My Fear About Iraq

[iamjoy]

I don't support the troop surge. I think we have made a mess of Iraq.

But I fear that once we are gone, Malaki will not have the will or the means to step up to the plate. The sectarian violence will further degenerage until Iraq becomes another Kosovo or Sudan.

Or, worse, Saudi Arabia and Iran would start battling over Iraq, presumably to protect their bretheren (Sunni/Shiite), but not really there to help - only to advance their own interests.

Tell me I'm wrong. Please, please tell me how and why I'm wrong. Tell me how this can come out good.

[hiaasenrocks]

1. I don't think it matters when we leave.

We could leave tomorrow and the violence would increase dramatically. Or, we could stay another year or two, and the day after we leave the violence will increase dramatically.

I wouldn't spend too much time thinking about what Malaki will do when we leave. He'll be dead or deposed inside of a week of our exit.

None of this is good. I don't think anyone wants to see this happen. However, some of us never wanted any part of this to begin with.

It's infuriating to listen to the war enthusiasts say, "There are no good options, but this is the best of the bad plans." You know what? Screw that. Once someone says "there are no good options," their first priority should be to save American lives. And that is done with a phased withdrawal, to begin immediately.

[iamjoy]

2. So, Would We Allow Genocide

rather than let Americans die?

Mind you, I am not being contrary just to be contrary, but because I'm so upset by the situation. I think there are people in Iraq just like you and me (but less politically aware). At one time, they had jobs (or went to school), they lived in nice houses, they had family and friends. They didn't dwell on how Sadaam Hussein affected their daily lives, any more than some Americans think about how our president affects their lives on a daily basis. They didn't think much more about the whole Sunni Shi'ite conflict, they just went about their daily lives - that was sufficient for them. They watched television and played games.

Now, utilities they once took for granted (just as most of us do) are gone, or unreliable. There are no jobs, they can't send their kids to school. But they don't care, at this point, they're happy to just survive (literally). They don't want the violence, but they are powerless to stop it. I think of them and it just makes me so sad.

Can we really walk away?

[hiaasenrocks]

4. Yes, we can walk away from it.

I believe we have a moral obligation to try to prevent the worst from happening. I also believe that we have a moral obligation to recognize that the people we would send over there can only do so much, and at some point, we're sending them into a grinder. While we have a moral obligation to attempt to prevent mass killing, we also have a moral duty to not add to it by continuing a futile pursuit of something that may not be achievable.

It's awful.

[malaise]

5. Nearly 700,000 Iraqis are already dead

because of this illegal invasion and occupation. When does it become genocide?

[Katherine Brengle]

3. I have to agree...

our troops didn't start this war. They didn't ask for it, they didn't order themselves into Iraq.

No one deserves to die here.

But the only deaths we can truly prevent are the deaths of American troops.

Iraqis are dying, sometimes hundreds a day, even though we are there.

There is no easy solution. There is no solution that prevents bloodshed.

:(

[KharmaTrain]

6. You're Just Scratching The Surface

Of all countries to screw with, this regime goes into the most divided, yet, until 1990, the most Western of the countries in the region. Boooshie has succeded in creating enemies of allies and making common cause with the same forces he says are against us. :crazy:

With hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have already fled, the country long ago entered the "ethnic cleansing" era...entire neighborhoods and towns being "cleansed" while our military stands nearby. Malaki is walking a tightrope that he's due to fall from...playing too many sides against each other.

Besides the Saudis coming in to help the Sunnis (which already is going on) and the Iranians assisting the Shiite, there's Turkey to the north...the real achillies heel that could erupt into a real mess. Should the Kurds take control of Kirkuk and the oil fields around it, that could open the door to both Sunnis and Shiites (who have been pouring into the area) to attack the Kurds (especially if Malaki uses Kurdish soldiers in Baghdad)...and if things get out of control, look for Turkey to get involved; turning this into a three-front mess.

The only good that can come out of this is getting our troops out and out now and letting the chips fall where they might. It's gonna happen anyway. Any "progress" the US claims it has made in this country is temporary...either we get out of the way now or face another April, 1975, Saigon style.

[Jonathan50]

7. Pontius Pilate "washed his hands"

And Pilate wasn't the one who initiated the persecution of Jesus the Christ.

Pilate is not a particularly sympathetic character.

[KG]

8. US military is doing absolutely nothing to keep the factions apart, merely

adding to the death and misery.