Politics We’re Never Leaving Iraq, But Thanks For Asking!
posted by on November 26 at 11:58 AM
Posted by Ryan S. Jackson
Announced this morning: A joint declaration of “principles” for “friendship and cooperation” between the United States and Iraq.
The bad news? We appear to have agreed to permanent security functions within Iraq, a situation that could ensure a US presence in the country forever (and place the ensuing collapse of the country on the head of whoever replaces Bush).
The good news? Cold War phraseology is finally making a comeback! Enduring relationships, protecting our mutual interests, and promoting regional stability appear to be making the glory days of John Foster Dulles come alive for a whole new generation of Americans.
Here’s the money graf, wherein we tie ourselves to Iraq’s security without any kind of a timeline in sight (via Spencer Ackerman):
To support the Iraqi government in training, equipping, and arming the Iraqi Security Forces so they can provide security and stability to all Iraqis; support the Iraqi government in contributing to the international fight against terrorism by confronting terrorists such as Al-Qaeda, its affiliates, other terrorist groups, as well as all other outlaw groups, such as criminal remnants of the former regime; and to provide security assurances to the Iraqi Government to deter any external aggression and to ensure the integrity of Iraq’s territory.
As Ackerman notes in his piece, hopefully some of the people running for president will decide that this should be something worth commenting on.
Please institute a system whereby your interns receive a sharp electrical shock every time they use the word "graf" to mean "paragraph". The word is "paragraph".
So they managed to fluff out "permanent military occupation" into an entire paragraph...
None of these "principles" will matter when President Obama delegates VP Clinton to replace them.
"graf"?
Presumably News Intern is fresh from journalism school where the students were encouraged to bandy tough-talking old-timer lingo about at every opportunity. But the Slog ain't a newsroom.
@5
That you parsed that entire post and came away with the most important thing being me stumbling over some journo-speak... well played, sir. Yours is the internet, and all that resides within it.
Not the most important thing. The most annoying thing. My world thrives on the burr under the saddle.
The oil there will be a most fortunate windfall.
When Sen. Obama said not long ago he would invade Pakistan to hit actionable al-Qaeda targets with or without approval, he was flamed for being naive. Here we have a document saying we don't need permission to act on actionable intel. It seems like a reasonable arrangement.
So does this actual surprise to anyone? It was obvious we were going to stay there for as long as militarily possible well before the invasion actually happened.
The question is: How many of you are going to help soldiers go AWOL?
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