The walls works.

It has lowered violence in Baghdad by 27%.

as for car bombers?
they are the modern kamikaze
walls work well to reduce
the effect of these maniacs too.

the real question is:
do want the peace that works
or more of what you got?

i say
go with what statistically works.

I have never understood why the Military wants to send 19 year old kids into battle.

Wolfowitz,Abraham,Feith,Pearls,Cheneys,George Tenent,Shawn Hennity,Limbaughs Glenbecks,Michael Savage etc etc all the architects and supporters of the war are sitting at home.
The number of injured is not 24000, the scars of war are engraved in the minds of men , cases of PTSD,many of whom do not want to talk about it.
The sick wounded,mentally ill out of Iraq is more than 70,000.

Imagine George Tenent said he wanted to spend more time with his son before he went to college.

Well back to my point why send 19 yr old into battle in a foreign land. Why not pass a law to protect them. I personally think that the minimum age should be 26.
Those who voted for the war should have been sent.
Otherwise the all volunteer army will always be abused.

I have never understood why the Military wants to send 19 year old kids into battle.

Wolfowitz,Abraham,Feith,Pearls,Cheneys,George Tenent,Shawn Hennity,Limbaughs Glenbecks,Michael Savage etc etc all the architects and supporters of the war are sitting at home.
The number of injured is not 24000, the scars of war are engraved in the minds of men , cases of PTSD,many of whom do not want to talk about it.
The sick wounded,mentally ill out of Iraq is more than 70,000.

Imagine George Tenent said he wanted to spend more time with his son before he went to college.

Well back to my point why send 19 yr old into battle in a foreign land. Why not pass a law to protect them. I personally think that the minimum age should be 26.
Those who voted for the war should have been sent.
Otherwise the all volunteer army will always be abused.

((((((((((((( Peace-Love-Rock and ROMNEY! )))))))))))

Well here is my idea..Since the Sunni and the Shiite's are absolutely intent on killing each other..Lets give them a ultimatum..You WILL get along for the sake of a better Iraq or the Kurds will be put in power immediately and we will go home like we should have at the 2.5 year mark..
Thanks
Mack from WA.

This author has told the truth of the matter. Military commanders refer to the isolationism creaetd by the US as 'Gated Communities' indicating their sick humor to a success in Iraq held by many militatry commanders in Iraq and at home.

well george rejects timelines, so i guess the generals need to pay for their mendacity. rather than borrow more money and start the draft, let's make do.

Scrap all existing Navy capital ship construction: subs, carrier, etc.
Scrap the misguided missle defense system
Scrap the joint fighter program
redeploy 100,000 navy pukes as marine grunts...after a little training.
redeploy 100,000 AF wonders as ground pounders...after a lot of training.
redeploy a lot of senior officers as platoon commanders to get a little first hand experience with the debacle they write about.
Redeploy administration neo-cons and religious lawyers as civilian administrative officers for the reconstruction projects outside the green zone.
redeploy the Pentagon and it's think tanks to the new, largest in the world embassy suite in Bagdad to get first hand knowledge of the realities they manage to avoid.
Move K-Street to the abandoned buildings in the former Baathists homes to determine the political efforts needed to bring the fruits of capitalism to the Iraqis.
Deploy the fundamental Christian leaders to the deprived southern Iraqi cities to lead them to the real God, Money!

hey guys look here....Gary Masters - Petraus' homo partner - just showed up, and he's mad as hell because we rightly called his lover an idiot.

We will know by August or so if the surge is working or not. If not, we ought to give Iraq to Iran. We might get peace in the Middle East in return.

As for the other posters, it helps not to attack people - try to keep your comments to ideas and events.

If Ms. Adoni and Mr. Schweitzer could respond to a few questions ?

Do you think that overwhelming majorities of Iraqis turning out to vote were really an appeasment of the Bush/Cheney Administration ? I think that Iraqis had developed certain skills in surviving Hussein Regime. Would consider Iraq to be an oppressed society. I had a feeling that Iraqis voted with an implied consent that equates to: "Ok, we voted, thanks brave Coalition forces, you can go home now".

The other point is that elections were boycotted. So from the inception of this particular form of government, representation was imbalanced. Amazing that a successful boycott itself shows a disciplined and well organized sector of Iraq's population and an unwillingness to accept the status quo. Some may see this as evidence of a separist movement or federalization but it could be a symbol of secular stability through as well.

