Futility in Iraq

Open Email to:
Rep. Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Sen. Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Dear Rep. Royce and Sen. Menendez,
In an interview with the Washington Times, Mr. Faily, Iraqi Ambassador to the US, went on a tear against the Obama administration.
He did this because he wants money. The present government of Prime Minister al-Maliki is Shiite and has been said to ignore the plight of the Sunni population. In fact, Iraq is in danger of falling into a full-fledged civil war between its Shiite and Sunni populations. Mr. Faily wants monetary and military support from the US to maintain his present government in power.
What other Shiites and Sunnis fighting about? Primarily control of the government and all of its benefits, especially oil. Mr. Faily said the production of oil in Iraq has the potential to increase to a level in which it can really stabilize world energy; Iraq is the only country with that capability or potential. He seems to ignore the fact that with significantly increased US production of oil, OPEC is already an Iraqi situation.
With those benefits at risk, Mr. Faily is attempting to bludgeon the Obama Administration into giving him monetary and military support.
He is using the competitive approach by claiming that the Obama administration has been notably less willing to “buy in” to a strategy of providing deep support to Baghdad than the Bush administration was. He is also waving the threat of Al Qaeda at us by claiming that Iraq could become a safe haven, which would be against the U.S. strategic interest and national security.
Unfortunately his rhetoric seems to be at least partially successful, since the Obama Administration announced this week that it would increase and accelerate delivery to the Iraqi military of surveillance drones, as well as air-to-surface Hellfire missiles. Who pays? The American taxpayer or more likely future generations of your grandchildren.
We've been involved with Iraq for almost 10 years at tremendous cost. What have been the results? Basically none. We have no benefit from their oil. We have been unable to democratize the country, although that was a ridiculous proposal in the first place.
Referring to Mr. Faily's US strategic interest in national security, what are they? Why would we need a presence in the Middle East? We can easily control any potential threat to the US homeland through satellite surveillance, the use of long-range rockets, and drones.
Pres. Obama may be a sucker for Mr. Faily's rhetoric. Let's hope that the Congress is not so naïve.