Why They Hate Us

If you want a single, anecdotal story that is occurring daily in Iraq and clearly explains why they want us out more than anything else, give this a read.

I have a theory. Just like in America, a majority of the Iraqi's want the U.S. out of Iraq. So why hasn't the Iraqi government voted us out? As occurred in Vietnam, the current government has two motivations to keep the U.S. in Iraq. One is protection ... if the U.S. leaves the current leaders will be immediately "expendable" shall we say. But a second reason is money. As long as the U.S. is in Iraq, government officials can continue to siphon off all the money they'll ever need and salt it away. Then when the inevitable fall occurs, they'll be set for life outside of Iraq.

It's going to take a full scale violent overthrow of the Iraq government to change this dynamic, or a U.S. withdrawal. While the latter doesn't seem too imminent, the reappearance of Sadr along with the the key Iraqi government leaders being out of country this summer (including Talabani's famous visit to a U.S. fat farm to lose weight), you have to wonder about a coup. I hope al Maliki doesn' t forget his Swiss account number when he's running for that helicopter.