The wonderfully detailed International Herald Tribune has a good article on the latest sectarian bloodbath in the nation formerly known as Iraq. Over 150 are dead after a string of highly coordinated and devastating blasts in the Shiite slum of Baghdad called Sadr City (formerly known as Saddam City). The response from the radical Muqtada al Sadrs Medhi "Army" (a bunch of fanatical gunmen) was swift, with mortars falling in a densely packed Sunni neighborhood and close calls to one of Sunni Islams most holy shrines (although honestly, every Muslim shrine seems to be considered "one of the most holy"). This is the latest in an increasingly bitter battle in Iraq between the majority and stricter Shia and the minority (and strangely enough, more moderate) Sunnis. This is one of the things that what we liberals have been warning of all along. King George and the shady neocons once again have their heads stuck deep in the sand, not seeing the obvious developments from their shortsighted and risky maneuvers.
We liberals warned from the start that there was no hard evidence of WMDs. Alas, no WMPs existed. We warned that Iraq was not pursuing nuclear weapons. They were not. We yelled out for all to hear that there were NO ties between Al Qaeda or similar Islamic fundamentalist groups and the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. Again, we were correct. The radicals who infiltrated the country after the invasion (and ensuing lawlessness) are an after result, and this too was easy to see beforehand.
King George implied Iraqs vast oil wealth would pay for the costs of reconstruction. Here we sit nearly 4 years later, with over half a trillion dollars spent (from borrowed money mind you), much of it going to corrupt contractors who just so happen to be big Bush and Republican campaign contributors. Our troops were not greeted as liberators, and a vast majority of Iraqis hate them (and us) today. The country is more dangerous now than ever, despite continued promises by King George that the Iraqis would "stand up" to take responsibility for themselves. Despite claims that this would be a short and relatively painless adventure, we are embroiled in a long and bloody conflict today, with no end in sight.
From the beginning to today, this entire fiasco has been a colossal disaster. The responsibility for this lays squarely on the shoulders of King George, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, in fact the entire "neo-conservative" backdrop in general. They are deceitful, short sighted, and incomptetent and have led this nation astray, both internationally and here at home. The spiraling civil war erupting is yet further evidence of this. Just watch and see, this is only going to get worse, just as I predicted years ago on this blog.
