“These people are really sick.”
No, we are the sick ones. The generation which refused, inspite of every evidence and an overwhelming need, to inform adolescents about what actually happens when you join the US military. So in they go, their information about it all garnered from media.
What, you figure those “really sick” people will do it themselves? And besides, Desert Storm was so glorious, remember? We kicked their ass and took their gas!
I mean, if we didn’t have foreign expeditionary wars (and redundancy, too) how would all those patriots service America?

Posted by: Mooser | May 3 2013 14:59 utc | 4

Nussaibah Younis
Research Fellow, International Security Program

Nussaibah Younis is a doctoral candidate in Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Durham, and her research focuses on the impact of state weakness on Iraqi foreign policymaking since 2003 and Iraq’s post-war state structure. She has published on the relationship between sectarianism and Iraq’s post-war electoral system and has written commentaries on current affairs for the Guardian newspaper.
Previously, Nussaibah worked with an entrepreneur to start up a now flourishing brand strategy consultancy. As part of her work in business and in academia, Nussaibah has lived all over the Arab world, including Amman, Beirut, Cairo, and Dubai. She graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Modern History and English.

Posted by: Don Bacon | May 3 2013 15:10 utc | 6

Pretty good, a young doctoral student at Durham (that is, the UK provincial university) getting an op-ed in the NYT. Not many doctoral students can do that. Must have influence with the editors.

Posted by: alexno | May 3 2013 15:46 utc | 8

A while ago – about 7 years? – but after the start of the Iraq war, there was a paper by Chinese academics, who said more or less that the US was going downhill, and that the job of the rest of the world was to make sure the US didn’t do anything really stupid while the process was going on.
Unfortunately, I looked, but can’t find the original paper – perhaps someone else can find it.
This NYT op-ed is interesting speculation, but also amoral and insane.

Posted by: Northern Night Owl | May 3 2013 17:31 utc | 10

@11…”live a blissfully ignorant life” is an accepted way of life here in America…MOB is a blessing to humanity…..

Posted by: georgeg | May 3 2013 19:09 utc | 12

Kanzanian, if you move to South Beach, Malibu, Monaco or Upper Manhattan. You can live blissfully ignorant and party your arse off. I’ve gone to parties where people don’t know even know what current events are taking place. It’s rather sickening @ times, but ssooo much fun! The models, the cocktail mixes, latest gadgets and bling, bling, bling. It reminds me of the story of Belshazzar drinking from the sacred vessels, purloined from the All mighty’s temple, while Babylon was under siege by none other than the Medes and Persians.
Maliki, my boy now is your time. The mother effen gauntlet has been thrown and you have just joined the “you’ve lost all legitimacy and must go” club. The membership isn’t very exclusive, all the USA has to do is declare it and you’re done?

Posted by: Fernando | May 3 2013 19:35 utc | 14

Paul Simon – Kodachrome

When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It’s a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn’t hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s
a sunny day
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away

For those who are reading NYT with diploma from “prestigious” universities – George Bush MBA etc.

Posted by: neretva’43 | May 3 2013 21:10 utc | 16

“It reminds me of the story of Belshazzar drinking from the sacred vessels, purloined from the All mighty’s temple, while Babylon was under siege by none other than the Medes and Persians.”
“And though my lack of education
Hasn’t hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall”
Apparently you aren’t the only one with that incident in mind Fernando, if my Scripture Knowledge hasn’t failed me. I won a prize for it at school!

Posted by: Mooser | May 3 2013 22:07 utc | 18

, “unless you live in a cave and feed on nuts and berries, you are involved in politics.”
Yes, and often on several different levels. There are the politics you are compelled to live with, than there are what you might call your aspirational politics, which may not be practical, but incorporate your ideals, and hopes. And then events can drastically change an individuals relationship with politics.
On the whole, the nuts and berries are looking better and better, likewise the cave.

