The Favourable Catch 22
August 25, 2008, Matthew Good Being ‘gifted’ independence is a tricky thing. In some parts of the world more than others…
“Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki said Monday there would be no security agreement between the United States and Iraq without an unconditional timetable for withdrawal— a direct challenge to the Bush administration, which insists that the timing for troop departure would be based on conditions on the ground.
“No pact or an agreement should be set without being based on full sovereignty, national common interests, and no foreign soldier should remain on Iraqi land, and there should be a specific deadline and it should not be open,” Maliki told a meeting of tribal Sheikhs in Baghdad.
Maliki said that the United States and Iraq had agreed that all foreign troops would be off Iraqi soil by the end of 2011. “There is an agreement actually reached, reached between the two parties on a fixed date, which is the end of 2011, to end any foreign presence on Iraqi soil,” Maliki said.
But the White House disputed Maliki’s statement and made clear the two countries are still at odds over the terms of a U.S. withdrawal.
“Any decisions on troops will be based on conditions on the ground in Iraq ,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto said in Crawford, Tex. , where President Bush is vacationing. “That has always been our position. It continues to be our position.”
Fratto denied Maliki’s assertion that an agreement has been reached mandating that all foreign forces be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.”
Of course any future decisions will be based on conditions on the ground. And as long as foreign troops occupy the country you can bet that there’s going to be unrest on some level. It’s the ‘favourable’ catch 22.
The Russians can get the hell of out Georgia though. The Bush Administration can push Moscow’s buttons infinitum and we can label it justified. But as far as the Iraqis are concerned, well, demanding that foreign forces set a timetable for withdrawal isn’t in the cards. Their real estate is too valuable.
Funny how that works.
This little symbol lets you @ another comment
Hey, Im sorry if this catches you off guard, but being a huge fan of yours, my friend just sent me a text saying that you and a member of your band were killed last week changing a tire on the side of the road…I have been explaining to her that this is impossible, cause it would have been mentioned on your site and you wouldn’t be making blogs posts. Anyways, Im freaked out about this, and Im sorry that it has nothing to do with this post…I just needed to let you know.
You would think people actually would verify easily verifiable information before disseminating misinformation. Incompetence is no excuse for your friend, Amie. Musician or not, you don’t act so maliciously about other people. You must not fail to have some reverence in your life.
It scares me how fucked up people are.
The bluff is finally being called , and the response was what I thought it would be “there, there sweetie, let mommy cut your meat then you can eat it.” I guess the real question is what are the legal ramifications if they refuse to start leaving after January or refuse to acknowledge the government of Iraq’s requests?
[quote comment="62976"]You would think people actually would verify easily verifiable information before disseminating misinformation. Incompetence is no excuse for your friend, Amie. Musician or not, you don’t act so maliciously about other people. You must not fail to have some reverence in your life.
It scares me how fucked up people are.[/quote]
thats what i thought…agreed!
Legal ramifications if they refuse to leave? You get 15 years for smoking pot, but for this - just let it slide…
If future U.S. government considers its options, they should quickly realize that all they can do is: set the date (or confirm the one already set - it will be economically unrealistic for the U.S. to bring all those troops home earlier without redeploying them somewhere else), sign the paper and leave Iraq as promised whatever the conditions on the ground may be. Iraq will have to fend for itself since democracy brought them neither cleaner water nor better education nor better medical systems.
If U.S. have any wits about them, they will remember to declare Victory, just as Russia did when they left Afghanistan 10 years too late…
For godsake, how many times do you have to be told; the drummer changes the tires!!!!
Yossarian looked at him soberly and tried another approach. “Is Orr crazy?”
“He sure is,” Doc Daneeka said.
“Can you ground him?”
“I sure can but first he has to ask me to. That’s part of the rule.”
“Then why doesn’t he ask you to?”
“Because he’s crazy,” Doc Daneeka said. “He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he’s had. Sure I can ground Orr. But first he has to ask me to.”
“That’s all he has to do to be grounded?”
“That’s all. Let him ask me.”
“And then you can ground him?” Yossarian asked.
“No, then I can’t ground him.”
“You mean there’s a catch?”
“Sure there is a catch,” Doc Daneeka replied. “Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy.”
~ Catch 22 Joseph Heller 1961
… ” “Do I have a share?”
“Everybody has a share.”
“Does Orr have a share?”
“Everybody has a share.”
“And Hungry Joe? He has a share, too?”
“Everybody has a share.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” mused Yossarian, deeply impressed with the idea of a share for the very first time.
Milo turned toward him with a faint glimmer of mischief. “I have a sure-fire plan for cheating the federal government out of six thousand dollars. We can make three thousand dollars apiece without any risk to either of us…
~ Catch 22 Joseph Heller 1961
If you read the book, you’ll know why I’m putting this in…