The troop surge in Iraq, which was “working” in terms of making our presence even more necessary, was also working because it happened concurrently with several diplomatic initiatives. These initiatives included both striking a tenuous truce with influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and simultaneously bribing leaders of the violent Sunni insurgent groups.
Hey, I’m all for that sort of thing. If it works, it works. But, it’s starting not to work.
Fighting is breaking out again, and even with recent and surprising pleas from al-Sadr to keep any protests “peaceful,” it’s starting to seem like even he has lost control of his sector of the insurgency. There’s no telling whether it will have died back down or not a month from now, but today it’s looking like “fragile” has turned into “broken.”
Meanwhile, after news broke that our military accidentally shipped nuclear rocket materials to Taiwan last year, defense secretary Gates has ordered that all U.S. nukes be inventoried and located by serial number. Hey, that sounds like a good idea. If Barnes and Noble can do it, why not the nuclear weapons division of our armed forces?
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