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We should have just took over the nation, and stole its oil, I mean at least that would have made sense.....
There wasn't much oil to steal. All the pumping facilities were old, unprepared and pretty much shot.
And since the Iraqis had long experience with the Brits and our own oilmen stealing their oil in the past, they would have never have peacefully stood by while we re-built their oil industry on our money and let us keep it without a fight.
They never quit fighting us, remember? We won the military war in 9 weeks, and lost the occupation completely. Even if we stayed, the oil we go would not have repaid the costs of occupation, ever. Any Iraqi government would have to be our puppets in order to remain there, and if we allowed a free election, their own government would try to kick us out as soon as they were elected.
The puppets we put in place are now being threatened. Some nations just aren't fit for democracy, and Iraq is one. The nation was begun as an artificial concept by the British, and eventually, it will go to pieces and be absorbed by the powers who owned the territory before the British. The only difference is in the north, where the Kurds now have a home country as last, just as the Jews got with the creation of Israel. Kurdistan won't fall until the last Kurd is gone.
Obama failed to secure a status-of-forces agreement with the Iraqi government that would have kept U.S. troops in the country to provide security
I am by no means a fan of Obama - or the media, or when facts are deliberately omitted.
When the US was preparing to withdraw from Iraq it was going to be conditional that several thousands US military would remain behind to train (what is apparently untrainable) the police and military. The Iraq President said that would only be possible with the understanding that US troops could be tried in courts (under Islamic law) for what Iraq would deem a "crime". Had Obama agreed to that, do you really believe that there would be no US military member arrested for something considered a "crime" or a possible "crime" or accused of a "crime" s/he didn't commit? What would your reaction have been if one of our military were accused of a crime and was sentenced to life in an Iraqi jail? or face a firing squad, or some other form of cruel and inhumane punishment? You would be screaming from the rooftops, and rightfully so. So what is it? Obama failed because he didn't agree to the Iraq President's terms, or he failed because he isn't sending US troops back?
If given the choice do you think the US should return and go to war with the entire crap hole region, go in full force until there is nothing left, or should the US completely withdraw? The US has set that region so far back that I wonder if those countries could ever return to what it was before the US interfered. They were pretty bad off before the US invaded them and the invasions turned those countries into living hells.
I'm glad Obama turned down that "offer" and for several months Maliki has been asking for US to help them.
I'm glad we got out when we did. We should have never been there and we stayed far too long at the cost of thousands of US lives, not to mention those of NATO and innocent civilians. It was a useless war, as is Afghanistan. And all for what? Those countries are worse off than before the US invaded them and the US is worse off for doing it.
It's amazing how fast this happened and the Iraqi troops deserted in a panic leaving behind tanks and other arms. Maliki is now purging the government of Sunni leadership rather, very bad timing as they need to pull it together. I understand they are consolidating their defense north of Baghdad, this is bad news for the US and for the entire region.
Very true, Iraq became a lost cause once we (we being Bush) decommissioned their military, intelligence agencies, etc-- plus let's be real, while we give Obama credit for winding down Iraq, the plan all along, even during the Bush administration, was to wind down at the same time Obama has. It's just a shame that Iraq was a mission that came out nearly completely pointless..
Good point, the purging of military leadership was a huge mistake by Bush and Cheney, they also should have made a stronger effort to include the Sunni's in government.
The withdrawal plan signed in 2008 was the right thing to do, the Iraqis have to take care of their own country and if they can't after 10 years then they never would have the ability. We could have stayed their 10 more years with the same result. I have to wonder when they will be better off without Hussein, 10 years, 50 years?
It's amazing how fast this happened and the Iraqi troops deserted in a panic leaving behind tanks and other arms. Maliki is now purging the government of Sunni leadership rather, very bad timing as they need to pull it together. I understand they are consolidating their defense north of Baghdad, this is bad news for the US and for the entire region.
Iraq worked out well then and I am sure releasing hard line militant Islamic Fundamentalist Taliban leaders and indeed war criminals back in to Afghan society in exchange for US Army deserters will work out equally well in the end.
The Sunni's the Kurds, pick your faction, 10 years and the new government forgot to include a few.
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