Sharp Debate, and a Defection - washingtonpost.com

Sharp Debate, and a Defection - washingtonpost.com

As all of these damned Republican rats now jumping off the sinking Iraq ship to attempt to save themselves, and as the incompetents in the Bush administration, W. chief among them, warn of what will happen and agonize over the looming tragedy in Iraq, allow Undismayed to calm the roiled waters and remind you what we have long advocated: a clear solution to the ratfuck.

Let the Iraqis kill each other until they settle it out. Let the civil war Bush (channeling Buchanan) claims does not exists be fought. Why should we lose American lives to stop them from killing each other? If the Saudis don't like , let them send their wayward sons there to die.

Now, if you have a good memory, you may recall when Undismayed was extremely distressed by the situation in Yugoslavia when the breakup of that country was leading to the murder of Bosnian muslims by Serbs. Why is the break-up of Iraq different? Because all sides of the Iraqi war are murderous. There are no victims there, except the innocent civilians who are being killed by their countrymen. However, if we don;t give a shoit about the Sudanese, the Congolese, or any other of the millions of people unfortunate enough to be part of such violent states, why should we Americans allow our youth to be killed in defense of a country that seeks to destroy itself? The victims for so long, the Shiites, are now first among the mass murderers. We can wash our hands of the mess and let them kill each other until they are done.

We obviously can't leave the Middle East entirely. But we sure can stop trying to construct a nation in Iraq. An isolated and contained failed state will not concern us. We must, of course keep some troops in US-friendly Kurdistan, making damn sure to seize at least the Kirkuk oil fields so that close-to-democratic nation has a chance to survive.