Robert Wrubel wrote:
>
> Andie N wrote:
> "This is what I expected and feared. But how can they
> > get away with it? Won't continued occupation come
> > back to bite them?"
>
> I can see a way -- a horribly maimed, divided and
> disfunctional state, not to mention disarmed -- in
> which the Americans could stay in their fortified
> bases without further American casualties. Iraqi
> caualties would of course vanish from view.
>
> But this state is unimaginable with Iran next door, so
> my fear is that this imagined "stable" state in Iraq
> would also require the dismantling of Iran. That's the
> scenario I dont see how they can get away with.
>
They will try nevertheless.
Thinking of it as the Iraq War and linking it to the Bush Administration blurs one's analysis. It is the War for the Middle East & the Persian Gulf. It began 60 years ago when a nuclear-wielding Truman Administration convinced Stalin he had best withdraw Russian troops from Iran. It went into high gear a few years after that with the overthrow of Mossedegh and the first invasion of Lebanon. It has been continuous ever since, and until overwhelming force is brought to bear, both at home and abroad, the U.S. will not back off from that war. The leadership of the DP are loyal, and they won't let electoral hopes and fears interfere with maintaining this central policy of u.s. imperialism.
Carrol