by Dale Hoskin

Created on: September 19, 2007

Should The U.S. Pull Out Its Troops Regardless of Whether Iraq Is Ready To Defend Its People.

The question, as posed, is disingenuous. Hidden within its words lurks a rather large straw man. I refer to the notion that Iraq will ever be able to defend its people. It presupposes that Iraq and an Iraqi people now exist that need defending. It is not entirely clear that either exist in any meaningful way.

Before you say huh and stare at me in bewilderment let me explain.

Iraq is an artificial country. Forged together from three distinct tribes, against their will, and despite long standing distrust of each other, it has existed less than eighty years. As one comedian once put it' "Paul Newman is eight years older than Iraq." As a result, there is no strong sense of national identity. The people of the region self identify as Shiite, Sunni or Kurdish. They do not consider themselves members of an Iraqi nation and each certainly does not view the other two as fellow citizens. It isn't just that they have competing religious visions, they have different economic and social ones as well.

Not unlike Yugoslavia, under Tito, they existed as a nominal country only under the heavy hand of a brutal dictator. Remove the dictator, remove the glue. Which is precisely what we have done.

The result of our invasion has been to unleash these long held grievances. The Shiite, hungry for power, now seek retribution against the minority Sunni. They in turn seek a return to power fearing their minority status will relegate them to permanent second class citizenship. Finally the Kurds, who want nothing to do with either of the other two groups is quietly going about the business of laying the groundwork for an independent nation.

All the while our soldiers find themselves caught in the middle of a growing civil war.

Let's take a moment to discuss our soldiers. These brave men and women won this war in record time, toppling Saddam Hussein in just three weeks. Everything that has transpired in the four and one-half years since has been as a result of the unbelievable incompetence of the Bush Administration. Let us review.

The failed to protect the crucial infrastructure, choosing only to guard the oil ministry, while water and electric systems were destroyed. They immediately disbanded the Iraqi Army, robbing the nation of a ready made security force and supplying a steady stream of recruits to the insurgency.

When wide spread looting broke out, the U.S. stood by and did nothing. Local

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