The Truth About Iraq

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President Obama announced this past week that we would be sending 500 military "advisors" to Iraq to assist Sunni factions directly. This is part of our unclear strategy to deal with ISIS. I promise this is not a commentary about how we should never have fought the Iraq War to begin with. (See how I worked that in, clever me.)

Last year former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates was on the lecture circuit pushing his autobiography. Gates has been widely respected on both sides of the aisle, serving at Defense under both Bush and Obama. During the book tour he stated that Joe Biden was wrong about most things involving foreign affairs. In particular Gates says he was wrong when he urged that Iraq be divided into three autonomous regions with a  weakened federal government to represent Iraq on the global stage and to equitably distribute the oil wealth.

Joe Biden didn't pull that idea out of thin air. He pulled it out of history. The Iraq we all know is not a real country. It was created by Winston Churchill. Three distinctly different regions and people, Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish were forced together to make one country. These factions hated each other and they still do. Toward the end of his long life Churchill said the creation of Iraq was the biggest mistake of his political life.

Iraq would eventually become a brutal dictatorship, the perfect soil for growing Saddam Hussein. We spent trillions of borrowed dollars, lost thousands of American soldiers, left thousands more with life altering injury and destroyed the lives of millions of innocent Iraqis. For what? We then made some very stupid decisions chiefly among these was dismantling Saddam's military. Then we said okay folks make your country now, you're free, good luck. They said, what's that now? Okay we'll stay a little longer but you guys really gotta step up. Sure, sure we will.

Now we come full circle to confront the reality of history and the truth. What do you think the Iraqi Prime Minister just announced? Oh you're good. That's right, Iraq needs to be divided into autonomous regions with a federal government to address certain needs but vast power should rest within the individual regions.

So, Bob, it is you who are wrong and Joe Biden who was right and oh yeah that Englishman at the end of his life.

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