Iraq casualties rise sharply amid political vacuum

[IndianaGreen]

Source: BBC News

1 August 2010 Last updated at 11:58 ET

Iraq casualties rise sharply amid political vacuum

July was Iraq's deadliest month for more than two years, figures show, amid fears insurgents are exploiting a political power vacuum left by March's inconclusive elections.

Last month, 535 people were killed and 1,000 injured in bomb blasts or other attacks, official Iraqi figures say.

Insurgent attacks have increased in frequency and ferocity since the polls.

Sunni, Shia and Kurdish factions that won most seats are still bickering over who should be the next prime minister.

Both former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and incumbent Nouri Maliki insist that they are best placed to lead the war-torn country.

March's elections left Mr Allawi's Sunni-backed secular Iraqiyya alliance with 91 seats, just two ahead of Mr Maliki's mainly Shia coalition.

Both are well short of the 163 seats needed to form a government, meaning that some sort of wider coalition will be needed.

People are getting fed up with the stalemate, the BBC's Hugh Sykes reports from Baghdad.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10831069

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Iraq is another "success" story, while the US keeps the equivalent of 3 mechanized Army divisions in country to "train" the Iraqi military.

[ProSense]

1. Is this to advocate

that withdrawing is a bad thing?

"There are fears the ongoing political uncertainty could hinder the planned withdrawal of all but 50,000 US troops from Iraq by the end of August, in preparation for a full military departure by the end of 2011."

[IndianaGreen]

3. I am advocating an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all US troops

in Iraq, Afghanistan, Philippines, Cuba, Yemen, Pakistan, and all the 75 countries in which we are currently engaged militarily in one capacity or another.

Come Home America!

[IndianaJoe]

2. My guess is they'll rise even more as the vacuum gets bigger

as we leave. C'est la vie.

[sandnsea]

4. Biden said we're coming home no matter what they do

So I don't know what you're bitching about. This is the reason some of us said we had to stay there all along, to at least try to prevent civil war since Bush invaded.

[IndianaGreen]

5. How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?

That's what we are asking our troops still in Iraq. We are asking to hang on and risk their lives for a few months more, because our politicians lack the courage to admit Iraq was a mistake, and are too cowardly to bring the troops home ASAP.

[sandnsea]

7. You make no sense

You complain because Iraq is coming apart and more Iraqis are dying, and you complain because we aren't getting out fast enough which is contributing to the vacuum which is allowing Iraqis to die.

That Makes No Sense. The mistake has been made, it's been acknowledged, repeatedly. The withdrawal is in effect.

Do you or don't you care whether Iraqis die as we withdraw.

[IndianaGreen]

11. We never had any business in Iraq. We must denounce White Man's Burden

the old imperialist view that only white Christians knew what was best for the lesser among us.

We must leave Iraq at once, and let them to sort things out among themselves without any interference or choosing sides on our part.

Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.

Rudyard Kipling, The White Man's Burden (1899)

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/kipling.html

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[IndianaGreen]

13. I only care about our troops coming home as quickly as we can ship them home

We are the ones responsible for a million Iraqis being killed since our criminal invasion of that country. The sooner we stop savaging that country, the better off they will be.

You are repeating the same bullshit line used to justify our maintaining a presence in Vietnam. It was bullshit then, it is bullshit now.

[sandnsea]

17. So you don't care about the Iraqis

Just wanted to clear that up. Thanks.

[IndianaGreen]

18. You are the one that doesn't care about Iraqis when you support the continuing occupation of that

country. The Iraqi people want us out of their country, just as much as the Afghan people want us out of theirs. I cared enough about the Iraqi people to oppose this war before it even began, while our brave Democrats were all falling over themselves voting for the disgraceful Iraq War Resolution in October 2002.

Who can forget all those Democratic hotshots, including Leader Gephardt, standing behind Bush in the Rose Garden congratulating themselves for passing Iraq War Resolution.

[sandnsea]

20. Your OP is about casualties and the political vacuum

I'm sorry that I mistook that for concern about bloodshed as we continue to withdraw. That's not to say we shouldn't continue to withdraw, but if you care about Iraqi lives then there's got to be some sort of solution beyond US getting out tomorrow. Rants about how we got there have nothing to do with the best strategy to save the most lives as we get out of there.

[DeSwiss]

16. Welcome to IGNORE. n/t

[Lasher]

6. One month left to get down to 50K

On July 22 the White House said there were "...about 80,000 U.S. troops in Iraq." Now that we're into the last 30 days before the end of August, I think it's odd we haven't seen more about actual troop levels. The Brookings Institution's Iraq Index (Click Download Most Recent Iraq Index, then scroll down to page 19) hasn't been updated since June 30, when there were 85,000 US soldiers there.

I think the Brookings numbers have been precise, but I don't have a high comfort level with troop level reports that include the word 'about'. If the current level is 80K, however, that would mean only 5K were withdrawn during the last month. And in that case we would be looking at a 24% reduction (30K) in the next 30 days to meet the 50K goal.

[w8liftinglady]

19. my concern is that they will be redirected to Afghanistan...

so we can lose another 4K+

[Lasher]

22. I share that concern.

And I have others.

If Obama would have kept his campaign promise, our soldiers would have been out of Iraq by May 20 this year.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=8717046#8721290

Calling 50,000 personnel 'noncombat soldiers' is a ruse to make it appear we have ended the combat mission when we have not. I believe this smokescreen is intended to disguise the real deadline, the December 31, 2011 withdrawal date that GWB established before he left office - which may or may not be achieved.

And I don't like the increased usage of mercenaries.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=8737680

I have all these concerns. But the deadline by the end of this month is something we should be able to hang our hat on. I have been watching to see if this goal will be met, or if we'll be fed a load of 'conditions on the ground' bullshit. We'll see.

[SLCLiberal]

8. Pull out

We never should have gone there in the first place, what a mess.

[roamer65]

9. Iraq was contrived by the British after WW1.

Since then, it has been kept together by force. When we leave it WILL fall apart. Best to just go now.

[liam_laddie]

10. Agreed!

The Kurds hope to resist both the Turks and the Shia in Iran, and somehow create Kurdistan. The Shia in the south and east might be convinced to be subsumed into Iran. The Sunni in the center and south might turn to the Saudis and other friendly (?) Sunni in the region.
In any case, the construct cobbled together after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire will fracture and there will be a long, long period of "adjustments." I really don't think the US-Euro foreign policy elite can forestall these events. Just my two cents.

[Hardrada]

21. No they can't and best to stay out of the ME altogether.

[IndianaGreen]

14. as were several other countries such a Jordan, Saudi Arabia, etc.

and if we are going down the path of discussing artificial constructs as far as nations go, let's throw Israel into the mix while we are at it.

[DeSwiss]

15. K&R n/t