![\"Scooter](\"http:\/\/www.mikepellegrini.com\/Graphics\/scooter_in_jail.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Yesterday\u2019s guilty verdict in the trial of Lewis \u201cScooter\u201d Libby for lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice is an important victory for Americans \u2013 after six reckless years of governing with impunity, the Bush administration has finally been held accountable for its criminal actions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Perhaps the tide of their lies has finally started to turn. News reports suggest that President Bush\u2019s much vaunted troop \u201csurge\u2019 is having an effect, quelling the violence in Baghdad. Muqtada al-Sadr and many of the other Shi\u2019a and Sunni militants reportedly left in anticipation of the American forces arrival. And now sectarian violence in the city is at an all-time low since the invasion.<\/strong> My only question is, will this have any permanent or lasting effect? Because it\u2019s their<\/em> country; their<\/em> city, and their<\/em> neighborhood \u2013 and has been for the last several thousand years.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the key: we\u2019re fighting thousands<\/em> of years of history in Iraq \u2013 thousands of years of customs, thousands of years of antipathy towards the \u201cCrusaders\u201d as they call us. And these are just not the sorts of things you can change overnight. There\u2019s just way too much inertia.<\/p>\n Any attempts at forcing a democracy on these people will fail. The concept of a democracy is completely and irrevocably foreign to Iraqis. Installing a democracy there has about the same chance that installing a Shi\u2019a theocracy would have here in the United States \u2013 which is to say zero.<\/p>\n So just as water seeks its own level, the political situation in Iraq will inevitably come to just one conclusion: The Shi\u2019a have a vast majority in Iraq. Iraq will <\/em>be a Shi\u2019a country. Just like it has for most of the last couple thousand years.<\/p>\n Yes, we can delay <\/em>the inevitable with what Bush has proposed, but that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n We will never actually change the ultimate outcome.<\/p>\n So the bottom line is that every American life spent pursuing the war in Iraq is spent in vain. Our valiant soldiers deaths serve no purpose whatsoever, because our presence won\u2019t affect the ultimate end in Iraq, not one iota.<\/p>\n This is an egregious<\/em> tragedy.<\/p>\n We must bring our soldiers home now, before even one more life is lost!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once Crook Down\u2026Bunches To Go… Yesterday\u2019s guilty verdict in the trial of Lewis \u201cScooter\u201d Libby for lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice is an important victory for Americans \u2013 after six reckless years of governing with impunity, the Bush administration has finally been held accountable for its criminal actions. Perhaps the tide of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe only unfortunate thing is that Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove were not also indicted.
\nAlthough perhaps that too, will also eventually come to pass.<\/p>\nA Cop on Every Corner in Baghdad\u2026<\/h4>\n
\nJust great!<\/p>\n
\nThe answer, I think, is obvious: Having all these American soldiers there will certainly have a quelling effect on violence. Their presence would intimidate the hell out of anyone. So, sure: if we place 10 American troops on each and every corner of Sadr City, or wherever, the residents will all be on their very best behavior \u2013 as long as the American troops remain<\/u>.
\nBut as soon as they leave, of course, the militants will quickly filter back and it will return to business as usual.<\/p>\n
\nWhy?<\/p>\n