thijs,

I'm sorry. Genova is one of yours, not one of mine, and since he represents "academia" and the pseudo-intellectual left, what more can I say? If Columbia University wasn't accepting what he said, why in hell does he even have a job at this juncture? It's time for people like him to be weeded out of institutions of higher learning. Their sentiments are way too radical to be passed on as "the gospel" in classrooms. If you're looking for a parallel, you could compare it to the Muslim Fundamentalist schools where they teach hatred for the west.

Of course the Iraqis don't trust us. Would you? We pulled out of Iraq during the Gulf War, after the rose up to fight against the Baath party. Of course we pulled out because the UN said it had to be done. If you're looking for a scape goat for what happened, you might want to look at that "no longer viable" group of people who didn't give a damn what would happen to the Shia. Don't "conveniently" place this on the shoulders of the U.S. because it feeds your views. That's hypocrisy.

The issue with the Kurds has been constant war since not long after WWI, when Kurdistan was put to rest. If you're looking for a scape goat there, look at the world powers, not the U.S., and blame them for what's happening. If the Kurds find at one nation where they are part of the system, that may help. At least this is the first step towards allowing them to surface again as someone who has a home, instead of "outsiders" no matter where they live.

Isn't it quite a reach though, on your part, to bring up the Kurdish issue as a reason we shouldn't be in Iraq?

One thing I will say. I do enjoy your posts. At least there's thought that goes into them, unlike someone else's which I expect to see flowered up with Che Guevera poems soon......

Wolf