and leaving the people to die of war, starvation or disease is a crime against humanity. Now Bush is gearing up for a nuclear attack Iran. Will he be stopped by world leaders? Will he be warned that he will be brought to justice? Has he been listed as the #1 terrorist in the world today. Life has not meaning for the Bush administration, but it should for the rest of humanity.

Ayed's perspective on the situation in Iraq is a refreshingly unbiased one. The reality for Iraqis is a grim, terror-filled life, despite statistics suggesting an "improvement".
Nevertheless, I find her and many other people's comments on the situation biased by their view of a flawed decision to enter the war in the first place. In business, we call those previous decisions or investments sunk costs, we can't recoup them now, it's history. The only important debate now is what is the road forward. Surely there is a way to secure the country, restore electricity, and build a sustainable infrastructure. It will probably take 5-10 years and hundreds of billions of dollars but there is a road to a brighter future if the West has the patience to drive down it. The other road of exit, withdrawal and chaos looks a lot more uncertain and painful for Iraqis, and all the vested parties.
Let's hear more debate about the pro's, con's and likely outcomes of the stay vs. go options and less about whether the war was a good idea in the first place.

I guess that just a few people do not realize yet that this war was a terrible mistake, whose consequences are suffered every day by the deprived iraqi people. Peace seems to be every day more elusive, but i wonder if the solution is a quick withdrawal of the US troops. A new vacuum of power in Iraq could be exploited by some other powers with whom we might have to engage later. Probably a new US administration could fill in the gaps in the brains of the current american leaders, but I am afraid that we will see in the future the same disgusting reality, a sinister show of blood and flesh from people that can not understand why the "free world" came to set them free.

When the most powerful nation and armed forces fall into the wrong hand, nothing good comes out of it. The Bush administration and its supporters (religious fanatics and corporate America) hijacked their nation and lie to its citizens, and to the rest of the world, to venture into a war for greed, oil and contract money. They ousted a tyrant, which they supported before like many others, who was not at war with them (he did, though, support financially the families of Palestinians suicide bombers).

Now they've created a vacuum, dismissed the entire army and caused a civil war. Everyone loses, the Americans ((boy are they in trouble!), the Iraqis and the rest of us. By far the most ill intended and incompetent US administration in history.

In the mean time, bin Laden is still roaming in Pakistan and the opium culture has never been so wide spread. May be that was their message: When you attack us, we create chaos.

Petraeus was never going to find a way out of the quagmire in Iraq. He received an extra star for undertaking a doubtful mission. He's come back and essentially said the surge ante status quo is the best one can expect. He was handed the koolaid by Bush and promptly drank it.

This for me is the most upsetting. "this cannot be undone". Even if the Bush administration gets voted out of office this terrible quagmire will remain. I write this on Sept 11 2007. The saddest thing is on that faithful day 6 years ago, I, like most of the world, stood and grieved for Americans. Now I, like most of the world, feel the Americans have taken advantage of the situation and invaded Iraq. America will be attacked again I am sure of it. Their behavior in Iraq has assured this. They have killed, injured or displaced millions of people. It only takes a small group to take it upon themselves to return fire. Let's hope the next time a group of misguided souls murders innocent Americans the administration in power will direct their fury at the guilty and not take advantage to advance an agenda. The sales pitch given by this administration to the American people is by far the greatest lie I have witnessed in my lifetime. I slowly watched it happen and could do nothing about it. Critics of the war were deemed unpatriotic; critics of the President had their careers destroyed. When Doctor Phil, the psychiatric pez dispenser of America, said it was time to stand behind the President and not a time for debate I knew this administration had completed their 500 billion dollar fraud on the American tax payer. Re-electing this administration for a second term proves you can now pick the news you want to hear in America. No one in their right mind properly informed could have re-elected Bush for a second term. However if you drive to work listening to Rush Limbaugh, come home and watch Fox News, everything is great. If people are not dying in Iraq they will be dying in Kansa City. Hook line and sinker!

