Gorilla's Blog

Not the one we’ll hear, of course, but Gorilla has a go…

“My fellow Americans, my predecessor lied to you and got this country stuck in a pointless war in Iraq that has killed hundreds of thousands.

There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and there were no terrorists in Iraq until we invaded.

We’re not actually leaving, because there’s just too much oil to be had.

So, we’ll keep pretending Iraq will become like South Korea, except we know it won’t because the Shiites and Sunnis will resume their civil war.

Hopefully, we’ll be long gone by 2012 and I’ll be reelected, although that’s anybody’s guess so long as I continue to do nothing about unemployment.

I’d also like to talk to you about ending the pointless war in Afghanistan, but I think you’re depressed enough.

Good night and God bless America.”

In Iraq, the civil war resumes…

No government, no security, nothing to do but declare victory and get out in 2011!

Gorilla says: “We’ll be seeing you in all the old familiar places!”

Another 50 killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq…

And still no government, 5 months after elections…

Once American troops are down to 50,000 next year, the civil war will resume in earnest and we’ll have nothing to show for the billions of dollars and thousands of live wasted on a pointless war of revenge…

Gorilla says: “The time to leave was before we even went in!”

What else can they do, when they are losing, incompetent or both, except argue for more of the same?

Today it’s Iraq’s top general, who says his army won’t be ready for another 10 years and the local politicians won’t be able to fill the void when America leaves it all to the Iraqis next year.

If the general on the ground thinks civil war is just around the corner, and it’s hard to disagree, why is that America’s problem?

We engaged in a stupid, pointless war of revenge against Saddam Hussein.

We got nothing for it.

The Iraqis cannot form a government some 5 months after an election.

The Sunnis are off our payroll and on al-Qaeda’s.

So we concluded it was time to declare victory and get out.

Gorilla says: “Our President will reach the same conclusions about Afghanistan by the end of next year! Our generals are at least as stupid as theirs!”

Deputy Secretary Of State Jacob Lew: “We can’t spread ourselves so thin that we don’t have the capacity to do the job in the places where we put people. If we don’t put people in a place where they have mobility, where they can go out and meet with the people and implement their programs, there’s very little argument for being in the place we send them.”

Gorilla translates: “If only we’d reached that conclusion in 2003!”

And high on al-Qaeda, who didn’t exist until we invaded Iraq and are currently paying more!!!

It seems quite clear that the combination of paying people off and overlooking ethnic cleansing worked for a while (about one election year), but the lack of economic opportunities, the underlying ethnic tensions, and the refusal of any politician in Washington or Baghdad to face reality meant the “surge” was doomed from the start.

Oh well, what passes for foreign policy at the moment is this: let’s have another listen to worthless generals like Petraeus and pursue the same failed strategy in Afghanistan!

Civil war times two is what we’re in the middle of losing…

Gorilla says: “Santayana, etc.!”

In Basra, lots of dead people, and a very interesting quote from a local legislator:

“As a lawmaker from Basra I hold the military and police leadership responsible for the blood that has been shed.”

We’ve handed over everything on the combat side now, so let the civil war commence!!!

Gorilla says: “A pointless war, a nonexistent peace, and a lot of national blood and treasure wasted for absolutely nothing!”

Our President says he’s on schedule for troop drawdown in the most pointless war launched by the US in the last 25 years!

Meanwhile, the civilian casualty rate is the highest it’s been in 2 years (civilian deaths apparently only count when they’re informers, according to our highly amoral Defense Secretary) and Iraq still has no functioning government, nearly 5 months after parliamentary elections.

Now that the Sunnis are off the payroll, and ethnic cleansing was accomplished via the “surge” in many Baghdad neighborhoods, it’s only a matter of time before the civil war begins.

Gorilla says: “Same as Afghanistan, but we’re losing with more dignity!”

Joe Biden’s back from Iraq, having been unable to convince the Iraqis that it might be time to form a government, some 4 months after the election.

So far, no one can even agree on who has the right to form a government. This of course creates a power vacuum, into which steps various dissatisfied Sunni groups, who see the current Iraqi government as uninterested in Shiites and Sunnis working together.

The bottom line remains the same: absent a reason to participate, the Sunnis will return to violence and Iraq will descend into civil war. No amount of surging has changed this basic fact of Iraqi life.

Gorilla says: “We’re going soon and what’s left is pretty much what we found!”