No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

The True Believers of DoD may have caused the current problems in Iraq

Juan Cole seems to have a scary take on why Iraq is getting more violent now, just before the June 30th handover of power. He blogs about what he heard Senators Biden and Lugar say on the Jim Leherer Show Monday night:

As I read him Biden is passing on what he has heard, that the reason for this gridlock is an internal power struggle within the Bush administration, which has paralyzed decision-making.

If so, it may be that certain forces within the administration took advantage of the lack of a clear reporting line to launch the assault on Muqtada al-Sadr, hoping to effect a fait accompli and forestalling any later State Department attempt to treat with him. If this interpretation is correct, the retreating Department of Defense may sow a lot of land mines for hapless State before June 30.

The "True Believers" of the Department of Defense seem to want to marginalize the more pragmatic people in the State Department before the the handover.

posted by Richard at 2:54 PM