Sad State of the Bought Media and Some Thoughts On Iraq

Our country is facing some extremely serious issues, maybe the most serious we've dealt with in years, and the bought media is pounding on the Miss New Jersey photo issue! We're not going to go into it, but if you want to see it for yourself go here. The ridiculous thing is that the girl posts pictures which she is embarrassed by on Facebook! Duhhh!!

The major story here is the bought media pounding this story and other ridiculous tripe like it is news and doing it over and over again, all the while our country is in turmoil and facing major decisions which could affect our safety for years to come. Where is the real news and what is actually important? Photos of a 22 year-old or our very national identity and security? This should tell you a lot about the boobs and sellouts running the major media!

Now onto the Iraq war - more and more Republican pols are starting to say we need to pull out of Iraq. We feel this is just a means to gain some support back in their home turf for votes and nothing more. Pure gamesmanship at the sake of our country and our military men and women's safety. It makes us sick! In Iraq we are faced with the quintessential catch-22. Stay as is, and we'll probably be dealing with the same situation there for years. Just pull out now and the country will quickly deteriorate into a bloody civil war with many factions. It appears that the formula for success escapes the USA for now. What to do?

When something doesn't work, you need to make changes. This has been done with the latest push (surge, whatever), but it doesn't seem to have satisfied anyone. The problem with anything that we've done is that it does not seem to place any more emphasis on the Iraqis to step up to the plate and take responsibility for themselves. The opposing factions there still oppose each other and have made seemingly very little effort to find common ground. This has kept them from moving forward as swiftly as possible to achieve basic survival goals (see article here). Even a Bush administration study has determined that the Iraqi's efforts have lead to mediocre at best results . The areas where performance has been lacking all seem to lie with the Iraqis politicians! The study indicates that the Iraqis have made little progress on many of their political goals, including enacting long-promised legislation, while they have met some goals that were drawn up to reduce violence and increase security. If the Iraqis cannot step to the plate completely, why should we bother? It is their country and people, not ours. If a man is not willing to fight for his own house, why should we?

We really should seriously threaten the Iraqi politicians/leaders that we'll pull out, but it should be done behind closed doors and not out in public. In this way we can see if we can force their hand without causing further destabilization to the region. It all boils down to this, if the Iraqi politicians/leaders cannot or will not find consensus, the USA should get out of there. We do not want to be there for the next 15 to 20 years.

If we pull out and there still is not a consensus, then maybe we should help carve the country up into 3 territories and sell arms to the 3 groups. Equally armed forces should help to restrain the potential violence at least for a while, and maybe its the best end solution. These groups have hated each other for a long time, and only a viscous strong arm like Saddam was able to keep them from each other's throats. Would it be possible for them to come to a peaceful co-existence voluntarily? Who knows, but we're starting to seriously doubt it based on how they have been dragging their feet. They need to know that our help is not guaranteed forever! Just don't do it in the political arena.