The consent of the government and the consent of the residents are not necessarily the same.
The government in question was democratically elected: it thus has a greater claim to represent the Iraqi people than did the regime that we defeated, and than does the rebellion we're fighting.
For better or for worse, what we have in Iraq is an occupation.
This was originally the case: as Iraqi security forces have become increasingly able to protect their own country, it is more and more becoming a case of military assistance rather than occupation.
I don't know to what extent the Iraqi people still want us there.
Polls indicate that they would like us to leave -- but not before the insurgency is defeated. Note that we almost certainly would leave if the current, democratically-elected Iraqi government asked us to. They are not asking us to leave because they know that if we left now, the consequences for their country would be terrible.
The current Iraqi government is not merely a US puppet: it has demonstrated this by behaving appeasingly toward the Iranians at times when it was diplomatically inconvenient for us. It's not perfect by any means, but it's a better regime than Iraq's ever had before; and far better than anything Iraq is likely to have if we pull out and Iran surges in.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-01-14 02:05 am (UTC)The government in question was democratically elected: it thus has a greater claim to represent the Iraqi people than did the regime that we defeated, and than does the rebellion we're fighting.
For better or for worse, what we have in Iraq is an occupation.
This was originally the case: as Iraqi security forces have become increasingly able to protect their own country, it is more and more becoming a case of military assistance rather than occupation.
I don't know to what extent the Iraqi people still want us there.
Polls indicate that they would like us to leave -- but not before the insurgency is defeated. Note that we almost certainly would leave if the current, democratically-elected Iraqi government asked us to. They are not asking us to leave because they know that if we left now, the consequences for their country would be terrible.
The current Iraqi government is not merely a US puppet: it has demonstrated this by behaving appeasingly toward the Iranians at times when it was diplomatically inconvenient for us. It's not perfect by any means, but it's a better regime than Iraq's ever had before; and far better than anything Iraq is likely to have if we pull out and Iran surges in.
May I borrow that political meme?
Certainly.