The top U.S. envoy to Iraq said Monday that the 2003 toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime had opened a "Pandora's box" of volatile ethnic and sectarian tensions that could engulf the region in all-out war if America pulled out of the country too soon.So, America must not pull out too soon. Okay, then when must we pull out? After Iraq has become a peaceful democracy? And when would that be? 2050? The Republicans want to keep throwing good money after bad in this Vietnamesque quagmire, hoping that if we just spend a few more billions some miracle will happen and everyone will stop fighting. Well, no one thinks that's possible. So why are we there?
In remarks that were among the frankest and bleakest public assessments of the Iraq situation by a high-level American official, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the "potential is there" for sectarian violence to become full-blown civil war.
At some point, it's time to pull the feeding tube.
