George Bush has done it again. Todays gaffe was the leaked release of an internal memo showing his administration was secretly admitting what most of us had known since day one… that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is simply not up to the job.The level of sectarian violence the country is experiencing demonstrates that Iraq is in practice already fighting a civil war but with the US forces sitting in the middle it is unlikely either side can gain sufficient advantage to gain control over the country. This is especially unfortunate bearing in mind the efforts the US has made to instil some sesnse of democracy in the country.
The result of this latest debacle is to even *further* undermine the position of al-Maliki and may force his resignation. How can he continue to work with a force of occupation that considers him to be a liability?
Clearly the Bush administrations position on Iraq is now moving slowly towards a position where they will begin to accept a ‘strong man’ taking over control of the country… ostensibly in the short term… to allow them to create some sort of dignified withdrawal from this military quagmire. The obvious danger is that this ‘strong man’ will not be democratically elected… and simply develop into Saddam Mk II… which *then* begs the question why invade to begin with?
The country may not have been a haven of peace and calm by western standards… but the level of violence and carnage the country and population has suffered since the illegal invasion took place can’t possibly be seen to be an improvement on the previous situation.
This sorry situation which has resulted in the deaths of millions can be placed squarely at the door of the US.
The Eclectic Interweb 