The danger is that the longer the fighting and abuses go on the deeper the entrenchment of religious factionalism.
America, anyway, doesn't need any oil from Iraq. Has anyone noticed the price at the pump? Iraq was quiet from 2008 to 2010 until troops were withdrawn. American troops are all over the place, Germany, Korea, Japan/ Okinowa. So just why not in Iraq? They dont want us?..... well in Okinowa,Japan they don't want US troops either. They are present for strategic reasons not at the pleasure of the citizens. Our President should have left those troops in Iraq. In his highly partisan quest to undo everything republicans had done he blew off the security american soldiers had sacrificed for. Sorry, its not about Bush anymore.
To the sunni Increasingly I don’t think there are Iraqis, there are tribes shia, tribes sunni and the Kurds Increasingly I don’t think there is a unified front. There are differing groups with differing agendas The kurds in turkey, Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan, all think of themselves as kurds. The Shia militias I believe are heavily backed by Iran. And as I said the thirty years war went on for 30 years even with all the killing, raping and torture. [SIZE=11pt][/SIZE] [SIZE=11pt]Yes but the Japanese are not shooting at them and attacking the bases. In Iraq I think that in the end you would have had to use force to remain, to basically taken it over as an imperial possession. I’m not sure the American people or the international community would have been happy with that. [/SIZE]
There isn't a unified front, which is why it is difficult to help Iraq (and Syria too). They 'only' have to form a unified front against IS. At first. I put only between '' because I don't see it happening soon either. And their problems are not over when they only unify against terrorists But really,that seems the only way to get rid of IS on the relative short term. And the most practical to give adequate international support. I hope not to most. Not sure either. You?
The US stopped winning "wars" with Korea. There has been no colonial expansion, so why are we engaging in combat? Because we make foolish treaties and are willing to be hired thugs for any perceived cause. Saddam Hussein was always an asshole and a problem for the US going back to Reagan and the USS Stark, hit by a French-made Exocet missile fired by Iraq. Iraq was a trophy war for Bush. During that time another grieving mother, Cindy Sheehan, spoke up and gave Bush most of her attention. The media pushed her to the front and hung on every coached word the people "helping" her could offer. Sheehan even considered running for office when she realized that a LOT of prominent democrats also supported invading Iraq. Her time in the limelight came to an end shortly after she threatened to run against Nancy Pelosi. What I am watching in the middle east is another version of the war we avoided in the late 70s when Carter made the nation look like a bunch of wimps. Iran held US citizens as hostages for over a year and taunted Jimmy daily. The media also dog piled Jimmy, Cronkite kept a running count and ended each broadcast with something like "And that's the news, this the 325th day of captivity for the American hostages in Iran". Reagan came in talking tough but made some kind of side deal to get the hostages released, AFTER the election. Bringing them home allowed Reagan to dig into the US government like a tick. Like Genghis Khan we can see some of the odd good the Reagan created, like bankrupting the soviets with a fake high-tech arms race. But, the horrible side effect is that we have guns in the sky, capable of killing anywhere on the earth. The original space shuttle was to be 1/3 of the size it ultimately became. That extra 2/3 was to satisfy military requirements. So they could put objects the size of a bus into orbit during this "secret military" shuttle missions. But what I see in Iraq is a huge force that will eventually threaten Iran. Iran will have nukes soon because the US let that genie out of the bottle when they should have sat on it. If the black flag turns toward Iran, they'll use the bomb. Iran is willing to bomb their own territory to exterminate invaders. Saddam discovered this though he was never a devoted Muslim. Any nuke in the middle east will cause markets to crash around the world. Also, nobody wants to breathe the smog produced by burning radioactive fossil fuels. I've been expecting a crash for years. We'll see I guess.
Hmm. One third of the population of Europe estimated to have died in the 30 years war. I wonder if this will go that far in the middle east.............
One of the stated goals of the Iraq war was to return control of Iraqi oil wells to the Iraqis. We already seized control of the oil wells after Gulf War I. We'd allow Iraq to pump oil as long as they complied with the cease fire agreement. Saddam refused, so his wells were shut down. Saddam made repeated attempts to build secret pipelines to Syria. Each time we destroyed them. Send in the jets. He wasn't allowed to fly military aircraft either so we had complete control of his airspace. In lieu of the suffering caused by Hussein's refusal to comply, the UN set up an "oil for food" program allowing Iraq to export oil for food and medicine, but as history has shown it was nothing more than a corrupt program that made a lot of UN people rich including Kofie Annan's son, and did nothing to feed the Iraqi people. Complex schemes were used to hide where the money and oil went, as well as to mask how much oil was actually exported. Why do you think the UN refused to enforce any of the....what was it, 19? nineteen sanctions put in place for Iraq's violations (primarily for blocking UN weapons inspectors)? Do you know how much money was at stake? Once Iraq's new government was in place they regained control of their oil fields and handed the contracts for the fields to the Chinese. So no, we weren't trying to seize control of Iraqi oil. We already controlled it. We gave it back, and as proof we still don't control it, they handed all the contracts to China,
Thanks to Fox News. Or maybe they see permanent occupation as the only answer. A lot of people wish we hadn't invaded to begin with, but understand that withdrawing after invasion isn't the same thing. This is an egg that can't be unscrambled. It appears that Saddam is the only person who knew how to run Iraq and keep it in one piece. There is a real chance that a sovereign Kurdistan could end up including a piece of Turkey. As a member of NATO, we're obligated to oppose this.
Asmo [SIZE=11pt]To the sunni[/SIZE] [SIZE=11pt][/SIZE] [SIZE=11pt]Not every Irish catholic supported the IRA but enough did, and recruits were found and many gave financial support and a lot of money was given by Irish-Americans. [/SIZE] [SIZE=11pt]The is a report from the UN that says that there are over 25,000 foreign fighters with ISIS and other such groups and they have come from over 100 countries, its estimated that 700 have come from the UK. [/SIZE]
