Sunday, April 8, 2007

Monday is 4th anniversary of the fall of Baghdad




So, big celebrations are slated, right?

Uh, no. There will be a ban on all vehicles until Tuesday to deter would-be suicide bombers.

I am not otherwise criticizing or commenting on the car ban, per se. If it saves lives, the plan is a good idea. Unfortunately, car bans do not help commerce or the economy.


I would have been heartened if some important political advance had also been noted. Former PM Ayed Allawi is trying to form a new government to replace the ineffectual Maliki, However, I can't see how a banding of Shiite secularists, Sunnis and Kurds can garner enough support to win a no-confidence vote over al-Maliki.

Similarly, Maliki's effrots to oust Sadr from the ruling coalition also appear doomed. A new round of elections might re-jigger the political chemistry. However, there would certainly appear to be a round of political chaos. Iraq simply can't afford that right now.


Think of a three-legged stool. For Iraq to get on track, all legs must be strong. The legs are political stability, economic stability, and national/personal security. I can understand that each leg must each be built, but there will be no sitting on the stool until all three legs are built.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good post. Your 'stool' analogy was bang on!

Larry said...

Good post. Bush will celebrate any anniversary of anything that has blood for oil in the premise.

www.lydiacornell.com

TomCat said...

Good one, Ron. But did Baghdad ever fall? We occupied it, but Bush failed to install his chosen puppet.