Well, it's not like Afghanistan is exactly a peaceful place these days is it? We turned it over to a different set of repressive warlords is all. We choose to turn Iraq into a battle ground against Al Qaeda, much like we used Afghanistan as a battleground against the Soviets for decades in the past. Prior to the war, Iraq was not connected to the Al Qaeda network, and was a secular state, which is in opposition to Al Qaeda goals. No, it was not a nice secular state, but there are plenty of not-nice secular states in the world that we have no problems being buddy-buddy with.
The US has no more moral authority to finish the job. This is not, and never will be, "won" through military might. We have lost. We probably had lost from the beginning, but after the first torture pictures came out, we truly and completely lost. All the rest is just prolonging the agony for everyone. No, we can't just walk out, although that's never stopped us in the past. We need to convince someone to step-in and take charge who might have some moral standing. The UN is about the only option, but we rebuffed them when they offered. Sure, they don't have the best track record for military effectiveness, but maybe they'd do a better job if the member nations actually backed them up and made it clear they supported the UN. (Might help their prestige a bit if we didn't publicly thumb our noses at them and their decisions, refuse to pay our bills, send an insult as a representative, etc.) And then we must provide the bulk of the military and funding for the UN mission. And we must pay war reparations, instead of talking about "the spoils of war" and expecting Iraq to reimburse us for the cost of invading their country (from oil sale revenues of course).
This is a war between extreme religious/ideological factions in the world. I don't why these extreme minority factions are in ascendance in the world, and hold the political power, but it scares the hell out of me. This is the American Neocons vs. Muslim Extremists. They are dragging the rest of the world into their hell. (In terms of their respective political power, they are each other's best friend, 9/11 provided the excuse for completing the Neocon power take-over in America.) First thing, we need to get control of our country out of the hands of our local extremists.
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The US has no more moral authority to finish the job. This is not, and never will be, "won" through military might. We have lost. We probably had lost from the beginning, but after the first torture pictures came out, we truly and completely lost. All the rest is just prolonging the agony for everyone. No, we can't just walk out, although that's never stopped us in the past. We need to convince someone to step-in and take charge who might have some moral standing. The UN is about the only option, but we rebuffed them when they offered. Sure, they don't have the best track record for military effectiveness, but maybe they'd do a better job if the member nations actually backed them up and made it clear they supported the UN. (Might help their prestige a bit if we didn't publicly thumb our noses at them and their decisions, refuse to pay our bills, send an insult as a representative, etc.) And then we must provide the bulk of the military and funding for the UN mission. And we must pay war reparations, instead of talking about "the spoils of war" and expecting Iraq to reimburse us for the cost of invading their country (from oil sale revenues of course).
This is a war between extreme religious/ideological factions in the world. I don't why these extreme minority factions are in ascendance in the world, and hold the political power, but it scares the hell out of me. This is the American Neocons vs. Muslim Extremists. They are dragging the rest of the world into their hell. (In terms of their respective political power, they are each other's best friend, 9/11 provided the excuse for completing the Neocon power take-over in America.) First thing, we need to get control of our country out of the hands of our local extremists.
Regime change begins at home.
-B.