Here in the States the political salesmen patted themselves on the back then advertised successful "democratic" elections, another minature "Mission Accomplished".

In any event, social experiments do not have guarenteed specific results. A few years ago (through overthrow of Hussein Regime) a national unity was created if only temporarily. And perhaps boycotts of elections or pressure to vote showed a much more divided Iraq than politically advertised at home.

(There is hearsay evidence of United States press manipulation that can be construed as public disinformation campaign and/or military strategy implementation)

to jrlr, does it not occure to you that when we invaded their country, it became necessary for us to have a vision for our occupation?

Lamis Andoni,

Inform yourself before spreading such a nonsense. That's the memo.

Nobody seems to want to admit that the idea for the walls in Baghdad was ripped directly from the playbook of the Israelis for the West Bank. How insulting must it be to the former Sunni ruling class to be treated like oppressed Palestinians?

I agree with you. I think that Ghettos are another indicia of desperation lost office holders willing to try any idea that comes to mind. It is almost as if Bush and his Generals are brainstorming for ideas and someone says: why don't we try creating Ghettos cause that might work?

Petraus is basically an idiot, who kissed @ss to get to where he is today. Basically, he is hoping that he can fool congress and the American people to pay for his stupid ideas for as long as possible and then turn over the entire mess to his successor. Then he can retire with a 'freedom medal' like his predecessor the equally moronic Tommy Franks. It's been 5 months since the 'Petraus Plan' plan has gone into effect and nothing has happened. Now that moron Petraus is aksing us to wait till September to see whether his plan works or not. mark my words, come September the moron would be asking for another 5 months to show progress for his plans. As a donkey that gravitates towards a mule, why do you think sh!t for brains Petraus is so trusted by a moron like Bush?

Given the background and training of Lamis Andoni, one can not say her facts are wrong.

What is missing is better perception of the overall purpose of the current "sector" or "segmenting actions.

The original error, noted by scholars such as Richard Pipes, was to the attempt to establish a central authority and have degrees of devolution, which was not in keeping with the fragmented (but simialr) cultures of the segments of the populace.

In the light of history, tradition, cultural patterns (not to mention sustainable control of the uses of force ["violence"]) the plausible way to re-establish order was exactly the reverse of centralize, then devolve (with oil revenues attached) it is to create conditions which permit order to be established clan by clan, tribe by tribe, majlis by majlis; all with revenues (or public benefits) directed into each level as part of the process.

As things were disrupted, the way now to do so,and the way it is being done (based on proven experience in specific provinces) is the create the segments that match the natural social organization, wall them where needed, and let them create their own "order." That is the purpose of the Petraus Plan.

RRS
s24rrs@aol.com

The conversation is over. It's the election cycle that drags this thing out. Oops, the opportunity was missed. There is no going back. Period. Americans know this.

Any reasonable person would have foreseen what is happening today in Iraq. Victory was easy and was swift, mission accomplished, Saddam and his party have been removed from power, a new constitution adopted, elections held and a democratically elected government was formed. As Bush has said, the United States has prevailed. So what is left to do? Fix Iraq? Restore the infrastructure and quality of life for Iraqi civilians to the prewar levels? You can send many more troops and you can throw as much money as you can afford at Iraq to fix the problem but failure will result. Any reasonable person knows that. What Bush can't fix took thousands of years and wars to form. Can Bush and the U.S. Military end sectarian violence and fundamental differences in culture and religious beliefs? Any reasonable person knows the answer is no. So why do we stay? To save face? Save Bush's legacy? Make the deaths of over 3,500 dead American servicemen and women and 24,000 wounded more palatable to continuing the "cause"? Millions of Iraqi people displaced, disruption to life and family, certain death in the streets of Iraq? And what about the Kurds who would wish to form their own nation separate of Iraq and to retain the wealth of oil?

Bush, Congress and the U.S. Military broke Iraq to make it better and by all reasonable people are expected to fix it. But they can't. We left Vietnam in disgrace, we left it in shambles, yet the Vietnamese worked out their differences and united their nation. So too must the Iraqi people work out their differences. Yes there will be more bloodshed, more violence, but U.S. troops can't be reasonably expected to stop it and no matter how long the U.S. is there this will never come to any settlement or conclusion. So any reasonable person would ask, why do we stay and prolong the outcome which must come at the hands of the Iraqi people?

We must ask are Bush, Cheney, Rice, this administration and this Congress acting in a reasonable and responsible way? I think the American People spoke during the 2006 elections. It must end sooner than later.

