De facto they most certainly have.

Iraq has been broken into virtual sectarian regions. Shia, Suni, and Kurds are not living in harmony there. This is EXACTLY what was predicted in 2002 by myself and plenty of others on the left.

Iraq has not been divided into 3 separate states. As these excerpts from earlier this week indicate, Iraq is heading toward a true democracy.

“Iraqi political leaders reached an agreement on Monday that resolved a stalemate over the fate of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and will allow local elections to go ahead, the deputy speaker of Parliament said.”

“On Tuesday Iraq’s parliament passed a law setting guidelines for provincial elections.”

“Iraq’s government regard local elections as essential to developing democracy and promoting national reconciliation, key goals that will help stabilize the country.”

And to show how the press is ignoring the gaffe machine Biden, consider today’s news:

MILWAUKEE - Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden met with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on Friday but didn’t let reporters in as the pair posed for photographers at the beginning of the session.

And guess what? No howling of protests by the press. They just said OK, no big deal.

This was actually an astute ovservation. If I’m not mistaken, it was made pre-surge. Within Iraq, the Sunnis Shiites and Kurds have been fighting, jostling and basically at each others throats for centuries. Longer than there has been an Iraq. The ethnic cleansing and division of Iraq into three sections had largely taken place already. While the surge was a smart change in tactics from how the war was originally run, it could not have been successful without the previous amount of ethnic cleansing. The surge also required tens of thousands of additional American troops, hundreds of billions of addition dollars spent (as opposed to bringing all troops home or even a gradual troop reduction).

Centuries of animosity! And the U.S., with its depleted armed forces, is going to make these adversaries happy in a few years time? When America leaves Iraq, the Sunni-Shiite-Kurd battles will resume. Tito kept a lid on Yugoslavia for fifty years, and think of what happened when he died. Same in Iraq.

The best course for peace is to support the Kurds directly and let the other groups work it out. There could very likely be a Iraq civil war between Shiite and Sunni; but that war needn’t consume the American military or economy. We desparately need the time to rebuild our military and restore its readiness for defending America. We shouldn’t continue to squander our military in an unwinnable war started on whim.

Oh, I see. You mean like Joe Biden’s big “foreign affairs” proposal just two years ago to divide Iraq into 3 sections? Of course, this would have caused many more problems. Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds in the “wrong” area would be pressured out whether socially or by force, regardless of how long they had lived somewhere. The Shiite portion of Iraq would be deeply tied to Iran. Independent Kurdistan would cause an absolute split between the US and Turkey.

Beyond all this, dividing oil rights would be an absolute hell that would almost certainly lead to future war.

But good ole slow Joe “Plugs” Biden thought it was a great “foreign affairs” solution.

For your information, I am one of Biden’s biggest supporters for the VP slot. Please keep him running. He needs more press coverage. The current 3 reporters in the Biden 150 seat airplane are just not cutting it. This is just another wonderful example of Obama’s decision skills.

Yet, jbenson2, in 2004, was an avid supporter of the human gaffe machine George W. Bush.

And JBenson, whatever world it is you’re living in good luck. Joe Biden has made a lot of gaffes in this campaign (and not just in this campaign) but what separates him from Sarah Palin is an actual understanding of how Government works, an in depth knowledge of foreign affairs and the ability to string a sentence together.

Sarah Palin is lacking in all three categories. Sean

I suggest you hold your breath until that happens. A plastic bag will help.