Disagreeable
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Link below; my emphasis.
"[b]There will be no political epiphany[/b]," Bing West, a former Marine and former assistant secretary of defense, said last week. "The vote on the constitution will not change the fundamental feelings" roiling Iraq, added West, author of eight books on insurgency and the war in Iraq.
West spoke last Friday at the Heritage Foundation, the largest of Washington's conservative think tanks, which often reflects mainstream conservative thinking in the Capitol.
"We are pinning too much hope on politics to end this war," he said. "It won't. Brute force will end this war."
Saturday's vote on a constitution, which is under attack by Iraq's Sunni minority, provides a golden opportunity for the insurgents who have killed or wounded thousands of Iraqis and Americans since Saddam Hussein was overthrown in April 2003, said Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
"The political situation provides a win-win situation for the insurgents," Eisenstadt said.
If Sunnis manage to get the needed two-thirds vote in three of Iraq's 18 provinces to block the constitution, "it gives them the ability to fight and negotiate," he added. Many of the insurgents are Sunnis and former Baathists still smarting over Hussein's downfall. Others are jihadists, waging a Muslim holy war, analysts say.
"And if it passes over Sunni objections ... insurgents can use it as a recruiting tool," added Eisenstadt.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/11/MNGEGF6L7T1.DTL
"[b]There will be no political epiphany[/b]," Bing West, a former Marine and former assistant secretary of defense, said last week. "The vote on the constitution will not change the fundamental feelings" roiling Iraq, added West, author of eight books on insurgency and the war in Iraq.
West spoke last Friday at the Heritage Foundation, the largest of Washington's conservative think tanks, which often reflects mainstream conservative thinking in the Capitol.
"We are pinning too much hope on politics to end this war," he said. "It won't. Brute force will end this war."
Saturday's vote on a constitution, which is under attack by Iraq's Sunni minority, provides a golden opportunity for the insurgents who have killed or wounded thousands of Iraqis and Americans since Saddam Hussein was overthrown in April 2003, said Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
"The political situation provides a win-win situation for the insurgents," Eisenstadt said.
If Sunnis manage to get the needed two-thirds vote in three of Iraq's 18 provinces to block the constitution, "it gives them the ability to fight and negotiate," he added. Many of the insurgents are Sunnis and former Baathists still smarting over Hussein's downfall. Others are jihadists, waging a Muslim holy war, analysts say.
"And if it passes over Sunni objections ... insurgents can use it as a recruiting tool," added Eisenstadt.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/11/MNGEGF6L7T1.DTL
