by Nicholas Beaudrot of Electoral Math
Via THE NEWS BLOG, and J. Bradford DeLong, more evidence that things in Iraq are really, really, really bad, and the US military presence is unwilling and/or unable to take decisive action to stop the madness. As Gilliard writes, Sadr has played his hand; upping the level of violence, wedging Maliki by threatening a walkout if he meets with Bush, and, well, taking over the state television station.
If we were being impolite, the word we would use is coup.
Let's all say it together: if the US isn't willing and/or able to provide meaningful security (able because our troop presence is too low; willing because taking any side in a Sunni-Shiite conflict will have repercussions in our dealings with other Arab nations), there's no point to having a conspicuous military presence there, and we should declare a draw and go home, ponies be damned. It's time to negotiate with neighboring countries to minimize their interference. Accomplishing anything more than that at this point is fantasy.