I find it arrogant and disingenuous in the extreme to blame the "Iraqis" for this mess. The day after Sept 11. and with no connection to the attacks, Bush decided to go after Iraq. He could not be dissuaded, perhaps conned by the reptilian Cheney, and the invasion took place, under the Geneva convention clearly qualifing as a war crime. Now that US, British, and Australians have unleashed forces they can't control,(and ignored in the first place)15% of the population are refugees, 8% are dead, there is no security, and Iraqi society is disintegrating.Once again American arrogance and imperiousness have made a mess of other peoples lives and futures, and now that the bully has spilled the milk it is someone else's fault and someone else will have to clean it up. Petraeus' soap opera performance will only convince the already deluded that the surge is working when everything indicates that it is not. The main purpose was to bring political progress and that hasn't happened, nor will it happen under occupation.This administration is a cabal of war criminals who,if they were from any other country,would be facing prosecution in the Hague.The current fiasco in Iraq has destabilized the region for decades, ruined any chance for democracy to take hold, and left the world with hatred for the American Empire.The seeds for another Sept.11 have just been given a good watering.

I read the original article carefully. While I see a great deal of complaining about how poorly the Americans have done in Iraq, I found no suggestions about how the situation might be improved. Should the Americans bail out and let the country descend into anarchy ?
Should they just get it over with and hope that, in a generation or two, the survivors in Iraq will rebuild ? Should the Americans stick it out, spending $100+ billion a year, and hope that the insurgents will get tired ? Whining about who's fault it the situation is doesn't solve the problem.

Ms. Ayed, What are you trying to say in this entry?
I think everybody in the US Government, Right, Left and Center, realize that things are bad in Iraq.
However they all jumped in with both feet and it is the responsibility of the USA and Iraq to sort it out. I am really frustrated by the witch hunting and finger pointing going on for the last two years. All the comments so far, have been to this effect.

How about some intelligent suggestions from you moaners.
The USA has poured Billions into Iraq for both war and reconstruction. It is having a clear detrimental effect on the ability of the country to support it’s debt and stay in business. You think the horribly weak dollar is a coincidence? Ted Johnson from “ma” (where ever that is), your wish for a suffering America may come true. However, not from bombs and troops, but from job loss, depression, and economic ruin because of the war debt.

I don’t know about other infrastructures, but electricity production has exceeded pre-invasion levels for some time. Saddam normally restricted electricity to his favored peoples living in Baghdad. Now, the current government equally distributes power, resulting in reductions for some and improvements for others. I know this from independent sources not connected with the American efforts.

The US troop presence maintains the violence at a slow simmer while piling up the powder kegs in anticipation of the final blow out.

When the US leaves, as it will inevitably sooner or later, the whole thing will blow.

The best thing the US could have done would have been a 3-way partition plan like of India/Pakistan. This would have lead to a century long series of border skirmishes, but at least each zone could build up infrastructure enough to ultimately conclude that peaceful coexistence is more in their interest than war.

The current arrangement allows none of that, favoring instead ongoing struggles for table scraps.

some of you disgust me. no one deserves what is going on in Iraq. you should never wish that upon anyone. The US went in with corrupt intentions. the government set up now, is waiting for Iraq to fall again and the US to leave to make there profits bigger. they should have spent 1 trillion dollars in infrustructure, build iraq to a greater nation. but there is no profit in selling bombs if no one is explolding them, right MR Bush. cant supply new armoured vehicles if the old ones are not damaged by a road side bomb. its all about money and its the poor who suffer yet again. make your 30 thousand new troops protect the people and not the oil lines. and i mean all the people even the poor ones.

