Quote:
Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Seems to be going a hell of a lot better since we entered Fallujah, no?
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Um, no.
Look, there's no question that if we choose to take back a city like Fallujah, we can do it. But we don't have enough troops to hold what we take, and the insurgents are -- cleverly enough -- focusing their attacks on the Iraqi forces, such as they are. The Iraqi police and military cannot stand up to the insurgents, and so the Iraqi government is completely dependant on us. Entering Fallujah did not change this, as confirm by the insurgent activity around the rest of the country during and since then. How long have we been there, and we can't even protect traffic on the road to the airport?
Democracy is a pipe dream right now. We're not even close to that point. The problem now is establishing a government with some sort of legitimacy and authority. There is no legitimacy because Iraqis quite rightly understand that we are calling the shots (e.g., with Bush's announcement that the January elections would go forward). There is no authority because the police cannot establish rule of law, etc.
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