generalspeaking

Hail And Farewell

It's official, the U.S. troop withdrawal is soon to commence, with the new year. Draw-down in Iraq, boot-up in Afghanistan. Odd, that reversal of the original invasion. History most certainly does tend to repeat itself and that, of course, is because history is driven by and recorded through the auspices of men of whom posterity takes little notice.

Invasion of Persia and of Kabulistan; why that's been happening for millennia...

But there it is, the initial withdrawal agenda, leaving Iraqis free to get on with their lives, to take charge of their destiny, to formulate national policies equally representative of the civil rights of all its peoples, Shia, Sunni, Kurds, along with the minor, perpetually-overlooked minority tribes.

Even, let us not forget that they exist there, Christian Iraqis.

The current Shia-dominated administration - ruling over the minority Sunni who had, under Saddam, been dominant and privileged - have assured their minorities of even-handed, temperate, moderate, deserving, equal treatment. They are to be recognized as being equally entitled and respected as the Shia majority.

That majority, by the bye, still smarting with enraged, smouldering indignation at the assault on their rights and entitlements through the painful and burdensome Saddam regime. None of that miserable sectarian blood-letting will be countenanced by this regime.

The atrocities brought to Shia and Sunni and Christian neighbourhoods by marauding sectarian militias that scant short time ago represented a regrettable anomaly.

So relax, Brig. Gen. Tarek Abdul Hameed; be assured, Awakening Council leaders. It is the intention of the Shia-led government to honour the vital work of the Sunni militias in restoring peace, restraining the unfettered violence that so utterly blemished the character and intent of the fledgling administration.

Taking over payroll and leadership from the departing Americans, yes, but rest easy; salaries will continue to flow, and the young men of the Sunni Awakening will be slated for absorption into the country's regular forces. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has given his solemn word.

The Awakening members, all 99,000 of them to whom the U.S. military elite credits the failure of al-Qaeda in Iraq, however, must hand in their weapons to government authorities. They may retain their Kalashnikovs, but they may no longer "move freely with their weapons".

Nor may they embark upon arrest procedures "as they did before", when they were encouraged by, and paid by, and trained by the Americans to effect their ultimately successful diminishment of violence and bloodshed, rejecting and battling al-Qaeda.

Iraqis now are left with mixed feelings of angst and insecurity. They've experienced more than enough of bloodshed, privation, and the torment of unrelenting loss, not to mention the disquietingly vicious burden of fear. They're of mixed feelings toward the impending American troop departures, timed and sequential.

a) They'll never leave, loathe to hand over control of the country's oil wealth;
b) They must leave, instantly; not needed or wanted;
c) Americans leave, stability rises, none too soon;
d) Chaos and destruction will follow the American withdrawal...stay awhile longer, much longer.
e) American troops represent protection - from ourselves, from our neighbours. "They are all wolves - the Arabs, the Persians, the Turks."
f) Not yet, not quite yet, please.
g) Time for American troops to leave. I'm going too, to plead for asylum, anywhere that will give me another nationality.

Labels: Middle East, Troublespots, United States

posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, September 24, 2008