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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (62994)	5/2/2008 3:01:53 PM
From: Sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542010

The Anbar awakening (and its smaller copies elsewhere in Iraq), happened for that reason, but the surge helped the awakening succeed. The Anbar Awakening, as it has been called, would have succeeded with or without any US help. Al Qaeda in Iraq, as it is called, is composed of only a few thousand--at most--zealots. The only reason they could wreck the havoc they wrecked before was because they had the assistance of the Sunni population. They got cocky and stupid (I know that that is redundant, but the latter adjective adds a little color), and they didn't stand the remotest chance of beating the local population, who are wealthier, better armed, better trained and far far more numerous than the ridiculous zealots who apparently believed that with Allah they could prevail over whomever. Perhaps it would have taken a little longer without US help (but perhaps not). Certainly the US help was welcomed--why not, we gave them money and weapons, and, from what I can tell, whatever backup support they wanted. The truth though is if they decide to turn on the US, 160,000 troops aren't enough to "pacify" them. Whether they will decide to turn, I don't know. But I doubt very much that they feel any particular loyalty to us. Why would they? They've seen the US back Saddam, then turn on him, back the Shia, then turn on them, then back them again, then turn on them again. We back Turkey, then turn on them, then give them the green light to conduct operations in Kurdistan. As for the whole John McCain, and "a liar", I agree with Bearcatbob - "he is a politician" There are politicians and then there are politicians. There is spin that is relatively harmless, and there is spin that is repulsive. McCain has done them all.