Harvesting History

Has violence actually picked up since the end of the election? Or is this just now the “hot” news item which was so carelessly swept under the rug by the media’s infatuation with the Presidential election? For the last couple of days there has been REPORTED an increase in violence in Baghdad (see article below). There are many reasons which could explain the violence, none of which have to do with the Presidential election results: an increse in Shiite-Sunni tensions, upcoming Iraq elections, or the new Security Pact which would keep US troops in Iraq until the end of 2011. However, one has to wonder why now? Why not a month earlier or a month later? “… in the first nine days of November, there were at least 19 bombings in Baghdad, compared with 28 for all of October and 22 in September, according to an Associated Press tally.” Has America’s decision to elect Obama as President been seen on the international stage as a sign of weakness? Are insurgent forces in Iraq increasing tensions to ensure that Obama follows through with his pledge to reduce US forces in Iraq? Will an increase in violence do the exact opposite and force Obama to keep troops in Iraq longer and at higher levels than he had committed to during the election? Maybe we will all forget about this in a couple of days when Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton does their next amazing act of stupidity.

Deadly bombings hit Baghdad for third straight day

This post was submitted by mmwebster4.