A Bad Day In Iraq Today

Smoke and dust in front of the Foreign Ministry in central Baghdad. Seven near-simultaneous explosions killed scores of people and wounded hundreds. Ali Al-Saadi/AFP/Getty Images

US Pullout In Doubt After Day Of Slaughter On Streets Of Baghdad -- Times Online

Extremists struck at the Iraqi Government with a wave of bombings and mortar attacks, killing at least 95 people and injuring more than 560 and raising new doubts about the withdrawal of US soldiers from the country.

The bombings were directed against the main centres of power, including the ministries of finance, foreign affairs, health, education and housing, as well as the parliament and cabinet buildings.

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My Comment: I wrote a few weeks ago that if the bombings continue, this will not only undermine the authority of the Iraqi Central government, but it will also lay the groundwork for a return to the sectarian strife that wrecked Iraq a few years ago.

Since making that post (and I must confess many more since then) .... my worse fears are now becoming realized.

I do not want our forces to remain in Iraq. Armchair Generalist sums it up perfectly in a post that he did yesterday .... It's time to go. They don't want us there, our troops don't want to be there, and I'm pretty sure the American people don't want to be engaged there any more.

Unfortunately .... as much as I want us to leave .... I know that President Obama will not give the orders to leave. In fact he is now ordering the engagement of U.S. forces into certain conflict zones (Kurd/Arab regions in the north).

There are two reason why we will not leave. (1) Oil .... nuff said on this topic. (2) Political. President Obama cannot afford to have Iraq fall into a sectarian civil war on his watch. It will be a disaster for him politically at home, and for what he wants to achieve internationally.