"The “surge” of 2007-2008 reduced violence by 90 percent and set Iraq on
track to become a functional democracy. Alas, President Obama did not
show much commitment to negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement that
would have kept American forces there past 2011. The result is that U.S.
influence in Iraq has plummeted while Iranian influence has soared.
Left to his own devices, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is acting in
increasingly sectarian fashion that is alienating the Sunnis and
allowing al-Qaeda in Iraq—virtually defeated by 2009—to spring back to
life. In short, we have managed to squander many of the gains that U.S.
troops fought so hard to achieve during the long, bloody years of war." [Max Boot]
No comments:
Post a Comment