An Admission of Disaster in Iraq

It's about time. Tony Blair has admitted to al-Jazeera that the occupation of Iraq has been a disaster. When veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost said that the war in Iraq has "been pretty much of a disaster", Blair agreed that "it has." It is refreshing to see some honesty from the leaders of the aggression in Iraq. Attacking Iraq and brutalizing it's citizens wasn't a good idea in 2003, and it is not a good idea now. This follows hard on the heels of revelations that a U.S. soldier formerly serving in Iraq has admitted that he and three other soldiers had premeditated the rape of an Iraqi girl, and the murder of her and her family. One of the four rapists and murderers, SPC. James P. Barker, plead guilty in order to avoid the death penalty. The reason that Barker gave for what he did: "I hated Iraqis, your honour." So by his logic, it is okay to gang-rape and murder a 14 year old girl, then murder the rest of her family because he hates the entire citizen-body to which they belonged? The details of the story can be found in a Washington Post story here. This is an absolute attrocity. And the Americans and British wonder why they are so virulently hated in Iraq, and around the world.

Foreign troops should be immediately withdrawn from Iraq. The current rationale for why there are there is to stabilize the country and provide the groundwork for a democracy. Well guess what. That isn't happening and isn't going to happen. Eventually the Americans are going to have no choice but to fall back on the true reason for the war, to get American hands on the oil taps. Eventually the argument will be made that if America pulls out then the supply of oil to the economy will be jeopardized. And on that day, I hope that the majority of people in the United States, who cursed anti-war protesters in 2003, will realize, we were right. War is not an acceptable means by which to settle international disputes, let alone to manoeuvre for economic advantage. In 2003 we said, "no blood for oil." We say it still.

Days Remaining in Bush Presidency: 797