It gives us about 10,000 more chances to screw things up along the way....and when something wrong can happen, betcha bottom dollar, with this administration calling the shots, it will. :eyes:
WES CLARK: "the real challenge is... after they vote, and the National Assembly is
formed, will that Constitution be changed to give more weight to Sunni
concerns.
Most of the people who are close to the Shias tell me that they will NOT concede
on the two key issues, which is the control of the oil revenues, they want the
oil revenues to stay with the Shia dominated area in the South, not go to the central
government and they will not concede on their ability to set up a separate Shia-like set of provinces in the South, that's almost like a mini-State.
And so, if they do not concede on those two issues, itÕs going to be very difficult. You know, if you look back at American history, we had to a civil war to try to resolve whether we were going to be one nation or not. And a lot of people voted in the South in 1860 in that election,
and it didn't stop a civil war.
So it really is going to depend on how astute the U.S. ambassador is there and the military leadership on the ground to be able to transfer our military power into political leverage to persuade the Shias and Kurds to give up something for their own good to keep Iraq together.
http://securingamerica.com/files/Fox051214.mp3AND TODAY, Clark was interviewed (no transcript yet) and basically stated he thinks it will be a struggle for them to win the changes in the direction of the new Iraq that they need (more respect for secular choices over strict fundamentalism, fair sharing of oil revenues, no near break away southern Shiite State etc.)
He said negotiations will be much more difficult to conclude successfully because "this time it's for keeps". U.S. must use the leverage that Shites still wanting us to provide security for them gives us to prod diplomacy toward legitimate compromises on key constitutional issues. Failure to reach an agreement accepted by all can lead to Iraq flying apart at the seams.
He also said that Iran is watching closely to see if they can expand their influence with the permanent Iraq government.
Answer to interviewer's question of something to the effect of "Isn't it great to see democratic elections in Iraq?".
Clark deftly started his answer with, "It's exciting, isn't it? But will this be a one time only "democratic election"? (that's probably not an exact quote, but close).