Oh noes, the neocons just lost their patron saint of Iraq. General David Patraeus, who was the top commander in Iraq and at one time was a possible Republican presidential candidate for neocons and conservatives alike just threw cold water on their calls for air strikes from the United States. (Ed. Note: At this time, at least.)
NBC News:
Gen. David Petraeus, who served as the top commander in Iraq, issued a blunt warning against U.S. military intervention to support of Baghdad's government.
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"This cannot be the United States being the air force of Shia militias or a Shia on Sunni Arab fight," Petraeus told a London conference on Wednesday. "It has to be a fight of all of Iraq against extremists who do happen to be Sunni Arabs but extremists that are wreaking havoc on a country that really had an enormous opportunity back in 2011, has made progress in certain areas but has certainly not capitalized on that enormous opportunity in the way that we had all hoped."
Maliki’s government has been roundly criticized for implementing policies that alienate and disenfranchise Iraq’s Sunni population.
"You cannot have 18 to 20 percent of the population feeling disenfranchised, feeling that it has no stake in the success of the country," Petraeus told the audience at the Margaret Thatcher Conference on Liberty. "There has to be a government that is trusted by all elements of the society.
What is Bill Kristol going to do now?
