Iraq's savage sectarian war is now regarded as a greater obstacle to any semblance of peace returning than the insurgency, and was the main reason for the Americans recently pouring 12,000 troops into the capital - an operation that, they now acknowledge, has failed.
Yet, ironically, the death squads are the result of US policy. At the beginning of last year, with no end to the Sunni insurgency in sight, the Pentagon was reported to have decided to train Shia and Kurdish fighters to carry out 'irregular missions'. The policy, exposed in the US media, was called the 'Salvador Option' after the American-backed counter-insurgency in Latin America more than 20 years ago, which led to 70,000 deaths and countless instances of human rights abuse.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
The Slavador Option
Operation enduring chaos: The retreat of the coalition & the rise of the militias
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has anybody read anything about what would work to change iraq? that country seems to be most god-forsaken hell-hole, consisting of the worst people on the planet. is it the right thing to do to pull-out and let those maniacs kill each other? what a mess. they don't seem to have the slightest wish to try to live in peace with each other. rather, religion, being the black goo on the brain that it is, is driving them to kill each other in the most horrible ways possible.
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