OT: End of war in Iraq

[StainlessSteelCynic]

So what you're saying is that the war hasn't ended for Iraq, it's ended for the USA

Originally Posted by mikeo80

This is my opinion. Let the brick-a-bracks start to fly.

IF I were an Iraqi citizen, and I saw the US Army leaving, I would be leaving right with them.

I have a bad feeling that Iraq is going to turn into another Cambodia/Laos/Vietnam. When the US pulled out, we know of at least 2 MILLION dead in Cambodia. We have no clue how many in Laos or (South) Vietnam.

I can VERY easily see Al-qaida, with full backing of Iran, killing everyone and any one who had ANY dealing with US. Look what Saddam did to the Kurds. I think this will be even worse.

And just like we did nothing after SE Asia fell, we will do nothing when SW Asia falls. Can Kuwait, Saudi etc be far behind??

My $0.02

Mike

[Webstral]

The war hasn't ended for anybody. No matter what reasons we choose to believe about the US invasion of Iraq, the reasons for being there will rear their ugly heads soon enough. A chaotic Iraq is a far better hiding ground for terrorists than Iraq under Hussein ever was. Chaos will threaten the flow of oil. Chaos is good for certain monied interests, but for the most part chaos creates an undesirable investment climate. No matter how one looks at the problem, renewed war in Iraq brings all our reasons for being in Iraq in the first place back into focus.

[pmulcahy11b]

The biggest mistake we made in the Iraq War was starting it in the first place.

[kota1342000]

Exactly Paul. Its been painful watching the sharp sword of our military being used to beat rocks for no good reason.

[mikeo80]

And the chaos begins.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/201...D9RPI8200.html

My $0.02

Mike

[Odie]

Yup, stay tuned for Iraq III. I believe we will be back there again in a few short years.

[Legbreaker]

I can't. The US is too deeply in debt to afford to go back. Iraq will be left to decay into a bunch of warring factions for the next decade or two.
The US will try to put pressure on other countries to move in, but I can't see anyone all that willing who's got a military large enough to make a difference. We might also see UN peacekeepers, but as usual they'll be woefully short of manpower and hamstrung by ROE.

[Nowhere Man 1966]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

The biggest mistake we made in the Iraq War was starting it in the first place.

I supported it at first, but looking back in retrospect, it was a mistake. As bad as Saddam was, he would have been a lot better than what could happen now, at least he was a check again Iran, now it seems we have a vacuum. Nature abhores vacuums, something will move in and it is most likely Iran. It is a noble thing to bring a represenative form of government over there, but unless we assume almost dictatorial powers for a while like we did with Japan and Germany to re-engineer them, it is a lost cause. It is a different world over there, they do not know our values nor do they care or understand them. Most likely the people would vote themselves an Islamic dictatorship and things go downhill. I think we broke it over there and it is a choice between a rock and a hard place and if we want to keep Iran out, we should have stayed over there. Maybe WOPR from War Games is right, the winning move is not to play.