Iraq was never about Al Queda. And here's a bulletin for you, Anbar province isn't about Al Queda
Excuse me, but Al Qaeda is of a different opinion, and has been quite vocal about it. WE didn't declare Iraq the main front in global jihad; they did.
he Sunnis in Anbar DON'T need our "help" controlling Al Queda in their province. They are smart, tough, connected and well able to create dead Al Queda terrorizers
Um, got any Sunnis in Anbar to agree with you? Or do you just know their situation better than they do? Every report coming from Iraq says that sustained American presence has made the Anbar Awakening possible.
So we're walking a fine line there trying to rebalance the Shiite/Sunni power so that the Shiites may come to the conclusion that they have to reach some sort of real compromise with a Sunni population that's fighting for its very existence thanks, in large part, to our earlier one sided policies and lethal "help" for the Shiite side of the conflict.
Gee, don't you think you should give a wee bit of credit to the Sunnis themselves, who kept insisting they were the majority of Iraqis, who welcomed in Al Qaeda, who boycotted the political process in favor of planting IEDs? all because it was their God given right to rule?
As I seem to keep saying, it's not only America that makes choices.
So take off your Al Queda goggles and try to see the big picture in Iraq; a nation of very sophisticated, very diverse and very tough people, each with their own, often hidden, agendas.
I have no "Al Qaeda" goggles; it's you who steadily discount them, despite all they have done and said and still do. It's true there are several wars going on in Iraq: the war of Al Qaeda against America and stability, the war of the Sunni against the Shiites, the war of Iran against America and stability. Defeating Al Qaeda with Sunni allies is very much in America's interest and judging by Al Qaeda's desperate determination not to lose, they too agree. |
