More Setbacks For The American Efforts In Iraq

When the United States decided to commit itself to the Iraq War effort and brought a number of opposition groups into power in Iraq, it was expected that these opposition groups would do a little of the "heavy lifting" of bringing Iraq together as a reconstructed modern democratic MidEast state. Yet more and more evidence exists that America is bogged down in a military effort in which little ambition on the part of many in Iraq, including the government are willing to put in the effort to do the necessary things to make Iraq work as a state that can stand independent on it's own, and American troops can eventually leave.

A couple months ago, out of the claimed 147,000 Iraqi soldiers that were claimed to be in training from the U.S. by Gen. Richard Myers, it turned out that only 3 battlions, of just 2,000 Iraqi troops were considered to be combat ready to stand on their own without American support to battle insurgent offensives. Now this figure has sunk down to only one Iraqi battlion that is combat ready, of just 700 Iraqi troops. The other battlions either lack the necessary skills, manpower, willpower, training, moltivation or other skills to be able to confront insurgent threats on their own without America support. More and more, it is beginning to look like the failed Vietnamization efforts in theVietnam War, in which little drive, moltivation, or other skills of soldiers of the South compared to the highly disciplined forces of the NVA(North Vietnamese Army) and the Viet Cong fighters. America's ticket out of Iraq is for the patriotic and nationalistic sentiments of the Iraqi people to seek to defend their own nation. Without this, America cannot leave Iraq on it's own. Otherwise insurgent forces would quickly overthrow the government in Iraq and make at least a terrorist state in the Sunni areas, and possiby Iran would control the Shiite areas in some manner, and the Kurdish North would become a threat to Turkey to establish some state of Kurdistan.

And within the government in Iraq, many armed members of militia groups hold power, and there is no moltivation to disarm such organizations as the Badr Brigade, which comprises 15,000 armed members. 120 armed members of this organization recently overthrew the secular mayor of Baghdad, and replaced him with a Badr Brigade militia member. And this armed militia controls a number of important seats within the government of Iraq, as well as six provincial governorships. And in the North, the Kurds have a militia comprised of 100,000 members. And the radical cleric Sadr has a radical armed militia that act on his behalf and have frequent military showdowns with the American forces. There is no effort by the government to disarm any of these of the other armed militia groups within Iraq by the government. In fact just the opposite, the government of Iraq sometimes even complements militias such as the Badr Brigade for their efforts.

This month will be a vote on the constitution for Iraq. Instead of a genuine spirit of unity to make Iraq a nation united together, the Shiites and Kurds used the process to essentially divide the oil assets of Iraq among themselves, in a sort of "divorce papers" arrangement to split Iraq along ethnic lines and leave the Sunni ethnic group in Iraq with little but the sand of Iraq, and no oil assets. This failure to compromise with the Sunni minority, as well as writing a document not really intended to cement Iraq together as a single state for the future of a single united state of Iraq prove a real lack of moltivation on the part of Iraqi government to write a serious document intended to glue Iraq together. In 1920, after the British defeat of the Turks of the Ottoman Empire, Winston Churchill drew up a map in a hotel room that combined three ethinic groups of the defeated Ottoman Empire together under British control and created Iraq. Britain then occupied this region until the 1958 rebellion in Iraq, which caused Britain to lose power and leave Iraq. Today Iraq remains as divided as ever. The Iraqi constitution is likely to be defeated by the Sunni voters, or to even spur civil war in Iraq. This country cannot even discipline itself well enough to write a serious constitution.

Given all of the problems in Iraq, it seems very unlikely that Iraq will remain a single state in the future, and terrorists are likely to control at least the Sunni regions and become a new threat in the MidEast unless the U.S. military presense in Iraq remains. With all of the problems in Iraq, it seems unlikely that a good outcome in Iraq is likely by the various powers within Iraq, unless the U.S. keeps some semblence of order. Just like Gen. Colin Powell who was concerned about the Pottery Barn rule, "you break it, you bought it", America has bought Iraq, and cannot seem to get rid of it. And breaking Iraq has cost the U.S. nearly $200 billion, and over 1,900 American lives. Too many in Iraq are just not willing to do the "heavy lifting" to make Iraq work as a nation.