![\"Iraq](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/credit-al-jazeera-america.jpg\")
<\/a>Iraq appears on the verge of civ\u00adil war and some blame for\u00admer Pres\u00adi\u00addent George W. Bush. Here\u2019s why they\u2019re wrong. [Cred\u00adit: al Jazeera America]<\/p><\/div>The Iraq civ\u00adil war did not start under Oba\u00adma, it start\u00aded when Bush, Cheney and the neo\u00adcons pulled the trig\u00adger to invade Iraq \u2026 . It was [the] sta\u00adtus of force agree\u00adment, signed by Bush, that pledged to with\u00addraw all US<\/span> forces \u2026 Giv\u00aden the stag\u00adger\u00ading cost of expense and lives we could not stay there \u201cmaybe a hun\u00addred years\u201d as McCain said. Nor could we bleed hun\u00addreds of bil\u00adlions of dol\u00adlars there every year. Oba\u00adma promised to get us out of there, and he right\u00adly did so \u2026 To attempt to blame any\u00adone but Bush, Cheney and the neo\u00adcons for the Iraq dis\u00adas\u00adter is sim\u00adply revi\u00adsion\u00adism at its finest. \u2014 <\/span><\/em>Excerpt\u00aded from a c<\/a><\/span>omment<\/a> on my recent post on Iraq.<\/span>\n The Oba\u00adma presidency\u2019s lead\u00ading malfea\u00adsance lies in its belief that find\u00ading some\u00adone to blame for a prob\u00adlem is as good as solv\u00ading it. So it is lit\u00adtle sur\u00adprise that my recent post<\/a> on Iraq, in which I argued against US<\/span> mil\u00adi\u00adtary inter\u00adven\u00adtion, would spur com\u00adments that for\u00admer Pres\u00adi\u00addent George W. Bush is to blame for the renewed fighting.<\/p>\n Sec\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan vio\u00adlence did not begin with the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan inva\u00adsion of Iraq. Its roots run deep. Dur\u00ading the 1980s, for exam\u00adple, Iraq\u2019s cur\u00adrent Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter, Nouri al-Mali\u00adki, defect\u00aded to Iran<\/a> to lead a con\u00adtin\u00adgent of Iraqi Shi\u00adites in bat\u00adtle against his own coun\u00adtry. Sad\u00addam Hus\u00adsein curbed this frac\u00adtious impulse only by shed\u00adding Iraqi blood on an epic scale. Though accu\u00adrate esti\u00admates are impos\u00adsi\u00adble, he may have been respon\u00adsi\u00adble for the deaths of as many as one mil\u00adlion<\/a> Iraqis. By late 2008, this vio\u00adlence had been kept in check through the for\u00adma\u00adtion of a broad\u00adly rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive gov\u00adern\u00adment rather than the heavy hand of a ruth\u00adless dictator.<\/p>\n And while it is true that the sta\u00adtus of forces agree\u00adment<\/a> that Pres\u00adi\u00addent Bush con\u00adclud\u00aded in Novem\u00adber 2008 called for the with\u00addraw\u00adal of all US<\/span> troops by the end of 2011, the doc\u00adu\u00adment was viewed both by Amer\u00adi\u00adcans and Iraqis as a tran\u00adsi\u00adtion\u00adal one, designed to give the new\u00adly elect\u00aded Pres\u00adi\u00addent three years to work out the war\u2019s final terms. Mali\u00adki and the Oba\u00adma Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion did nego\u00adti\u00adate over keep\u00ading US<\/span> forces in Iraq. Mali\u00adki want\u00aded<\/a> Amer\u00adi\u00adcan sol\u00addiers to stay, but could not come to terms with the White House on the rules gov\u00adern\u00ading their con\u00adtin\u00adued pres\u00adence. Many in our diplo\u00admat\u00adic corps and mil\u00adi\u00adtary have strong\u00adly crit\u00adi\u00adcized the Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion for fail\u00ading to reach an accord with Maliki.<\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>You just had this pol\u00adi\u00adcy vac\u00adu\u00adum and this apa\u00adthy,\u201d Lieu\u00adtenant Gen\u00ader\u00adal Michael Bar\u00adbero, our for\u00admer deputy com\u00adman\u00adder in Iraq, said of the Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion in an inter\u00adview with the New York\u00ader<\/a>. \u201cNow we have no lever\u00adage in Iraq. With\u00adout any troops there, we\u2019re just anoth\u00ader group of guys.