Finally, an excellent article written by an Arab who understands the issues and should be read by every U.S. politican. But don't hold your breath...republicans are more apt to listen to a pervert like O'reilly or druggie like Rush Limbaugh who couldn't point out Iraq in the map even if their lives depended on it. It also proves that most republicans are the same clueless idiot b@stards that they were for the past five years, and hence think they can still win the war and solve Iraq's problems. At least many democrats have a better grip of reality. Only idiots like republicans would have Bush as their leader, anyone else would be ashamed of such a moron.

When is seeing disbelieving? The mechanisms of self-deception are being more widely understood, and US foreign policy appears in the grip of it. Don't hold your breath for policy to change pre-2009.

You write: "So far the U.S. administration has resorted to more violence to achieve some sort of military victory. Without a vision for a future Iraq..."

Is not the problem that it is for the Iraqis themselves, and only for them, to have "a vision for a future Iraq"?

Is it for the Iraqis or for the Americans to have "a vision for a future United States of America"?

Is it for the Americans, for the Iraqis or for the Qataris to have "a vision for a future Qatar"?

I find your assumptions offensive, to say the least.

Typical Bush administration solution. If they don't like someone, their religion or viewpoint, then just call them a terrorist and wall them off. They have given their blessing and our money to erect similar barriers in Israel, so they feel it should work anywhere around the world for behavior adjustment. Oops, I'm sorry. In Israel they wanted to starve the people into submission. I suppose the purpose is the same here. In New Orleans, they ensured by economics, the people couldn't come back. You know they always have to win, no matter what the cost and long term implications.

The way out of Iraq is not that complicated as some might imagine. Let us go back to the roots and tackle the problem from the main stem.
The unlimited support of the US to Israel from 1948 till now has led to unmatched state of disappointment and despair in the Middle East, which in turn led to the creation of terrorist groups who are ready to sacrifice their own bodies in a holy war agianst Israel and US interests, not only in the Middle East but all over the world.
What do we expect from a palestinian refugee who has been deprived of all his belongings and thrown out of his country to live in a refugee camp for more than 60 years now.
The way out of Iraq and Afganistan is to tackle and resolve the root issue, the Palestinian holocaust at the hands of the Israeli army.Once this issue is settled in a fair way to all concerned parties and under UN resolutions, the resultant issues if Iraq and Afganistan will definitely lose steam and take a turning point towards their end.

loyalty is the one thing we will never control in the middle east. ask the iraelis about this dilemma. hmas rules are the reality not an abberation.

US administration needs to know the Middle East much better.Now,US forces are supporting Iraqi PM who is a Shiite and reserves his first loyalty to his Mullas in Iran, no royalty to Iraq whatsoever.
Iraqi PM so far has succeeded in practicing his Shiite TAKIYA very successfully.It is there in the Shiites faith and it calls for showing your enemy a friendly face until you are in a position to finish him.The only way out of Iraq is to swith to the right partners who have always stood against Iran and its influence in the Middle East,the Sunnis.This might require a military coup of some kind with the support of US forces.

attempting to carve up a city the size of baghad with walls of demarcation is simply foolsplay. the bush administration is hell bent on proving that it weather the storm in iraq. but it's divide and conquer approach is counterd by the best judgements in iraq including the leader of the govt. one cannot simply section off baghdad any more than one can fully seal the borders of iraq as a whole. once we have left the iraqis will be left to their own devices in terms of whether or not they themselves deem it prudent to come to terms with eachother and unify their country to the best of their abilities. it is also safe to say that iraq will never again be the country the last half of the twentieth century has known. it is important for one to remember what it was prior to the treaty of versaille which is the root of the problems that we see today in the middle east. secularism will never replace religious loyalties in the middle east no matter how much we wish it to be so. the present showdown in turkey, i believe will strengthen this reality. the u.s. is fading fast in the longterm race for influence in the near and middle east(see lebanon).

They cannot even protect the Green Zone, as the bomb in the Parliament reminded the world....but they broke it and they own it! Cannot do it on the cheap!

The whole thing is ridiculous. The military went in under false pretences, but they accomplished their mission. Sadam is gone. And now the military is trying to make peace in the region..........doesn't this seem just a little ironic? Its not enough that a predominantly christian nation is trying to broker peace between two muslim sects and the kurds, but to try and make this peace they are using the military. What's the old saying? Fighting for peace is like..........