Are we the world's most naive dreamers?

Some politicians and Army generals are eager to tell us how conditions have improved in Iraq. But have they? Yes, if you don't look below the surface, no if you dig a little.
Consider, for instance, that last year 133 women were murdered in the city of Basra, many by beheading. Among them were 79 killed for violating Islamic teachings. In other words they did such things as going out on the street without a scarf over their heads. Another 47 were victims of so-called honor killings. That includes such heinous crimes as taking a walk with a man who isn't a blood relative.

Is the United States capable of setting up a democracy in a place like that? Only in our dreams.

The generals boast of how conditions have improved in the Sunni areas. True, because they were supplied with American weapons - as if they didn't have enough of their own - so that rather than killing our soldiers they would kill other rebels. When that's accomplished to their satisfaction will they still be nice to Americans? Only if they believe it will restore them to the absolute power they enjoyed under Saddam Hussein.

Think about the Shias. Are they unaware that the U.S. has supplied arms to their bitter enemies? Only in our dreams. They are just waiting for the right moment to strike. Remember, their temporary truce is about to expire.
Will the Kurd separatists give up their plans for their own nation of Kurdistan because the Turks don't like the idea? Yet another dream.

Then there is the Iraqi government. What a farce it has proved to be, yet Americans go over there and come back saying they see signs of improvement.

It doesn't help the situation when American troops keep killing civilians and then offering their condolences. It might be better to just not say a word.

Let's face it, there is no hope of establishing anything resembling a democracy in Iraq. There never has been, there never will be even if John McCain is right and American troops may still be there a hundred years from now.
The entire Mideast is a cauldron of unrest. The people and their beliefs are unlike anything Americans are accustomed to. Perhaps sometime in the future they may be able to settle their differences on their own. It won't happen when outsiders they look upon as infidels try to dictate the terms.
My old 4th Infantry Division went back to Iraq for the third time in December. So far eight of them have been killed. That's not many in terms of a major war but far too many when there is no defined enemy, just men lurking somewhere in the shadows. The idea of victory is just one more impossible dream.

http://www.dickstodghill.com/