Foreign Policy Commentary Iraq News Update July 24, 2007

U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ SUMS UP ATMOSPHERE ON THE GROUND: 'FEAR': BEFORE A
WAR-WEARY SENATE YESTERDAY, AMBASSADOR RYAN CROCKER GAVE A CANDID ASSESSMENT OF
THE SECURITY SITUATION IN IRAQ, BUT DOWNPLAYED THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE IRAQI
GOVERNMENT'S POOR PROGRESS ON MEETING CONGRESSIONALLY MANDATED BENCHMARKS -
JONATHAN STEIN (MOTHER JONES, JULY 20)
http://www.motherjones.com/cgi-bin/print_article.pl?url=http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2007/07/crocker_iraq_ambassador.html
EVEN TIME HEALS NOTHING: BUSH'S WAR POLICY - RAMZY BAROUD (COUNTERPUMCH,
JULY 20): It's too obvious that the US policies in Iraq have failed beyond
repair. That failure wouldn't be of too much consequence if it were not for the
fact that hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis have paid the price.
http://www.counterpunch.org/baroud07202007.html

THE CONQUEST OF AMERICA BY IRAQ DOUG BANDOW (ANTIWAR.COM, JULY 20):
Unfortunately, the war is doing more than just expose America's sinful soul. The
war is further corrupting the essence of America. Barbarity and brutality are
inevitable in any conflict, of course -- which is another good reason to always
make war a last resort -- but today a disturbing number of American troops
appear to routinely treat Iraqis as an enemy other, deserving little or no
respect.
http://www.antiwar.com/bandow/?articleid=11314

ENVOY URGES VISAS FOR IRAQIS AIDING U.S.: TARGETS OF VIOLENCE ARE SEEKING
REFUGE - SPENCER S. HSU (WASHINGTON POST, JULY 22): The American ambassador in
Baghdad, Ryan C. Crocker, has asked the Bush administration to take the unusual
step of granting immigrant visas to all Iraqis employed by the U.S. government
in Iraq because of growing concern that they will quit and flee the country if
they cannot be assured eventual safe passage to the United States.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072101359.html?hpid=topnews

THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE: LEAVING IRAQ WITH DIGNITY, COMPASSION AND IRAQI
EMPLOYEES PATRICIA H. KUSHLIS (WHIRLED VIEW, JULY 22): Given America's poor
track record on the taking-care-of-those-who-work-for-us front, it's no wonder
that current Iraqi employees of the U.S. government now demand assurances for
the afterwards. They and their families will need to depart Iraq to survive. The
US government on its part has a moral obligation to help them resettle elsewhere
-- most likely the U.S.
http://whirledview.typepad.com/whirledview/2007/07/thinking-the-un.html

AN IRAQI'S PROGRESS REPORT: BAGHDAD'S NATIONAL SECURITY CHIEF LISTS THE
ADVANCES AND ARGUES FOR MORE TIME - MOWAFFAK RUBAIE (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JULY
21): The military force increase by the United States called "the surge" is only
one element in the Iraqi and coalition strategy. The other elements are the
political/diplomatic initiatives and economic progress -- and the reality is
that the strategy is working in spite of the monumental obstacles presented by
international terrorists and difficult conditions inside Iraq.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-rubaie21jul21,0,4739661.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

SURGE PRODUCING RESULTS - DONALD LAMBRO (WASHINGTON TIMES, JULY 23):
American and Iraqi forces have cleared several terrorist-infested areas,
including Anbar Province. Large swaths of Baghdad have also been made safer as a
result of the surge of U.S. troops.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070723/COMMENTARY05/107230018/1012/COMMENTARY&template=printart

THE IRAQ WAR DEBATE: THE GREAT DENIER EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 21):
It is Mr. Bush who has denied the military what it needs, first by shortchanging
the Pentagon on troops and armor and then by stranding American forces in a
civil war with no achievable military goal and evaporating political support.
Mr. Bush denied Americans a serious debate about starting this war. It?s far
past time for a serious and honest debate about how to end it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/21/opinion/21sat1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

THEY DON'T REALLY SUPPORT THE TROOPS: THE LATEST FROM THE NEW REPUBLIC AND
THE NATION - WILLIAM KRISTOL (WEEKLY STANDARD, JULY 30): Having turned against a
war that some of them supported, the left is now turning against the troops they
claim still to support. They sense that history is progressing away from them --
that these soldiers, fighting courageously in a just cause, could still win the
war, that they are proud of their service, and that they will be future leaders
of this country. They are not "Shock Troops."
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/901rhkhq.asp
SEE ALSO
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/891gxtcb.asp

IRAQ: THE WAY TO GO - PETER W. GALBRAITH (NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS, AUGUST
28): We need to recognize that Iraq no longer exists as a unified country. In
the parts where we can accomplish nothing, we should withdraw. But there are
still three missions that may be achievable -- disrupting al-Qaeda, preserving
Kurdistan's democracy, and limiting Iran's increasing domination. These can all
be served by a modest US presence in Kurdistan.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20470