I feel that British and USA succeeded again in dividing Iraq, like British did 60 years ago and followed by generations of hatred, hatred is still deep in India and Pakistan, now i think they wont leave the country until they divide that country into three parts Sunni, Shia and Kurd. for there god knows what benefit,nobody even care how many Iraqi civilians dead so far, they US only talk about their militiary loss,of course life is life every life is important,but they dont that way,its become common in NEWS this many dead in this attack, the US Media wont stop there they deliberately mention this many shia dead and this many sunni dead, if there intention is good, i would suggest that they should just mention this many iraqi dead.

"Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it".

The Vietnam War was not that long ago, and it's effects on American society were felt long after the war ended.

One has to wonder at the level of intelligence of those who plotted and executed the Iraq War.

Many Iraqi citizens are standing up and saying "enough is enough" - and often enough they are kidnapped, tortured and murdered for taking the trouble to do so. It seems more fashionable (and is no doubt much safer) to report on the latest car bombs from the safety of a hotel, behind many layers of US troops. Often enough the people carrying out the kidnappings, tortures and murders are not Iraqi citizens at all.

When the war crimes the US has committed by its invasion and occupation are finally realized by Americans, then maybe some healing will come to Iraq. Remember who caused all this, and for no legal reason. The UN security council had totally disarmed Iraq, leaving it open to US invasion, and as Bush thought, open to having its oil appropriated by US companies, and providing a US Military base system in the Middle East to control the oil supply of neighboring countries. Wait till Bush attacks Iran for "meddling " when we are the real meddlers,
Maybe someday America will suffer the same fate, it is way overdue.

I still dont understand why Bush and advisers
invaded Iraq in the first place. they were ill informed and ill prepared. they won the war but lost the peace. there is chaos
in Iraq; no check to Iran; a haven for religious murdering zealots; death and severe
injury to civilians and military; drain on U.S. economy that might have been spent on U.S infrastructure and benefits(health care);
same for Iraq;
no prospect for effective government in the future; ;etc., etc., etc. sorry, but I am reminded of Hitler who conned the German masses to support a war they were sure to lose! at least in Germany and Japan
it was possible to reconstruct to democratic and peaceful countries. the same cannot be said of Iraq! in my opinion, Iraqis deserved Saddam Hussein because the majority of its people can't understand co-operation and democracy. U.S. just made a bad situation
so much worse!

What is the outcome of this mess in a year or two or three ? Iraq already qualifies as a "failed state" I see no good outcome for anyone there. There are not enough troops in all of the mideast to stop the car bombings and religious 'war' this country is in .. My gloomy prediction: further disintegration and finally a partition into 3 zones within the country Sunni, Shia and Kurd. { India 1947 revisited} followed by generations of hatred,
more violent death for 1000's and meddling by fanatic groups Al_Queda etc to advance their cause of strident hateful Islam..
This will cause a further suspicion / paranoia
in the west of all people Islamic who live
in Europe , N America , Australia.
Saddam was a monster, we have created a bigger one.. What will Bush , Cheney , Rumsfeld say in their death bed confessions of the misguided war they set in motion . Ignoring all council who tried to tell them 9/11 had nothing to do with Saddam ..
Watch Farenheit 9/11 again .. if even half is true big oil , big money has taken us for a ride with gardens of stone as their legacy.

This is a reply to Rholm (US) below. The assumption of that comment is somehow that all Iraqis know each other and therefore are aware of each other's goings-on. Unfortunately i think they are as aware of their neighbour's actions as the Oklahoma City bomber's neighbours were of his or all the abortion clinic bombers' neighbours are of theirs.
even if they were aware of their neighbour's work and reported it. Who would they report it to? The occupying army that bombs their houses? And cocoons itself in the Green Zone while the citizens starve?

Its soooo sad that these people have had to suffer so for the greed and ignorance of the American politicians ...we should all pray that God forgives us and helps them.

I just wonder when the Iraqi citizens will stand up and say, enough is enough. They know when a road side bomb is being installed. They know when their neighbor is building a car bomb. They know when a stranger moves in next door. Rather than just sitting back and waiting to see what the U.S. is going to do, they need to do something themselves.