General Abboud Qanbar, former top Iraqi military commander in Baghdad told his nation’s parliament that American officers warned Iraqi security forces that suicide bombers would be making a series of blasts, but that no extra precautions were taken about this possibility. What is the meaning of this comment? Does it suggest there are still deep divisions within Iraqi security forces concerning al-Qaeda or do divisions stem from the historic Sunni-
Shiite conflict? But, this story also has a cautionary warning about American efforts in Afghanistan. The right wing American media never ceases boasting about the “success” of the famous “surge” even though almost daily there are bomb blasts in Baghdad. What is the message stemming from these suicide bombers?

Reality is that two or three or five years from now we can expect conflict and death in Afghanistan and Obama’s promise of removing troops beginning in 2011 is pie in the sky as far as Afghanistan goes. They will be fighting in Afghanistan for years to come.