# What's next after Iraq? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 20, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705 "2003-01-20T00:11:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705/1 "2003-01-20T00:11:19Z")
Assuming Junior gets his war and assuming the US wins, what comes next? Presumably we will be able to return our attention to the war on terror (because, lets face it, Iraq has squat connection to terrorism whatever Our Glorious Leaders may say). Where are al qaeda now that they’ve been ousted from Afghanistan? They are dispersed throughout the world of course but where is the centre of operations? I would say there are a number of places where they could be regrouping - north Pakistan, north Iraq, Algeria but my favourite would be Somalia. There’s no real central government in Somalia, therefore nobody to clamp down on terror groups. I’m wondering whether things are going to get lively down in Somalia in the next year or two. ---
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705/2 "2003-01-20T00:16:42Z")
America’s focus _should_ be Israel of course. If they could sort out the Israel problem then they may find that there aren’t so many muslims in the world who dislike the US. But, sadly, Bushies don’t seem very interested in that problem. ---
**Author:** ![TVAA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TVAA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVAA)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705/3 "2003-01-20T00:22:52Z")
Today the world, tomorrow the solar system! ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705/4 "2003-01-20T00:31:19Z")
[Here’s](http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/images/war.094.gif) one plan. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705/5 "2003-01-20T00:43:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jojo \* > Presumably we will be able to return our attention to the war on terror Perhaps your attention has been turned away, and certainly the media as well. That doesn’t change the fact that there are still folks engaged in this mission all over the world. Just because you don’t hear about it, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. > [@](#): > > (because, lets face it, Iraq has squat connection to terrorism whatever Our Glorious Leaders may say). Wasn’t Saddam giving some $25,000.00 to families of suicide bombers? Is this not a connection to terrorism? > [@](#): > > Where are al qaeda now that they’ve been ousted from Afghanistan? They are dispersed throughout the world of course but where is the centre of operations? I would say there are a number of places where they could be regrouping - north Pakistan, north Iraq, Algeria but my favourite would be Somalia. There’s no real central government in Somalia, therefore nobody to clamp down on terror groups. > > I’m wondering whether things are going to get lively down in Somalia in the next year or two. It would seem that Al Qaeda still remains a small problem in Afghanistan, hence our continued presence there. The U.S. military is still coming under fire in certain regions. You’re right, though. Somalia and like nations would be difficult to deal with should Al Qaeda take a strong hold there. > [@](#): > > America’s focus should be Israel of course. Such is life for America. Your damned if you do, your damned if you don’t. In _focusing_ on Israel, what specifically should we be doing? ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705/6 "2003-01-20T00:48:24Z")
The funny thing is, Mars may actually be the next big thing [http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/nuclear\_power\_030117.html](http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/nuclear_power_030117.html) and the Straightdope thread on the subject [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=157292&perpage=50&pagenumber=1](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=157292&perpage=50&pagenumber=1) ---
**Author:** ![harrypower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e99b99/32.png) [@harrypower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harrypower)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705/7 "2003-01-20T00:51:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Such is life for America. Your damned if you do, your damned if you don’t. In focusing on Israel, what specifically should we be doing? How about pressuring israel to comply to UN resolutions rather than giving them Billions in military aid. ---
**Author:** ![bagkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bagkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bagkitty)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705/8 "2003-01-20T02:28:55Z")
I’m laying my money on an intervention in Venezuela… after all, these wars are about oil… and how long has it been since the yanks were involved in Latin America… let’s see, on a large scale, not since funding the terrorist Contras… so, my bet seems likely… it’s probably just about their turn again…:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705/9 "2003-01-20T03:25:41Z")
I sorta think that this war was planned from the start and 9/11 just got in the way and delayed it. I don’t think this is the second war in the line of wars to fight, its the first, the afganistan thing was just delaying something that was planned for much earlyer ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705/10 "2003-01-20T04:03:53Z")
Gee, I was kinda hoping Bus & Co would consider placing the US economy somewhere on the agenda. I know that’s asking quite a bit when you consider world domination looks better on the post-presidential resume than just any ol’ domestic issue. A few weeks ago NBC News (no cite) reported that Bush is the first president since the Great Depression to have an economy where there is a _net loss_ of private sector jobs (down 1.2 percent). The NBC report said even in our worst recessions between the Great Depression and now, private sector job _growth_ was only 0.4 percent at the worst. Bush is presiding over a _net loss_. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-next-after-iraq/149705/11 "2003-01-20T04:47:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jojo \* > \*\*America’s focus _should_ be Israel of course. If they could sort out the Israel problem then they may find that there aren’t so many muslims in the world who dislike the US. But, sadly, Bushies don’t seem very interested in that problem. \*\* I’m inclined to disagree. I just read what I thought was a very informative article in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs (sadly not available on-line for free as far as I know) Michael Scott Doran entitled ‘Palestine, Iraq, and American Strategy’ in which he argues that although many Muslim groups talk about Israel, they are using it as a method through which to challenge the Arab governments and express resistance to ‘Western political and cultural hegemony’. > [@](#): > > …one needs to understand that the cause of Palestine is so deeply wrapped up with fundamental questions of identity in the Arab and Muslim worlds that a simple reference to it reveals almost nothing about the speaker’s political agenda. A call to action over it, on the other hand, especially when accompanied by implied or overt criticism of government inaction, does reveal something: the speaker’s opposition to the status quo. What the [Bin Laden statement connecting the struggle against America with the struggle for Palestine] shows, therefore, is bin Laden advancing his candidacy as an avenger, an opponent of the West and the corrupt Arab regimes that do its bidding. But it says nothing about his specific goals, nor does it even indicate that he has any practical concern for the fate of actual Palestinians. If anything, quite the opposite: Palestine-as-symbol works best when Palestine-as-place is burning.