|
How Long Can Iraq Stay On The Brink?
by James Glaser
For months now we have heard that Iraq is on the brink of being in a civil war. Being on the brink is akin to being on the edge, or the verge, or the threshold of a civil war. How can a country walk right up to that line and stay right there month after month? Over a hundred Iraqis are being killed every day for the last four months, but still they are on this "brink" of being in a civil war. To put it in perspective, it would take about 1,200 violent deaths a day here at home to have the same impact that those hundred deaths in Iraq have on that country. Every month now Iraq is having the equivalent of a 9/11 attack on their country. Our American troops have been fighting longer in Iraq that our troops fought in all of World War II. Isn't that hard to believe? We fought our way all the way from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo, and all the way across North Africa. Then there was D-Day and the war in Europe, and still we finished that faster than this war in Iraq. Beside that, Iraq is a tiny third world country, not even in the same league as Germany and Japan. After all this time in Iraq, after over 23,000 Americans have been killed or wounded, after spending hundreds of billions of dollars, Iraq is still on the brink of a civil war. No only are they on the verge of a civil war, they still don't have dependable electric power. The capital city, Baghdad has power about six hours a day. Iraq with all its oil is now importing gasoline. After years of training Iraqi troops so our troops can go home, we are now adding more American troops to the battle. We are going backwards, and still Iraq is on the edge of a civil war. Maybe when George Bush leaves office, the Iraqis will be able to have their civil war and get it out of their system. Then maybe our troops can come home. |
BACK to the 2006 Politics Columns.