Sunday, June 29, 2014

Can I Buy A Vowel?

I think this video is a pretty good attempt to explain the bad chemistry that created  the present situation in Iraq. If you are an expert, you might say it over simplifies things a bit, but for someone who needs to comprehend the basic events that led to this ongoing catastrophe, to explain how we got involved, wasted trillions of dollars and the tragic loss of lives, the displacement of millions of people and then be forced to watch as it all turns to shit, this is pretty good little piece. When Bill Clinton was interviewed on NBC by David Gregory and asked about Dick Cheney's non stop criticism of the Obama administration, he nailed it as a pathetic attempt to deflect the real person to blame. CHENEY!
Clinton replied to Gregory, “Well, I believe, you know, if they hadn’t gone to war in Iraq, none of this would be happening…Well, it might be happening in Syria, but what happened in Syria wouldn’t have happened in Iraq. Iraq would not have been, in effect, altered as it has been, but Mr. Cheney has been incredibly adroit for the last six years or so attacking the administration for not doing an adequate job of cleaning up the mess that he made. And I think it’s unseemly. And I give President Bush, by the way, a lot of credit for trying to stay out of this debate and letting other people work through it.”
The video I posted above illustrates the complex situation and refers to the reality that Iran and the USA might have to become strategic allies in this situation. This was even made more complex today as Vladimir Putin sent Russian personnel and Russian war planes to Iraq, in an explicit rebuke to the United States, to assist in the air ware against ISIS. The United States has on paper, 300 military advisors in Iraq and is sending drones...over 1,000,000 Iraqis have been displaced again, and the USA is faced with having to ally itself with Syria's Assad, Vladimir Putin and Ayatollah Khamenei of Iraq against a Saudi financed and backed Sunni Moslem terrorist army that even Al Qaeda has disowned.
I'd like to explain some of Cheney's and the Neo Con illogic that created this shitstorm, but I think I need the help of Vanna White. Here is a piece I wrote a few years ago in which I prove how Cheney's Iraqi/Al Qaeda connection was sort of  right, because he was totally wrong........

3 comments:

bj said...

When I first heard Mr. Obama was sending 300 Special Ops to Iraq I thought "There's probably more that that already there ... and if they'll tell us publicly they're sending 300 packs/w/weapons then more than likely three or four times as many are going(or are there)." And let's not kid ourselves about how many DRONES are ever circling the region, either. I still cannot understand (you gotta live it, I reckon) what the Saudis hoped to gain from initially fomenting and funding instability in their own backyard in the first place. I DO understand the concept of the few suppressing the many ... and the inevitable result. "Is ye lissnin' 1%ers?"
I can see this becoming Obama's War if he isn't very careful.
At any rate ... I expect the Tea Party's explanation of whether my President is Sunni or Shia any day now .....
Thanks for your tireless (obsessive?) research on this ... and so many subjects ... it really helps enlighten me to true facts.
Ain't NObody over here bad mouthin' the Saudis, that's a fact!

microdot said...

when I found this video, I was blown away by the comments from sunnis and shiites from all over the world. most were disassociating themselves from militant Islam, but the animosity between the groups, world wide was very apparent.

squatlo said...

Trying to compress that mess into a cute little five minute video would be a lot like trying to explain American baseball to an alien. It's complicated.

But I appreciate the fact that these folks have (at least) tried to point out how our imperialist meddling caused the current crisis. Not that we'll learn from this colossal mistake, mind you, but it's nice to have it summed up in a little animated video.