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Every\u00adthing that has hap\u00adpened there was not just pre\u00addictable,\u201d Bar\u00adbero added. \u201cWe pre\u00addict\u00aded it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Pres\u00adi\u00addent Obama\u2019s fail\u00adure to nego\u00adti\u00adate a sta\u00adtus of forces agree\u00adment that would have allowed the US<\/span> to main\u00adtain a pres\u00adence in Iraq for train\u00ading and coun\u00adtert\u00ader\u00adror\u00adism pur\u00adpos\u00ades made the cur\u00adrent cri\u00adsis inevitable. Main\u00adtain\u00ading such a pres\u00adence would not have entailed the annu\u00adal expen\u00addi\u00adture of hun\u00addreds of bil\u00adlions of dol\u00adlars or required us to wage war for a hun\u00addred years.<\/p>\n Nor would it have been with\u00adout prece\u00addent. Once war con\u00adcludes, it is not unusu\u00adal to keep sol\u00addiers on the field to con\u00adsol\u00adi\u00addate gains and pre\u00advent new out\u00adbreaks of vio\u00adlence. US<\/span> forces remain in Korea more than 60 years after the nego\u00adti\u00ada\u00adtion of an armistice. Amer\u00adi\u00adcan sol\u00addiers stayed in Bosnia and Koso\u00advo long after our wars there ended.<\/p>\n The pur\u00adpose of such deploy\u00adments is not to per\u00adpet\u00adu\u00adate war, but to pre\u00adserve peace. That is espe\u00adcial\u00adly nec\u00ades\u00adsary in places like Korea, where a cer\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adably insane dic\u00adta\u00adtor con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly threat\u00adens his neigh\u00adbor to the south, and in the Balka\u00adns, where eth\u00adnic ani\u00admosi\u00adties nev\u00ader seem far from the surface.<\/p>\n It was also nec\u00ades\u00adsary in Iraq, where a frag\u00adile peace had been secured after years of blood\u00adshed. That is not my assess\u00adment alone. It is what Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma pro\u00adclaimed in announc\u00ading that he would with\u00addraw all Amer\u00adi\u00adcan mil\u00adi\u00adtary per\u00adson\u00adnel from Iraq. He said<\/a>,<\/span> in Decem\u00adber 2011, that the coun\u00adtry was \u201c<\/span><\/i>sov\u00ader\u00adeign, sta\u00adble and self-reliant\u201d and that it had \u201ca rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive gov\u00adern\u00adment that was elect\u00aded by its people.\u201d<\/p>\n That state of affairs was hard won, large\u00adly through a mil\u00adi\u00adtary surge that Pres\u00adi\u00addent Bush ordered in 2007 after years of bloody and unsuc\u00adcess\u00adful occu\u00adpa\u00adtion marred by civ\u00adil war and Amer\u00adi\u00adcan casu\u00adal\u00adties. The surge could not undo this dam\u00adage, but it achieved its objec\u00adtives. Sec\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan strife sub\u00adsided. Sun\u00adni trib\u00adal chief\u00adtains threw in with the pop\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly elect\u00aded gov\u00adern\u00adment in Bagh\u00addad, a gov\u00adern\u00adment that, as Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma would lat\u00ader note, rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded Iraq\u2019s diverse eth\u00adnic and reli\u00adgious population.<\/p>\n Pres\u00adi\u00addent Bush left Iraq sta\u00adble and viable; Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma left it behind.<\/p>\n It isn\u2019t entire\u00adly clear why. The Pres\u00adi\u00addent has lit\u00adtle patience with those who do not bend to his supe\u00adri\u00ador wis\u00addom, includ\u00ading mem\u00adbers of Con\u00adgress and a grow\u00ading list of world lead\u00aders. It is quite pos\u00adsi\u00adble that we cut Iraq loose because the Pres\u00adi\u00addent tired of nego\u00adti\u00adat\u00ading with Maliki.<\/p>\n It is also pos\u00adsi\u00adble that he made a cal\u00adcu\u00adlat\u00aded polit\u00adi\u00adcal deci\u00adsion. Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma was a long-time crit\u00adic of the war and used it in the 2008 pri\u00admaries against Hillary Clin\u00adton, who had vot\u00aded in favor of inter\u00adven\u00adtion. As a Sen\u00ada\u00adtor, he opposed the surge. With his reelec\u00adtion less than a year away, the prison in Guan\u00adtanamo still open and two wars still being waged, he may have decid\u00aded that his elec\u00adtoral prospects would improve if he declared the Iraq war won and left the pre\u00addictable con\u00adse\u00adquences for anoth\u00ader day.