Codetalkers: .How to Win Friends & Influence People in Iraq… Sidetracked

PS: While waiting for my flight from Kuwait to Frankfurt, I sat next to a contractor – the whole airport gate area was filled with contractors so this was not hard to do – who gave me his personal version of the history of the so-called war in Iraq. “In 2003 and 2004, it was pretty peaceful and then all hell broke loose for the next few years. And now things are starting to stabilize again.”

Rep. Dennis Kucinich recommends replacing American troops with an international peace-keeping force. He recognizes that the Iraqis still need help in keeping the peace and I agree with him there. But perhaps putting another force in place might not be the best way to go – because after all these years, Iraqis are finally starting to trust the Marines in Al Anbar and sometimes even the Army in Baghdad. And if a new “peace-keeping” force were to come in now, that fragile trust-building mechanism would have to start all over again. However, if the American military is now serving as a de facto peace-keeping force – and it is – then perhaps the UN and/or various oil-using nations could help foot the bill, including the European Union, Russia, China, the Saudis and even Iran. Or perhaps the American oil companies who are making so much profit off this so-called war might be persuaded to finally “give something back”.