Sorry, You Can't Take the Sandbox Home With You

Washington Post: Maliki Suggests U.S. Troop Timetable

Iraq's new government should determine Iraq’s future. I'm glad to see that steps are being taken. Of course, I am concerned about the stability of the country, but nobody's saying the US should pull out all troops tomorrow. They're working on a timetable, and I'm sure that if the ground situation calls for it, Iraqi government will accept our helping hand. To stay in Iraq for the next 100 years would be an act of imperialism. Permanence of US bases on Iraqi soil would constitute, I believe, a quartering of soldiers, something the US Bill of Rights strictly prohibits here on American soil. The Declaration of Independence listed among the many usurpations by the king of England:

1. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws…

We cannot continue to hold troops in Iraq indefinitely and pretend to control their affairs. Iraqis are their own people. While they may be in need of resources we are (somewhat) capable of offering, they can make their own decisions. They’re not stupid just because their country is built on sand.

2. For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us…

I think you can see how this correlates to the “War”

3. For protecting them [troops], by a Mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders that they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States…

The Administration doesn’t even bother with mock trials. Do some research on BlackWater and other US contracted commando/mercenary organizations. Not to mention Abu-Ghraib type situations.

4. He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

Oil fields anybody? How about the fact that US forces were totally ill prepared for the initial invasion (which everybody who was anybody knew) and allowed countless precious artifacts to be plundered that dated back to the birth of civilization? And of course we’re killing innocents, they look just like the “insurgents.”
(Aside: Isn’t it funny that we call the enemy the “insurgents” when we’re the ones committing to a surge of troops entering the sandbox?

5. He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

Again, BlackWater. Waterboarding and other forms of torture were suggested/supported by Cheyney. Don’t let anybody tell you higher-ups in the Administration don’t support torture — they condone it.

6. He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us

We are responsible for the Iraqi civil war.

So, my message to al-Maliki (if you don’t know who he is, read a fucking newspaper article once in a while):
Be strong. Don’t allow US imperialistic values to bamboozle you. YET, we can be helpful. Meet diplomatically with leaders from the main political groups within Iraq and the leaders of surrounding nations (yes, even Iran). Figure out a plan that will lead to lasting stability, and use the US to your advantage. It will be difficult, there’s no doubt about that, but security is NEVER a reason to give up freedom, and freedom is not something to be trusted in the hands of US government.