<\/p>\n But whether the deci\u00adsion result\u00aded from polit\u00adi\u00adcal cal\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtion or a lack of nego\u00adti\u00adat\u00ading skills, the result was the same: the sta\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty in Iraq that he hailed soon unraveled.<\/p>\n The Pres\u00adi\u00addent seems to blame Mali\u00adki for this mess. It is true that Mali\u00adki is a divi\u00adsive fig\u00adure. It is also true that he prac\u00adticed the pol\u00adi\u00adtics of divi\u00adsion more aggres\u00adsive\u00adly once it was clear that US<\/span> troops would not remain. He ordered the arrest of the coun\u00adtry\u2019s Vice Pres\u00adi\u00addent<\/a>,<\/span> a Sun\u00adni Mus\u00adlim, just a week after the Pres\u00adi\u00addent announced that he would with\u00addraw all of our forces. Our dimin\u00adished influ\u00adence in Iraq left Mali\u00adki free to do things that pro\u00advoked vio\u00adlent reac\u00adtions from Sun\u00adni extremists.<\/p>\n The Pres\u00adi\u00addent is urg\u00ading Mali\u00adki to form a more inclu\u00adsive gov\u00adern\u00adment. Sec\u00adre\u00adtary of State John Ker\u00adry has even sug\u00adgest\u00aded that if Mali\u00adki were to resign, it \u201cmight wind up being very salu\u00adto\u00adry<\/a>\u201d for the coun\u00adtry. But events so far are mil\u00adi\u00adtat\u00ading against such pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties. The increas\u00ading\u00adly sec\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan con\u00adflict has para\u00addox\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly strength\u00adened Mali\u00adki, with even mod\u00ader\u00adate Shi\u00adite crit\u00adics<\/a> appear\u00ading to close ranks behind the leader.<\/p>\n Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma, to his cred\u00adit, is pro\u00adceed\u00ading fair\u00adly cau\u00adtious\u00adly, per\u00adhaps hav\u00ading learned from pri\u00ador mis\u00adsteps. He has ordered more troops into Bagh\u00addad to pro\u00adtect our embassy, a pru\u00addent step in view of the ter\u00adror\u00adist attack on our diplo\u00admat\u00adic facil\u00adi\u00adty in Beng\u00adhazi, whose alleged mas\u00adter\u00admind has been appre\u00adhend\u00aded. And he is speak\u00ading pri\u00advate\u00adly with Con\u00adgres\u00adsion\u00adal lead\u00aders of both par\u00adties before announc\u00ading his inten\u00adtions, a wel\u00adcome change from his vac\u00adil\u00adla\u00adtions on Syr\u00adia and his deci\u00adsion to swap five Tal\u00adiban lead\u00aders for an Amer\u00adi\u00adcan cap\u00adtive. He has so far ruled out the deploy\u00adment of ground troops<\/a> and there are reports<\/a> that he has decid\u00aded against airstrikes as well.<\/p>\n If those reports are accu\u00adrate, then per\u00adhaps he has cooled to the idea of coor\u00addi\u00adnat\u00ading mil\u00adi\u00adtary oper\u00ada\u00adtions with Iran<\/a>. Iran has fed tur\u00admoil in Syr\u00adia, Iraq and else\u00adwhere in the Mid\u00addle East and its lead\u00aders seem unset\u00adtled by the most recent turn of events. It is not our place to help them out.<\/p>\n What\u00adev\u00ader he decides to do, there are many lessons here for the Pres\u00adi\u00addent. Among them is the need to keep a suf\u00adfi\u00adcient force in Afghanistan once we with\u00addraw from active com\u00adbat. Anoth\u00ader is that when we reduce our influ\u00adence in trou\u00adbled parts of the world, peace and tran\u00adquil\u00adi\u00adty rarely fol\u00adlow. Oth\u00ader, less benign forces fill the void, cre\u00adat\u00ading crises that we can do lit\u00adtle to allay.<\/p>\n Most of all, he can per\u00adhaps shake his habit of blam\u00ading oth\u00aders for prob\u00adlems that he was elect\u00aded to solve.<\/p>\n It is late in his tenure to be learn\u00ading such lessons. But per\u00adhaps not too late.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Iraq civ\u00adil war did not start under Oba\u00adma, it start\u00aded when Bush, Cheney and the neo\u00adcons pulled the trig\u00adger to invade Iraq \u2026 . It was [the] sta\u00adtus of force agree\u00adment, signed by Bush, that pledged to with\u00addraw \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading