More Iraq

Thinking further on the Juan Cole post from two days ago, it occurs to me that the U.S. is hostage both to events in Iraq, and the aspirations of the Shi'ites. When things did not work out according to their fantasies of 2003 and they became bogged down in a bloody counter-insurgency campaign, they had little choice but to begin listening to the locals in ways they had not originally intended. I think their core goal was to establish a friendly stable regime in the only nation in the middle east other than Saudi Arabia with large reserves of oil.

If today's posting by Cole is any indication, it is even possible the U.S. will eventually leave Iraq having been ushered out by a new democratically elected government that desires nothing more than to be rid of the occupiers.