Rivalries in Iraq Keep G.I.’s in the Field

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/world/middleeast/27mosul.html?scp=1&sq=rivalries%20in%20iraq%20keep%20G.I.'s%20in%20the%20field&st=cse

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 10:33 AM
Subject: re: Rivalries in Iraq Keep G.I.’s in the Field
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

    While it is true that "Ultimately the Americans hope to withdraw", that hope has been pushed farther off by the Bush/Petraeus strategies in Iraq.  L. Paul Bremer's deBaathification created an Iraqi military that is seen as an arm of the Shiite majority, rather than of the nation.  U.S. support for the Sunni Awakening diverted such Sunnis as wished to serve into a purely sectarian militia, rather than into the national service. When we credit general Petraeus with reducing the monthly bloodshed, we should remember that the cost has been prolonging our role as occupiers.

Barry Levine