Yesterday, I wrote about the Obama Administration pulling all of our troops out of Iraq. Despite the fact that it is not entirely true, it was also recorded that it was not the Obama Administrations choice, but Iraqi Governments decision. Well, this is why and I will let Foreign Policy tell the story, and I will get to the good part:
In July, Panetta urged Iraqi leaders to, “Dammit, make a decision” about the U.S. troop extension. In August, he told reporters that, “My view is that they finally did say, ‘Yes.'” On Oct. 17, he was still pushing for the extension and said, “At the present time I’m not discouraged because we’re still in negotiations with the Iraqis.”
Sullivan was one of 40 conservative foreign policy professionals who wrote to Obama in September to warn that even a residual force of 4,000 troops would “leave the country more vulnerable to internal and external threats, thus imperiling the hard-fought gains in security and governance made in recent years at significant cost to the United States.”
She said that the administration’s negotiating strategy was flawed for a number of reasons: it failed to take into account Iraqi politics, failed to reach out to a broad enough group of Iraqi political leaders, and sent contradictory messages on the troop extension throughout the process.
“From the beginning, the talks unfolded in a way where they largely driven by domestic political concerns, both in Washington and Baghdad. Both sides let politics drive the process, rather than security concerns,” said Sullivan.
As recently as August, Maliki’s office was discussing allowing 8,000 to 20,000 U.S. troops to remain until next year, Iraqi Ambassador Samir Sumaida’ie said in an interview with The Cable. He told us that there was widespread support in Iraq for such an extension, but the Obama administration was demanding that immunity for U.S. troops be endorsed by the Iraqi Council of Representatives, which was never really possible.
Administration sources and Hill staffers also tell The Cable that the demand that the troop immunity go through the Council of Representatives was a decision made by the State Department lawyers and there were other options available to the administration, such as putting the remaining troops on the embassy’s diplomatic rolls, which would automatically give them immunity.
“An obvious fix for troop immunity is to put them all on the diplomatic list; that’s done by notification to the Iraqi foreign ministry,” said one former senior Hill staffer. “If State says that this requires a treaty or a specific agreement by the Iraqi parliament as opposed to a statement by the Iraqi foreign ministry, it has its head up its ass.”
The main Iraqi opposition party Iraqiya, led by former U.S. ally and former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, decided to tie that vote to two non-related issues. It said they would not vote for the troop extension unless Maliki agreed give them control of a high-level policy council and let them choose the minister of defense from their ranks. Maliki wasn’t about to do either.
“It was clear from the beginning that Maliki wasn’t going to make a move without the support of the other parties behind him,” Sullivan explained, adding that the Obama administration focused on Maliki and neglected other actors, such as Allawi. “There was a misunderstanding of how negotiations were unfolding in Iraq. The negotiations got started in earnest far too late.”
“The actions don’t match the words here,” said Sullivan. “It’s in the administration’s interest to make this look not like they failed to reach an agreement and that they fulfilled a campaign promise. But it was very clear that Panetta and [former Defense Secretary Robert] Gates wanted an agreement.”
So what’s the consequence of the failed negotiations? One consequence could be a security vacuum in Iraq that will be filled by Iran.
“It’s particularly troubling because having some sort of presence there would have really facilitated our policy vis-a-vis the Iranians and what’s going on in Syria. The Iranian influence is going up in Iraq,” said Andrew Tabler, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “It makes it harder for us to play our cards, and that’s a real setback. We’ve spent a lot of blood and treasure in Iraq. And these days, stability in that region is not what it used to be.”
So there you have it folks, when Iraq goes to pot and Iran fills that leadership vacuum and starts war with the Saudi’s; and your gas goes over 10 dollars a gallon — you will know who to blame. Let me give you hint, it will not be Bush.
Of course, this points to a President and President Administration that is much in over its head and is clueless of how to deal with the Middle East. Something that we bloggers, who rejected the Democratic Party utopian vision of “Hope and Change” said in 2008, when that floppy eared jack ass mounted the pulpit outside the White House and proceeded to royally butcher the oath of office. We knew it then and we know it now. We will also know it come 2012, when that socialist piece of human excrement leaves the oval office for the last time; when he is totally defeated by someone who actually knows how to be a leader.
Other Blogs: , American Spectator, americanthinker.com and National Review
We should thankful we’re getting out. Nothing since the Vietnam war has damaged this country’s standing in the world as has this misbegotten war. There will be a price to pay, but at least we can move on.
Cek,
I agree to a certain extent. I am not, nor was I ever, especially after the fact that it was revealed that there was no WMD’s in Iraq — happy that we did invade that Country.
Having said that, I am glad that Saddam is out of power and that there are fair elections in that Country. My hope is that Iraq can continue to defend itself after we leave. However, being the realist that I am; I fear the worst and that Iran will invade and overthrow the Government there and start a War with the Saudi’s.
I just hope I am wrong….