Friday, August 22, 2014
It will never end.
Since World War II began we have found it well nigh impossible to completely end or wars. Euope and Japan? We still have enough bases to qualify as an occupier. Korea? Still a state of war held in abeyance by a truce. And we are still pushing to stay in our current failure, Afghanistan. So it is no surprise that the Pentagon types are pushing for a bigger piece of the action in Iraq. And Congress is being coy and shy so as not to be seen as the warmongering roundheels they really are.
For weeks, Capitol Hill has tried to keep America’s military engagement in Iraq at arm’s length: Democrats and Republicans warily backed President Obama’s limited airstrikes against Sunni militants, but nobody — aside from Senator John McCain and a few fellow hawks — demonstrated an appetite for deeper involvement.In an election year the M-I-C will be filling up the campaign coffers of their "friends" but will bide their time until after the election. Then it will be safe to go back and pick up where we left off. And some in the Pentagon are actually hoping for an expansion into Syria. Wat da hell! An Arab's an Arab.
Now, though, the gruesome execution of an American journalist, James Foley, has drawn an intensely emotional reaction from lawmakers in both parties, with many issuing statements condemning the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the group responsible for Mr. Foley’s killing, and some urging Mr. Obama to redouble the fight against it.
There were signs on Thursday that the Obama administration is weighing that, with the White House and the Pentagon refusing to rule out military action against the group in Syria. But far from satisfying Congress, a wider conflict could put lawmakers, particularly Democrats, in a difficult position, since most deeply oppose any new war in the Middle East.
“Most Democrats and Republicans are extraordinarily wary of being sucked into a large occupation, both because it will kill a lot of Americans and because we saw in Iraq the last time that it didn’t work,” said Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
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