politics for the 99%

Published on International Affairs Forum, by Dr. Erik Lindell, Sept 24, 2014.

The “who lost Iraq” blame game has begun in earnest. Conservatives have attacked the Obama Administration for withdrawing all U.S. forces from Iraq at the end of 2011. It was premature, they argue, and contend that the current mess in Iraq, with the terrorist group ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) now taking control of Mosul and other cities in Northern Iraq, is attributable to this disastrous decision by the President.[1] With no American troops left after 2011 the political leverage of the U.S. diminished accordingly, leaving free -for- all sectarian clashes in its wake. Senator John McCain has been the most vocal critic of the President on this point, even claiming that the war had been “won” until the Obama Administration foolishly pulled all the troops out.  

The President’s supporters, on the other hand, point out that the Obama Administration’s hands were tied politically, as the withdrawal timetable was set by the Security Agreement signed by President Bush with the Maliki Government in 2008. President Obama tried to negotiate a new agreement that would have left a residual military force, they continue, but neither the Maliki government nor the Iraqi parliament would agree to legal immunity for American troops. This was the deal breaker as neither the U.S. military nor the Obama Administration was willing to leave American troops in Iraq without legal protection from the politicized Iraqi judicial system … //

… Finally, whatever transpires in Iraq as the war with ISIS heats up, it is safe to say that the failure of the Obama Administration to secure a SOFA with Iraq in 2011 will, in the long term, amount to little more than a footnote in the history of America’s ill-conceived intervention in Iraq. The attempt by the critics of the Obama Administration to elevate the strategic significance of this failed diplomatic initiative, and to find in it the seeds of Iraq’s current disintegration, is both exaggerated and politically self-serving. For the current problems in Iraq are due to the failure of the Maliki regime to share power with the Sunnis combined with the civil war in neighboring Syria that spilled into Iraq. The Maliki Government, in turn, created fertile political soil for ISIS to take root among disaffected Iraqi Sunnis. A SOFA and a residual U.S. troop presence would hardly have been sufficient to alter this unfortunate course of events … //

… (full text and notes)).

(Erik Lindell is a Political Scientist (Ph.D. in International Relations) and former academic, having taught at several colleges and universities in New York State, both full time and as an adjunct. He currently performs freelance writing and research).

Related Links:

• Apocalypse Now, Iraq Edition, on TNet (first on Tom Dispatch http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175898/ ), by Peter Van Buren, Sept 24, 2014;
• Syria airstrikes the beginning of campaign against expanding terror threat, on Brattleboro Reformer, Sept 24, 2014: A man (Gen. Lloyd Austin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Austin ) who was once described as an “invisible general” who holds master’s degrees in both education and business management is in charge of the military operations against the jihadist group Islamic State and the al-Qaeda franchise Khorasan in Syria and Iraq …;
• Meet The ‘Invisible General’ Leading The War On ISIS, on Business Insider Australia, by Hunter Walker, Sept 24, 2014;
• New US-led airstrikes hit Syrian territory – monitor, on Russia Today RT, Sept 24, 2014;
• Bought with Blood, on The Dartmouth, by WILLIAM PETERS, Sept 23, 2014: What has more value, an American life or an Iraqi life? Would you prefer to see more Americans die in order to see fewer Iraqis slain, or would you rather see our troops come home and let Iraq deal with its own issues? …;
• My Voice: Islamic State strategy good for now, on Argus Leader, by Jim Erickson, Sept 23, 2014;
• Afghan Resolution: A shaky power-sharing deal in Kabul is better than the alternatives, on WSJ, Sept 22, 2014;
• How the US, its allies, and its enemies all made ISIS possible, on VOX, by Zack Beauchamp, Aug 25, 2014;

Other Links:

Find: written by Kashi N Pandita:

on International Affairs Forum, Sept 24, 2014:

• Calling Off High Level Meeting;
• Other Side of the Coin;
• Bi-polarity of Afghan peace talks;
• India-Pakistan Detente: Positive Note;

and on Geopolitical Analysis:

• Pak restructuring regional strategy, Sept 24, 2014;
• Jihad on way to India, Sept 6, 2014;

Movie Review: Last Days in Vietnam, on East Bay Express, by Kelly Vance, Sept 24, 2014: Rory Kennedy’s excellent documentary Last Days in Vietnam arrives in theaters at an opportune time… (and go to YouTube-search);

Ferguson: Chronicle of an Insurrection, on Dissident Voice, by subMedia / September 22, 2014;

The Student Debt Regime, on Dissident Voice, by Nicholas Smaligo and James Anderson, Sept 22, 2014;

What sex and birth look like through an MRI machine, on VOX, by Joss Fong, Sept 22, 2014;

… and this – Karunesh:

• Audio. Dervish Dream, 5.55 min, uploaded by AisaNela, Oct 10, 2012;
• Siddhartha, 9.14 min, uploaded by jorge lopes, Jan 7, 2010;
• Moon Temple, 5.47 min, uploaded by myzig, Oct 13, 2008;
• Sahara Sunset, 5.45 min, uploaded by xEgale999999x, July 17, 2008;
• Monsoon’s Dance, 6.52 min, uploaded by Murat Ozbardakci, Mai 19, 2008;
• Heart Chakra Meditation, 6.24 min, uploaded by makhfii, Jan 3, 2008;
• Endless skies, 5.36 min, uploaded by a phiêui phiêu, Nov 2, 2007.