Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was quick to respond when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggested in a recent interview with Fareed Zakaria that Iran would be willing to train Iraqi troops after American forces leave.
We have bases and allies in the region, she blustered. Iran should think twice before it makes any plans to train Iraqi soldiers.
I thought it was the silliest statement I've heard a Secretary of State make since Condoleezza Rice stated that Sunnis and Shias needed to resolve their 1400 year old conflict by just "getting over it". Actually she was correct - they do - but to base American foreign policy on the hopes that they would was insane.
I understand that Secretaries of State are not allowed to think creatively and speak independently. If they want to keep their jobs they can only say things the Boss will approve. But the reality is that Iraq is now an independent Shia-majority nation and Iran is its closest ally. There is nothing America can do - except bluster - if it invites Iranian soldiers to train its own. America handed Iraq to Iran eight years ago on a silver platter and Iranian influence is now entrenched from Basrah to Beirut. Now is the time to experience the results.
We have bases and allies in the region, she blustered. Iran should think twice before it makes any plans to train Iraqi soldiers.
I thought it was the silliest statement I've heard a Secretary of State make since Condoleezza Rice stated that Sunnis and Shias needed to resolve their 1400 year old conflict by just "getting over it". Actually she was correct - they do - but to base American foreign policy on the hopes that they would was insane.
I understand that Secretaries of State are not allowed to think creatively and speak independently. If they want to keep their jobs they can only say things the Boss will approve. But the reality is that Iraq is now an independent Shia-majority nation and Iran is its closest ally. There is nothing America can do - except bluster - if it invites Iranian soldiers to train its own. America handed Iraq to Iran eight years ago on a silver platter and Iranian influence is now entrenched from Basrah to Beirut. Now is the time to experience the results.
3 comments:
interesting thoughts!
And now, a word from Howard Zinn...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL7D436C9050D89E09
The question should be why Iraq was not split three ways after the "liberation", even the Ottomans recognised the violent differences between Kurds, Shias and Sunnis and managed it as three provinces.
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