Eye Rock and a Hard Place
My opinion is that it was a good idea in theory to remove the regime of the Hitler of the Middle East (Saddam). The original correct reasons (not nukes) to go in to Iraq include:
-They sponsored terrorists by pledging $25,000 to the families of all Hamas suicide bombers. Bush had warned all sponsors of terror and it was too late to back off.
-They attacked their neighbors, Kuwait
-They gassed their own people, the Kurds
-They killed many Shiite and repressed the rest of their majority
-They sent bombs in to residential neighborhoods in Israel, a longtime US ally and only democracy in the Middle East.
-They tortured anyone they didn’t like just like the Nazis.
-The women in their country were kept like slaves
-The country was ruled by a minority of mad men, not the popular will
-The United Nations voted for it unanimously
-The US Congress voted for it in majority
Great reasons to overthrow an evil dictator if there could be any.
Back to the current problems:
-The Iraqis in general do not understand or have any history of democracy
-They have a long history of civil hatred between Sunni and Shiite and Kurd
-They will keep fighting over oil revenue and legacy sectarian differences
-They hate America so spending more American lives, time and money will never get us love and respect
-The Americans allowed inhumane treatment at Abu Gharab which irretrievably sabotaged our reputation
-Many other hideous acts of Americans have been discovered although they are certainly the exception to the best and most respectable fighting force in world history.
-The Europeans, led by the useless French and German governments, have not helped the US in gaining international consensus which would have been required to exert enough pressure on the Sunni, Shiite, and CIA leaders to cut a deal creating civility and stability.
This is the only thing that has any chance of working eventhough it’s a long shot at best and there will be massive bloodshed in advance.
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The US government is the very definition of a large convoluted bureaucracy and its decisions reflect the consensus of the sausage making process. The politicians voted in majority to support an attack on Iraq, and so it was.
Once that happened we realized the president’s PR was all based on false premises disclosed by the CIA. Rational parties may differ as to what they believe the president ostensibly knew for certain.
There were lots of good reasons to destroy Saddam’s regime. But the first problem was that the Bush administration didn’t promote the correct reasons, or do so properly.
In any event the white house spin from ‘02 is just a side show; the real travesty is the horrible execution in the war; and the fact that now there will perpetually be no “right” solution. This means more blood and death and destruction and hate.
BTW, the Iraq police force has no credibility and if the US leaves they will either scatter or be destroyed by Sunni mad men. Also the Shiite death squads will exact revenge on the Sunnis as they are doing now. A big civil war will evolve, while today is a small one with the US in the middle for no possible gain.
I am hoping for a deal between parties that are ready for peace and are tired of perpetuating more suffering for their people.
This isn’t a joke but give me a break anyhow.