We can feel frustrated but I can't blame the Iraqis. They didn't ask us to invade their country and certainly didn't sign any waivers saying they'd pay for any damage the invasion caused.

But maybe they could give us a tip, just leave a few billion on the table for our trouble...

WTF? That's all I can say. And it will probably get blocked.

It will be used, it's only a matter of time. Things need to be sorted out and they are although be it slowly. This is a circumstance of our own making and I'm certainly not going to rake the Iraqi government over the coals for working under the terms dictated by the situation.

The sad thing is so many americans are going to be boiling mad about this, and saying that the Iraqis should "fix their own mess" (yeah, someone at work has already said this - groan!) without stopping to think that WE created this mess they are in in the first place.

What is even sadder ML is that Iraqis, the people, for the most part are poor, starving, can't go to school due to violence, live without electricity for the most part, and in the most ironic twist of all...they are in desperate need of gasoline for transportation and homes. They have to wait in line for hours just to get a tank in most areas.

I dont want to get flagged by putting in the link, USA TODAY has an article on it "Gas shortage frustrates Iraqis, fuels black market"

I know this isn't a popular opinion, but I do believe Iraq will be better off in the future for what we've done and this to me is an indication of that.

I don't, not b/c I blame the war or Bush or any of that, but my understanding of the middle east and Iraq has led me to believe that the middle east is incapable of any sort of order. Either its dictators and kings who rule with an iron fist or it is complete termoil b/c no country can come together and self govern as a people.

I put the blame on the way the high powers divided the ME into a ridiculous puzzle and the other part of the blame on the history and the effects of the border drawing which led to not one united group.

Zeze, are you saying that the people in the Middle East are incapable of ruling themselves?

I don't want to be too politically incorrect, so I'll say yes and no. Yes, they can not rule themselves the same way "the people" of other countries rule themselves but that largely due to the make up of the middle east.

Democracy or any type of government where the people have a say in the matter have succeeded where there is come unity or understanding among the people - France is "french" for lack of a better term, Britain (their recent gov, not their monarchs) was formed with the rich nobles who all shared similar lineage and backgrounds.

The ME, mostly b/c of what these great powers did, has no unity whatsoever to create any united "people" to self govern. Look at the ME in terms of race, some look African, some look African American, some look German/Aryan. Religion is just the same, part of the ME is jewish (jews and arabs are both "Semitics" and they can't tell each other apart in many instances), some are strict fundamentalist, some are as Muslim as Paris Hilton is Christan (Lebanon, Turkey) and some have all of that and more in the same cities (Baghdad for example has tons of liberal Muslims, strict sunnies and shias, and lots of catholics)....how on earth can such a mix of people come together and cooperate and compromise - especially since these differences have made them compete city and city country and country for the past eternity? Especially when each side has a rich and deep rooted culture and history, because of their many similarities but very distinct differences the ME has been a never ending tug of war between the groups each trying to show its dominance and hold on to its roots by dismissing the other side's roots.

I just don't see how that area will ever resemble peace - the "people" aren't a "people" and when I say they can not govern themselves I dont mean that they are too violent or too stupid or too anything else...what I mean is that there is no "they" in the first place to rule - there are only lumps of groups thrust together, left to fight each other and kill each other off while the rest of the world gets as much as they can gain from their loss.