Iraq: Juan Cole Interview

This is worth the read/listen/watch. Democracy Now! is a radio & TV program that is available on the net. In this segment they interview Juan Cole (www.juancole.com) an expert on Iraq that gives details on how the U.S. can best disengage from this conflict. Here are some excerpts.

I think it's hard for Americans to realize the ethos there. I'm not sure we could get a big car loan from most of our first cousins, but in Iraq, family really matters. And so, the U.S. military, by its tactics, has been incurring a series of feuds with all of the major clans in Iraq.

I think there are political steps that need to be taken. The Iraqi -- present Iraqi government, dominated by Shiite religious parties and Kurds, has been extremely harsh towards the Sunni Arabs. They have adopted punitive policies towards ex-Baathists. Almost anybody who was anybody in the old Iraq was a member of the Baath Party, and most of those people hadn't committed any crimes personally.