ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style6 { height: 69px; } h2 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style7 { width: 285px; } .style8 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr> <td height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style7"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140" class="style6"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" class="style6"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td height="2" class="style7"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">U.S. Combat Operations End in Iraq</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curt</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>is<a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright August 22, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="style8">W</span>hen former President George W. Bush decided to topple Saddam Hussein March 20, 2003, his administration, led by former Vice President Dick Cheney, made a compelling national security argument:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>In the wake of Sept. 11, the U.S. could no longer tolerate threats by the Iraqi dictator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>U.N. Chief Weapons inspector Dr. Hans Blix begged the U.S. to hold off, telling the White House Saddam possessed no weapons of mass destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Secretary of State Colin L. Powell made a convincing case to the U.N. Feb. 2, 2003 about Iraq s biological and nuclear weapons capability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His  compelling intel was based on cherry-picked data from the Pentagon s Office of Special Plans, run by fellow neocon Douglas Feith Jr., now a Georgetown professor in international relations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>One trillion dollars later and 4,417 dead Americans, President Barack Obama finally ended combat operations.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>U.S. military strength peaked during Bush s  troop surge at 170,000 and will draw down through 2011 to 50,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bush and Cheney warned repeatedly of an al-Qaeda takeover in Iraq, if the U.S. scaled back military operations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since Barack took office Jan. 20, 2009, Iraq combat operations has ratcheted down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While Barack made good on a campaign promise to end combat operations, he escalated the Afghan war by over 50,000 troops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>U.S. Iraq casualty rates have steadily declined from a 2007 peak of 961 to 150 in 2010.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Not surprisingly, death rates have escalated five fold in Afghanistan to 451 in 2010, the highest levels of the nearly nine-year old conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We don t see that happening, said Iraq commander Gen Ray Odierno, asked whether U.S. combat operations could resume in Iraq.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bush and Cheney s predictions of an al-Qaeda takeover never took place.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Suicide bombings by rival Sunni and Shiite groups in Iraq continue, regardless of the end to U.S. combat operations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Iraq s U.S.-backed government of Nouri al-Maliki no longer has a popular mandate after losing elections Aug. 4, 2010 to rival Dr. Ayad Allawi, a moderate Shiite politician.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Al-Maliki has refused to give up power, whose powerful alliance with exiled Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his 10,000-plus al-Mahdi militia cements his grip on power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Installing Allawi s parliament would potentially cause Shiite civil war, with al-Maliki refusing to surrender power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It s most ironic that al-Maliki s government has close ties to Iran s Shiites loyal to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahamadinejad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Gen. Odierno credits Iraq s improved security to Iraq s new security forces when, in fact, it s due to al-Maliki s reliance on al-Sadr s al-Mahdi army.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Obama administration officials worry privately about al-Maliki s refusal to surrender power to Allawi and form a new parliament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We will have an enduring relationship of having some military presence in Iraq.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I think that would be smart not to let thing unwind over the next three to five years, said Sen. Lindsay O. Graham (R-S.C.) ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Odierno views democracy as the ultimate standard of Iraq s success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> A strong democratic Iraq will bring stability to the Middle East, and if we see Iraq that s moving toward that, two, three, five years form now, I think we can call our operations a success, said Odierno.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What Odierno doesn t get is that the same  democratic Iraq could vote in Islamic militants, much the same way Palestinians voted in Hamas Jan. 27, 2006.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Democracy has a double-edged sword in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>Bush promised he would not use the U.S. military for nation-building, or determining a U.S.-friendly government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His decision to invade Iraq at great expense to U.S. blood and treasure complicates the ultimate outcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Spreading the military too thin or breaking the U.S. treasury can hardly be regarded as a successful operation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Odierno insists that Iran continues to meddle in Iraq s internal affairs, funding and supplying weapons to insurgents fighting U.S. occupation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Odierno won t come clean that the Iraqi government of al-Maliki has loyalty and ties to Iran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Odierno sees Iran as meddling when, indeed, al-Maliki has cut deals with Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Khamenei.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> They don t want to see Iraq turn into a strong democratic country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>They d rather see it become a weak governmental institution, said Odierno, ignoring al-Maliki s close relationship with Tehran.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Ending combat operations in Iraq is long overdue when you consider the costly toll on U.S. troops and tax dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bush s original premise for going to war was built on cherry-picked intel about Saddam s alleged arsenal of WMD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Once it was determined that wasn t a threat to U.S. national security, Bush should have pivoted out of Iraq at the earliest possible time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Instead he ignored Afghanistan and wasted untold U.S. resources chasing an imaginary enemy responsible for Sept. 11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Democratizing Iraq would surely result, like in Gaza, with a more radical Islamic regime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Continuing to support al-Maliki only makes Iraq s post-Saddam transition more complicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Most Iraqis picked Allawi over al-Maliki precisely because of his independence from Iran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Supporting al-Maliki now proves the U.S. doesn t really support democracy only the government most easily controlled by the U.S.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style7"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td height="1" class="style7"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>