Bush and Blair have lit a fire which could consume them
Where are they now, the cheerleaders for war on Iraq? Where are the US Republican hawks who predicted the Anglo-American invasion would be a “cakewalk”, greeted by cheering Iraqis? Or the liberal apologists, who hailed a “new dawn” for freedom and democracy in the Arab world as US marines swathed Baghdad in the stars and stripes a year ago?
US loses control of two cities; Najaf and Kut.
Najaf has a population of 609,000. Kut has 420,000. Respectively, they are the 8th and 14th largest cities in Iraq, out of a total population of 27 million, and are roughly equivalent in size to Baltimore and Atlanta. In other words, they are sizable cities.
Yet Rumsfeld still pretends all is well. Just a few lone wackos, say he. Um, no. Lone wackos don’t take over cities. to do that you need serious militias and at least the tacit cooperation of some of the populace. I wonder if Rumsfeld actually believes what he is saying?
Iraqi police refusing to stop insurgents. Maybe they don’t want to get killed, maybe they support the insurgents.
Oh yes, al-Sadr is a puritanical Muslim. Women must be covered head to toe when outside. No liquor. That kind of thing. Deviations are punished severely. The worst nightmare of the U.S. might be happening, Muslim extremists taking power in Iraq.
And here’s another of the Bushies worst fears, Sunnis and Shiites coming together.
It’s difficult to see how the U.S. could have fucked things up any worse…