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Anthony Shadid of the New York Times reports that American officials are finally getting worried about the long impasse that’s prevented the formation of an Iraqi government five months after parliamentary elections were held. However:

In the end, many officials expect an eventual agreement on some sort of consensus government so inclusive as to be woefully weak, unable to assert itself and beset by stalemate over the laws necessary to shape post-American Iraq.

Smells like victory!

The gist of the article is that American planners never had a clue about what they were doing, Iraqi politicians have been feckless and conniving, and regional politics is relentless at turning everything into a quagmire. In other words, the entire venture was fubar from the beginning. But you probably already knew that, didn’t you?

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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