Are we taking the wrong approach in Iraq?
Humor me for a second with a thought experiment... Is it really to our advantage to crush the terrorists in Iraq? Surely the answer to this is yes. It is to our advantage to crush the terrorists anywhere we can... Iraq is just their current playground.
However, let's think about it the other way... Given that
a) It is unlikely that we'll ever fully counteract terrorists on the field of battle, and
b) It will be a long time before we can win a significant, lasting sociological victory against them
Is it to our advantage to fight them in Iraq?
I think the answer to this might just be "No"...
Consider the thought of a Iraqi, terrorist state... That's scary to some but to many it's just fine. At least we'd know where they were. At least we'd know who to hit back it when push came to shove. At least we'd have a political target to focus on as well. I'm really starting to lean towards a divided Iraq. Let the Kurds, who have generally always been our friends, have their rich oil deposits. Let the Sunnis in the South have their rich oil deposits and let the Shiites in the Middle get neither... Yes, this is cruel, but it eliminates two problems:
a) it focuses our attention to an area tha tis much smaller then where we're trying to look in to now
b) it reduces and in many cases eliminates the sectarian killings resultant from heavily divers concentrations of various peoples.
Remember, it took 15 years between our first continental congress and the formation of our government... I recognize that technology allows a much higher speed of communication (witness this blog)... But I can't help but think that for every day saved by technology, there is a day (or more!) lost to sectarian infighting...
Given all of this, that partitioning is sounding pretty good... It eliminates (or greatly reduces) the possibility of mass genocide in Iraq and it leaves us with clear targets with clear national identities and borders... Isn't that the best situation for us?
2 Comments:
So yeah... through a very strange result set in a search I was doing for work just now, I managed to find this blog of yours.
Just thought I'd give you a hello from sunny California. My best to family, friends, and all.
Hope the current heat wave isn't murder for you.
--BC
First, you mixed up Shiites and Sunnis. The Shiites are in the south with the oil reserves. The Sunnis are in the middle with very little oil.
I've been saying what you're saying all along, but in a little bit different way. I say, just leave. If we leave Iraq ASAP they will break up on their own because that is the natural course of things when people don't want to be grouped together, they disband. Now, there might be some pissed off Sunnis because they get the short end of the stick but that's what they get for supporting Saddam Hussein's brutality against Kurds and Shiites and besides that they only really have justifiable claims for the resources of the land they inhabit anyway.
I disagree we will only have to deal with terrorists in Sunni areas however, as the Shiites will probably take a lot of direction from Iran, which is the Shia world leader for all intents and purposes. How do we handle that? Stop threatening Iran, and just have regular diplomatic ties with them, open up the dialogue. It may be uncomfortable and it may not lead to much but this is how grown-ups settle differences, by talking with those with whom they disagree, or they too go their separate ways. Let Israel handle the nuclear ambitions of Iran. They are more than capable of defending themselves and having an Iran that is antagonistic towards the U.S. serves us no purpose.
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