Friday, October 05, 2007

How To Win In Iraq - Get Out!


Iraq Struggles With Cholera Outbreak
By KATARINA KRATOVAC

BAGHDAD (AP) — Majida Hamid Ibrahim seemed no different from any
other victim in Iraq — her body was put in a plastic bag and sent to the morgue
for relatives to collect. But authorities were already bemoaning her
death.

Just days before, the 40-year-old woman from Baghdad's southern
outskirts became the first confirmed cholera case in the Iraqi capital from an
outbreak spreading around the country. The World Health Organization has
confirmed more than 3,300 cholera cases in Iraq and at least 14 deaths from the
acute and rapid dehydration it causes. ...

... Cholera can be controlled by treating drinking water with chlorine. But
authorities want to keep tight controls on chlorine supplies after extremists
earlier this year placed chlorine tanks on suicide truck bombs, killing some two
dozen people in several attacks and sending noxious clouds that left hundreds of
panicked people gasping for breath. ... (full article)


The population and infrastructure of Iraq is attacked by 'Al Qaeda in Iraq' terrorists not insurgents who want to drive out U.S. occupation troops. 'Al Qaeda in Iraq' wants the U.S. to remain in Iraq; the presence of U.S. troops is what brings recruits into 'Al Qaeda in Iraq'. If the U.S. withdraws combat troops from Iraq, local support would evaporate and Iraqi's would wipe out 'Al Qaeda in Iraq'.

Only a U.S. Withdrawal Will Stop Al Qaeda in Iraq
By Raed Jarrar and Joshua Holland, AlterNetPosted on October 5, 2007, Printed on October 5, 2007http://www.alternet.org/story/64429/


One of the last justifications for continuing the U.S. occupation of Iraq
despite overwhelming opposition fromIraqis, Americans and the rest of
humanity
has come down to this: U.S. forces must remain in order to battle
"al Qaeda in Iraq."

Like so many of the arguments presented in the United States, the idea is not only intellectually bankrupt, it's also the 180-degree opposite of reality. The truth of the matter is that only the presence of U.S. forces allows the group called "al Qaeda in Iraq" (AQI) to survive and function, and setting a timetable for the occupation to end is the best way to beat them. You won't hear that perspective in Washington, but according to Iraqis with whom we spoke, it is the conventional wisdom in much of the country. ... (full article)


All that wingnut talk about 'fighting them over there' is garbage. "Al Qaeda in Iraq" isn't the real "Al Qaeda" and the real "Al Qaeda" is alive and well in Pakistan. Go read What War on Terrorism? » by counter-terrorism expert Larry Johnson to get some real information about how to defeat a terrorist movement.

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