Post #273,612
11/21/06 6:33:43 AM
11/21/06 6:36:41 AM
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Iraq's white-collar crime
[link|http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/11/20/cole_kidnapping/index.html?source=newsletter| Salon] The recent kidnapping of Iraqi professionals, and ongoing murder of doctors and teachers, are devastating the country's recovery.
By Juan Cole
Nov. 20, 2006 | Iraq's ramshackle institutions inched closer to collapse last week when militiamen raided the Ministry of Higher Education and kidnapped as many as 140 people who happened to be inside. The Sunni Arab Higher Education minister threatened to close his own ministry, as well as the country's universities, if the hostages were not released.
In the United States, the incident immediately became fodder for those who think the answer to the chaos in Iraq is more American boots on the ground. When Gen. John Abizaid testified before the Senate on Wednesday that the current U.S. troop level is adequate, Sen. John McCain referred to the mass abduction as evidence that more troops are needed.
But within Iraq, the incident is yet more evidence of the pressures on the country's secular elite and professional class, and the disintegration of the institutions they used to run. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees recently estimated that as many as 3,000 Iraqis, largely Sunnis and Christians, emigrate to Jordan and Syria every day to escape the killings and kidnappings. Those who can most easily afford to leave are middle-class workers and professionals, and medical care and education are suffering as a result. Louise Roug of the Los Angeles Times reported last week that the Iraqi health system is collapsing, with a lack of physicians among the major problems. Without its professional class, Iraq has little hope of long-term recovery.
[Etc. Etc. Etc.] PS - ie [link|http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2006/11/20/tomo/index1.html| Tom Tomorrow's excellent solution] - in keeping with the fantasies we've shown that most Prefer..
Edited by Ashton
Nov. 21, 2006, 06:36:41 AM EST
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Post #273,648
11/22/06 12:01:33 AM
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Best solution?
Let's examine a pullout. Think about all the sources of violence and what would happen. - Violence directed against Americans -- Fewer Americans, fewer targets, less violence.
- Violence directed against Iraqis seen to be working with/for Americans -- Fewer Americans, less reason to believe Iraqis are working with them, less violence.
- Sectarian violence against Iraqis by out-of-state players -- Unless we plan on patroling the border indefinitely this doesn't change without a political solution, so the absence of troops won't make a difference.
- Iraqi-on-Iraqi sectarian violence -- I don't think we're currently stopping much of it anyway, so I don't see much increase there.
So what is it that would be so bad if we left? </advocate type="devil's"> ===
Kip Hawley is still an idiot.
===
Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #273,660
11/22/06 8:02:47 AM
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Dunno.
When the US "pulls out", assuming things are little changed from the current conditions, I expect the Green Zone will either become an even more fortified bunker, or that it will be over-run quite frequently by shelling and car bombings. Without the appearance of a government there, it's hard to see things doing anything but spiraling faster down the toilet. Locking down Baghdad can stop the car bombs, but it can't be done for long or the city will quit functioning.
I don't see a simple solution. If we (the US and International Community) sent in 400,000 more troops, then presumably Baghdad could be pacified. But for how long? How would it help solve the problem of developing a capable military and police force that isn't tied to the militias? Until the ties to the militias are addressed, it seems hopeless.
I do think that violence will get worse once we leave. The Iraqis depend on us for logistics and they don't have an air force. Without those things, it's hard to see how they can keep the country together when so many want to kill the others.
I fear that no matter what we do, things will get much worse in Iraq. I wonder whether there will be pieces worth putting back together by the time it's done. It's unfortunate that it's so much easier to destroy things than to build them in the first place.
:-(
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #273,694
11/22/06 1:01:04 PM
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Best solution is obvious.
Don't go in in the first place.
Since that's no longer a probablity, the next best is: instead of building a fence along the Mexican border, build it around Iraq - and don't go back in until the noise stops.
Otherwise, break it up into Kurdestan, West Iran and East Syria and let those three parties worry about it.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #273,681
11/22/06 10:31:16 AM
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Re: Best solution?
I think a good idea of what would happen can be estimated by looking at [link|http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/beyond/etc/map.html|this map] and comparing it with [link|http://www.srpska-mreza.com/MAPS/Ethnic-groups/map-State-Dept.html|this map]. Hey, it worked in Yugoslavia...
Just a few thoughts,
Danno
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Post #273,650
11/22/06 12:12:21 AM
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sounds like russia's first years under yeltsin
professional class under seige from the criminal class lately followed by direct government involvement in the rippoffs.
Das Kriminal appears to work in the Islamic world as well. Must be a universal rule. Wanna meet up next week and see how much we could get for Rush, Oprah and Richards?
thanx,
bill
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 50 years. meep
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