Posted by: Mooser | May 3 2013 22:12 utc | 20

Some, like ex-congressman Duncan Hunter, call Iraq a victory.
Victory In Iraq, Duncan L. Hunter (Author)

“As the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives for most of the Iraq War, Duncan Hunter not only participated in the major debates in Congress concerning the war… he led them, keeping the mission on track when others sought to derail it. His work to provide equipment and force protection to our troops was unequaled. Hunter knows the story of the Iraq War from the inside like no one else. He provides a clear, accurate portrayal of the war, well researched and documented – superb, exciting reading. His detailed accounts of heroism bring to the front the courage of American warriors.”
― Brigadier General Terry Paul, USMC (Ret.)

Call Iraq a victory? General Petraeus never did. He called Iraq “fragile and reversible.” I have nine comments on it by Petraeus. I’ll go easy on you and only post the first and last ones.

WaPo, September 7, 2007
General Petraeus’s view is considered overly cautious by some other senior military officials and some members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, officials said. But they said it reflected his concern that the security gains made so far in Baghdad, Anbar Province and other areas were fragile and easily reversed.
Reuters, Mar 16, 2010
“The progress in Iraq is still fragile. And it could still be reversed,” Petraeus told a Senate hearing.

Posted by: Don Bacon | May 3 2013 22:28 utc | 22

“make sure the US didn’t do anything really stupid”
Yeah, I’m really afraid that this isn’t going to end… it’s going to be put to an end, just like the Nazis had to be.

Posted by: guest | May 3 2013 23:45 utc | 24

Bahrain, how the state media can actually tell the truth:
‘The articles, one written by the editor-in-chief of a Bahraini-controlled newspaper, Anwar Abdulrahman, and the other by a pro-monarchy political group, depicts Bahrain as a place where Western media and leading rights organisations have tainted the country’s image and integrity and have “ripped” society apart through sectarian tension.
“So-called human rights organisations, which unfortunately are largely administered by ex-ideologists and even terrorists, today propagate their own version of the word ‘freedom’, solely to take it away from others,” said Abdulrahman.’
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/464315/20130503/bahrain-world-press-freedom-day-embassy.htm
now tho Bahrain may be up to its neck in league with Saudi arabia, his statement has a lot to agree with : HR orgs ARE run by terrorists(eg Amnesty), they DO propagate ‘freedom’ to take it away from others(isnt this what FUKUS in league with HR orgs is doing in Syria and has done in libya?

Posted by: brian | May 4 2013 0:06 utc | 26

Posted by: Don Bacon | May 3, 2013 8:19:37 PM | 27
any sign Jihadis INC will lend a hand in Bahrain?

Posted by: brian | May 4 2013 0:30 utc | 28

This Iraq situation, it seems to me, makes Maliki more dependent than ever upon Iran. Turkey and the Gulf States are Iraq’s enemies, so Iran is a friend in need.
So go ahead, US, threaten Maliki more — it helps Iran.

Posted by: Don Bacon | May 4 2013 1:31 utc | 30

“So go ahead, US, threaten Maliki more — it helps Iran.”
Just to play devil’s advocate: If Iraq goes the way of Yugoslavia, the Iranians would be left with a rump Arab state centered around Basra. Baghdad would likely be ruined for the second time in a decade, the center made practically unlivable. A Shiite Iraq would certainly not be a land or air corridor to Hezbollah or Syria, a war-torn drain on Iran resources and more of a liability than an asset.
Perhaps a renewed war in Iraq will give the Iranians a chance to cause trouble for the Saudis in their northeast oil areas, but other than that, a renewed Iraqi civil war without the US there to own it spells disaster for the Iranians, no?

Posted by: guest | May 4 2013 2:55 utc | 32

@guest #25
Watching the video and listening the guests’ panel is revealing. Usually the term “intellectual dishonesty” is convenient in such circumstances – to be polite, especially for “former CIA chief station” turned into empire apologist that is “clumsiness”. While George Galloway is sounding appealing and definitely an interesting character he is not far off of the CIA guy. I am suspectfull of him because of his glorification of democracy; while he doesn’t appear to be someone who “impose” the one, he is ardent promoter. Maybe I am mistaken but I would like to see him speaking about social economic justice rather than about “right to vote” which is very mainstream.

Posted by: neretva’43 | May 4 2013 14:15 utc | 34