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Originally Posted by August
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Originally Posted by The Avon Lady
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Originally Posted by August
And thinking like yours kept the Coalition in Desert Storm from finishing the job that was started way back in 1991.
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Can you tell us why Papa Bush did not eliminate Saddam back then and why the US did not stand behind the Shi'ite revolt against Saddam shortly thereafter? |
My personal opinion is that GB senior was afraid of the potential political backlash both at home and abroad if he allowed Swartzkopf to do anything more than just eject Iraq from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
I have long been ashamed that we abandoned the Kurds and Shi'ites after encouraging them to revolt. No fly zones helped a little but obviously not nearly enough. |
Just so you should know where I'm coming from:
1. I don't believe the US waged war in Iraq for oil.
2. I do believe that WMDs was an actual security concern.
3. I do believe that US security agencies failed (and that's an understatement) in their on-the-ground assessments.
4. I do not know if said WMDs were snuck out of Iraq or simply did not exist.
5. I do believe the US did the right thing in attacking Iraq at the time.
6. I don't believe the US made a good assessment of what would happen after the invasion (same said security agencies are to blame - along with overly optimistic and seemingly ignorant top military planners).
7. I do believe that an Islamic Sha'ria law government will arise in Iraq, whether the US does or does not succeed in Iraq.
8. I do not believe that such an Islamic government will be an ally of the US.
9. I do believe that getting rid of Saddam was overall a good thing.
10. I do believe that had the coalition forces not been fighting Al Qaeda now in Iraq, there would have been many more 9/11s, Madrids and Londons over the last 3 years.
11. I do believe that the Coalition should expedite whatever is needed to prepare the present Iraqi government to fend for itself and wish them "goodbye and goodluck" ASAP.
12. I do believe in cutting one's losses and hedging one's bets.
13. I don't believe that the west has seen the last of military conflict in the region, even should the Coalition forces leave Iraq tomorrow.
14. I do believe that I'm am a patriotic US citizen, proud of my county's attempts to free Iraq of the tyranny that gripped it for some 40 years and that suggesting that the US get out of the way and let the 2 battling sides within Iraq go at each other's throats is in the best interests of the Coalition and possibly even the vast majority of Iraqis.
15. There is no 15th thingy.
