U.S. military official:"a peaceful segregated (society) one is better than a violent integrated one"

[sabra]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/21475.html

<snip>

One U.S. military official credits the positive changes around the capital to a series of factors: a six-month cease-fire by the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia blamed for much of the sectarian killing; blast walls that segregate neighborhoods and protect markets; the U.S. troop surge; a Sunni volunteer movement; and less opportunity for sectarian cleansing with neighborhoods divided or already cleansed.

"Realistically, given everything that has happened in the past two years, I suspect that we will have segregated neighborhoods for a time to let civil society build," said a senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak. "While we would all prefer an integrated society, a peaceful segregated one is better than a violent integrated one."

[Solly Mack]

1. wow...just wow

[peace13]

2. Gotta love that Democracy spreadin'

one noose at a time. Too sad.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Can somebody tell me just what the U.S. military has been doing in

Iraq from, say, late 2003 until the "surge" in early 2007? Did we NEED to lose thousands of soldiers for this result--segregated neighborhoods, blast walls, ethnic cleansing, militias? All this time, the Iraqis were settling themselves into what they were destined to be without Saddam--a disjointed society of little fiefdoms--this is what we're hailing now as some sort of half-victory. Why the fuck did we ever need to be in the middle of it? We should have helped the Iraqis set up a government, given humanitarian/reconstruction aid, guarded their borders, and got the hell out of the way and let them figure this out for themselves. We didn't even need to be there to fight AQ--the Sunnis took care of that themselves.

[Betsy Ross]

4. First impression was that the story was about the US.

Didn't folks say this during our civil rights movement? Separate but equal?

[aquart]

5. Ethnic cleansing is so peaceful and serene.

Like visiting a cemetery.

[L. Coyote]

6. Paraphrasing, "If you can't steal all the oil, at least find a way to steal part of it."

[old guy]

7. Once his military career is over,

He looks to be highly qualified for a political career in the repub party.