A regular relationship... in an irregular world.

Friday, January 12, 2007

The Simple Question of Iraq

I rarely comment on politics - there's a myriad of venues out there for those arguments. But on this point I am truly undecided myself and curious about what honest, thinking people, setting aside party affiliation, have to say. Despite the story being spilled out to the media days before, Wednesday night Bush formally announced a "surge" in American troops to Iraq. This, of course, prompted massive protest from the left and even some detractions from the right. Politically, the war in Iraq has become a quagmire for both sides of the aisle.
It seems to me a reactionary response to denounce the idea of sending more troops. First let me say I was against the war in the beginning and I still am. Setting aside the missing weapons of mass destruction and the big business that the war is for government contractors, I don't believe you should impose democracy on a country before it's ready. Especially so in the middle east, and further, in this day and age when only two functional Islamic democracies exist: Turkey and Indonesia. There is a civil war going on in Iraq it's no wonder (if you don't know anything about the differences between Shiite and Sunni Muslims then you should learn). But unlike wars of the past, there is no organized opposition. There is no one to waive the white flag. There is not going to be a "kiss and make up" moment anytime soon.
So, the situation being what it is, you have to admit, we've made a big ol' mess over there. It is, plainly, a fiasco. And it has gotten consistently worse over the last four years. Pulling out American troops will likely result in the partial collapse of the Iraqi government and an economic sinkhole when the oil market destabilizes. Putting more troops into Iraq will only keep American soldiers in the middle of a civil war that's been roiling in the middle east for 1400 years.
The question I'm positing to all of you is this: Do we have a responsibility to clean up the mess we've made?

~ Miss

1 comment:

Ehav Ever said...

I think that one of the problems is that the US does not truly understand various world cultures. This I think is the heart of the failure in Iraq, and in dealing with Middle Eastern issues. My belief about the war is that on one hand the inelegance that led to it was part of the problem. A Texas good old cowboy approach to the Middle East is another problem.

Yet, I also feel that Saddam Huissen in how he ran Iraq also brought the war there. I.e. his actions against his own populace caused his days to be numbered. Cause and affect. Also, it seems that America is cleaning up after the colonization of the British and the French. The last few conflicts have been in countries that are the result of European colonization.

I also feel that Iraq should be divided based on the major 3 ethnic groups and those smaller ethnic groups who align with the bigger ones. At the end of the day there is no one answer, and because of how politics work it is up those in power more than the common man and woman.