ORDER IS IN ORDER: THE ARAB WORLD DOESN'T HAVE A GREAT GRASP OF WHAT
DEMOCRACY IS, BUT IT DOES HAVE A KEEN SENSE OF JUSTICE AND ORDER - JONAH
GOLDBERG (NATIONAL REVIEW, JULY 20): In Iraq, security isn?t merely the most
important thing, it?s the only thing.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTA3Mjc1ODg4MWM1ZjIzYjg2ZDRjNmE2YzFjYTU5YTA=

THE IRAQ WAR DEBATE: A REALITY CHECK ON MILITARY SPENDING EDITORIAL (NEW
YORK TIMES, JULY 21): Defending Americans from today?s terrorists and other
threats will require fewer air-to-air combat jets, big stealthy ships and
submarines. It will require better-protected ground troops and larger
investments in diplomacy, peacemaking and eliminating dangerous nuclear
materials.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/21/opinion/21sat2.html?pagewanted=print

US AIRSTRIKE KILLS 15 CHILDREN, WOMEN, MEN JUAN COLE (INFORMED COMMENT :
THOUGHTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST, HISTORY, AND RELIGION, JULY 22): 'Tim Phelps of
Newsday interviews academic Iraq experts and finds that they generally agree
that a precipitate US military withdrawal will throw Iraq into catastrophic
violence with bad effects for Iraqis and for the world. I am the dissenter among
them in this article, but I agree that the risks are substantial if the
withdrawal is not done right. I completely disagree, however, with the scenario
where "al-Qaeda" takes over anything in Iraq. If by this is meant the few
hundred Sunni Arab volunteers of a Salafi Jihadi persuasion, the Iraqis would
slit their throats and the country's neighbors would help.'
http://www.juancole.com/2007/07/us-airstrike-kills-15-children-women.html

THIS IS HOW EMPIRES END - PATRICK J. BUCHANAN (ANTIWAR.COM, JULY 20): With a
U.S. defeat in Iraq, U.S. prestige would plummet across the region. Who will
rely on a U.S. commitment for its security? Like the British and French before
us, we will be heading home from the Middle East. What we are about to witness
is how empires end.
http://www.antiwar.com/pat/?articleid=11319

RIPPLES OF RETREAT: DARK PREDICTIONS FOR A POST-WITHDRAWAL WORLD - VICTOR
DAVIS HANSON (NATIONAL REVIEW, JULY 20): It is not easy securing Iraq, but if we
decide to quit and ?redeploy,? Americans should at least accept that the effort
to stabilize Iraq was a crushing military defeat, that our generation
established a precedent of withdrawing an entire army group from combat
operations on the battlefield, and that the consequences will be better known
even to our enemies than they are to us.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTM2NGNmMTFjMTM4MTg4ZGRiNmU1M2FmOWZiMjMyMTY=

TOMGRAM: IRA CHERNUS, DEMOCRATIC DOUBLESPEAK ON IRAQ TOM ENGELHARDT
(TOMDISPATCH, JULY 22): Withdrawal isn't withdrawal at all.
http://tomdispatch.com/post/174823/ira_chernus_democratic_doublespeak_on_iraq

IRAQ HASN'T EVEN BEGUN: CONSEQUENCES FROM THE DISASTER WE COULD HAVE AVOIDED
WILL PLAGUE THE WORLD LONG INTO THE FUTURE - TIMOTHY GARTON ASH (LOS ANGELES
TIMES, JULY 19/COMMON DREAMS): The U.S. has probably not yet fully woken up to
the appalling fact that, after a long period in which the first motto of its
military was 'no more Vietnams,' it faces another Vietnam. There are many
important differences, but the basic result is similar: The mightiest military
in the world fails to achieve its strategic goals and is, in the end,
politically defeated by an economically and technologically inferior adversary.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/19/2630/

"ALL OF THE PROBLEMS COME FROM THE OCCUPATION": IRAQIS WILL BE THE DECIDERS
- MARJORIE COHN (COUNTERPUNCH, JULY 20): Our national discourse must include a
discussion of U.S. intentions for Iraq after a troop withdrawal. But ultimately,
as in Vietnam, it will be the Iraqi people who are the deciders.
http://www.counterpunch.org/cohn07202007.html

VIETNAM AND IRAQ: A TWICE-TOLD TALE; AGAIN, WE DID KNOW BETTER ? RON GLASSER
(HUFFINGTON POST, JULY 23): History shows that when wars are badly begun, the
errors and problems accumulate. It takes extraordinary leadership -- Lincoln
during our civil war -- to overcome a bad beginning. For those who still refuse
to connect the two wars, it is here, unarguably, that Vietnam and Iraq are
exactly alike.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-glasser/vietnam-and-iraq-a-twice_b_57428.html

IRAQ ISN'T VIETNAM, HENRY - MAX BOOT (LOS ANGELES TIMES, JULY 22): If any
previous model of peacemaking applies to Iraq (and that's a big if), the one we
should look at is Korea. President Eisenhower concluded a lasting armistice in
1953 because he made clear that U.S. troops would stay in South Korea until
kingdom come -- and even threatened to escalate the conflict with atomic weapons
if necessary.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-boot22jul22,0,515437.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

HOW TO WIN IN IRAQ - WILLIAM S. LIND (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, JULY 30):
Rapprochement with Iran and neutrality toward Iraq?s Shi?ites is the only way
America might yet salvage victory.
http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_07_16/article1.html
ENTRY FROM
http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_07_16/article1.html