Chaos and Confusion

It's no wonder that we find ourselves mired in the quagmire that is Iraq specifically, and the Middle East in general. Our current administration obviously has little or no knowledge of the history of Iraq, or the difference between Arabs and Persians, Sunnis and Shia.

We are told daily that Iran is supplying weapons and training that are responsible for the deaths of US soldiers. The evidence is grounded in serial numbers on IEDs. Americans are being targeted mostly by Sunnis who are the minority and feel disenfranchised by the US backed Maliki government. These same Sunnis are deadly enemies of the Iranian Shiites. Someone should tell retired general Grange (CNN analyst) that the hatred between these factions would not be overridden by the "common enemy" theory which he so ineloquently expresses.

The fact is that Iranian made weapons would be readily available on the black market. If Sunnis are using Iranian made weapons it is not evidence of collaboration between the Sunnis and Shia.

Our government has also conveniently forgotten that the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s was fought between Shiites (both Iranian and Iraqi).

The ignorance of the region is only surpassed by the amnesia of the UK. For half of the 20th century England was stuck in the quagmire that was trying to democratize Iraq. Several different approaches did not work. And yet, they remain our biggest ally in the folly that is the war to liberate Iraq.

Our government should listen less to the major defense contractors and spend some time with their noses in history books.