Year after year, the US military remains in Iraq. No one wants to put the brakes on, no one wants to throw the car into reverse. Worse yet, no one seems to think it's worth pointing out.
Over in Canada, Scott Taylor (SALT WIRE) writes:
Which brings us to Operation Impact, Canada’s ongoing military commitment to Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.
This is the one theatre which Auchterlonie feels Canada can safely reduce the number of troops deployed.
Perhaps a better question would be: What the hell are Canadian troops still doing in Iraq?
When Operation Impact was first established in 2014, the fanatical Islamic faction known as [. . .] aka ISIS or ISIL) had poured across the Syrian border into Iraq.
The U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces simply melted away, leaving their U.S. purchased weapons, ammunition and combat vehicles to the [ISIS] extremists.
[. . .]
As witnessed after the U.S. illegally invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq is rife with factional divisions.
Canada never had a dog in that fight and we would have been better off withdrawing from that region in 2017.
Auchterlonie should press his political masters to reduce his task load and put an immediate end to Operation Impact.
So the issue can be raised in North America, just not in the US?
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We forgot the note to the readers so I (Jim) am tacking it on here. We managed to get this posted on Sunday -- first time in years.
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
Here's what we came up with:
- Truest statement of the week
- Truest statement of the week II
- Editorial: Full speed to no where
- TV: The last thing anyone needs is more of the same
- Conflict: REVOLUTIONARY BLACKOUT NETWORK and THE V...
- David Swanson finds his Maddie Albright moment
- Books (Ann, Ava and C.I.)
- Ever wonder if . . .
- Want to rethink that?
- Ann reviews PHYLISS DILLER 1917-2012: News, Quotes...
- This edition's playlist
- Highlights
Peace.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.