I’m not so sure it will be as hard as people think. I’m afraid I don’t recall where I found the study results, but they’d taken polls of Iraqis and concluded that there was pretty good support for a western-style secular democracy. Not 100%, but 60% openly in favor of it. There was only 30% of the [I forget what the Iranians are, Sunni or Shiite, but that was it) who advocated that sort of system.
I think the big problem with going down the religious nation road is that these people have been watching the outside world: Iran and Saudia Arabia and Afganistan, and they don’t want to end up like that either. Iraq has been a secularized nation for a long time, since Saddam wouldn’t tolerate any religious challenge to his rule.
True, this is going to be a hard road to forge a new government. but Karzai is doing it in Afganistan, despite the fact that it should be much harder there. It can be done, and most people in Iraq don’t seem to be objecting. Of course, there are Baathists trying desperately to attack us, but that will fail.
I really don’t think he cares that much about it. Frankly, it was always obvious that attacking Iraq would in no way help him or any oil companies, nor would it increase US supplies of oil. people simply assumed the connection and then made up theories to justify the assumption.
[quopte]why doesn’t he simply declare, “As of [insert date of your choosing here] we’re pulling out. The rest of the world can sit back and watch or they can move in and help restore the society, the U. S. doesn’t care.”
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I don’t think you or, indeed, most of the people on this board understand what is going on here. Taking Iraq was neccessary, ultimately for one reason: to transform it. And to show the Arab world (for Afganistan is not part of that world) that they can succeed without trying to tear down everyone else. And that our culture offers a better way than blind hate or Arab Nationalism. The goal here is not to crush Iraq or any Arab nation, but to make them wake up and recognize they’ve been going down a dead end.
this is already happening. There are new articles and stories in the Arab press questioning why they are such failures: questioning those failed government’s right to rule.
Well, that and the fact that Sadam was a major benefactor of several terrorist groups, although not usually the ones that wanted to get rid of him.
You may disagree with the ideas we Pubbies are using in this, but our actions and beliefs are logical, stem from the evidence, and internally consistent. So far, I believe the war for Iraq has been successful, despite the unforeseen assassination campaign. We have a people looking for something more than dictatorship and wanting to avoid war, a new shakeup of the old systems which, I believe will bring about a new and better era in the ME, and so forth.
Or, it might all fall apart like a house of cards and we could all die.
“But then, how would that be different from any other day” -Morpheus (God, I love that line)