Talk about shutdown - look to Iraq

If anyone wants to see a country that’s really shut down, look to Iraq. The catastrophe our $3 trillion criminal war there caused continues apace. So far this year, more than 6,000 Iraqis have died in sectarian violence unleashed by our March 2003 war. Our military was kicked out on Dec. 31, 2011, because we couldn’t negotiate immunity from the Iraqi government for servicemen accursed of violent crime after that date. In 2005, we built a $730 million Citizen Kane-style Xanadu embassy, our largest in the world, to control our newest Middle East ally. Now it stands nearly empty as we withdraw most of our diplomatic staff from a country we’ve given up on. At the end of the year only 1,000 diplomatic personnel protected by 4,500 security folks will remain. Our puppet government under Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, has come to life Pinocchio-style and is cozying up to our main bete noirs there, Iran and Syria. Meanwhile back in Texas, the architect of the Iraqi shutdown, George W. Bush, is chopping wood and riding his bike relentlessly while he ponders his sinking place in history as our worst president and biggest war criminal. Walt Zlotow Glen Ellyn