One of the most intelligent posts ...
So isn't Iraq in a state of civil war now? Rather than saying what I think, I'll just ask...what does this mean for the rest of the world?
Since you made one of the most intelligent posts and just didn't dive into the hindsight and bashing of what's already happened, I've gotta respond here.
Thinking regional, it means the US may end up creating the "worst possible scenario" for the region. The biggest fear most surrounding countries had -- from Jordan to our NATO ally in Turkey -- was that we'd come in, kick Saddam out and then leave once the in-fighting got too violent for us. There's something to be said for the American arrogance that we can just push Democracy on a people and they'll peacefully accept the responsibility.
No, the US isn't directly responsible for the countless deaths. But to agree indirectly with Fox, more people are dying as a result of "hoping Democracy takes hold" after Saddam was removed than those who were dying before he was outsted. The only difference is that Sunnis are dying as well now, not just Kurds and Shites under Sunni rule.
One of my favorite quotes from the movie
Black Hawk Down regarding this. I need to find the exact quote, but it's basically "did you really think if you kill Adid we'd just lay down our arms and adopt western-style democracy?"
Pure majority rule is going to fail just as bad as it almost did for the US. The US Constitution took several back'n forth argument sessions to get the smaller and larger states to agree, and the resulting
Great Compromise. Today, we're still having the debate over the Electoral College and almost the 5-6 "power" city-states versus rural voters.
If we really wanted an unified Iraq to succeed, and this is still debatable (it might have not worked there either), we should have pushed for the Kurds, Shites and Sunnis to be equally represented. The initial insurgency was heavily Sunni-centric because they were not merely not being well represented, but their districts were not resource-rich and their ownership of the country not well represented. Now we have various Shite influences, including at the Executive, and many Americans (including myself sometimes) are at odds when we see our armies support some actions under the newer, autonomous Iraqi rule.
The bigger question is, leading back to the original statements, is that is all this posturing right now? That once we leave, the Shite majority will overtake the Sunnis in a civil conflict, while leaving the Kurds to do what they want, including cede from the union and create a Kurdistan that will virtually be at war with Turkey from Day 1. I'm sure that's the biggest fear right now for everyone, in and outside of Iraq in the region.
Or is it just the fact that Democracy is just to build a nation on? Most Americans don't realize we weren't all "rosey" in our first, few years or even decades for that matter. Uprisings, military abuses, citizens unrest, violations of the
Bill of Rights, they happened! Is Iraq just going through that process, and we just need to let it happen? I'm not sure. In fact, I'd argue the difference between a Democracy and a Dictatorship is the first executive leader that kept to the principles of the Republic. Washington for us. Ataturk for Turkey. And there are countless, other examples.
If anything, I don't agree with Bush on a lot, trust me, not much at all -- domestic or foreign! But at least I know where he stands, even thought I disagree strong in many cases. I'm not sure I agree with the current course. But that's not the point. I think we're in a bind and there is only one thing we can do.
The best we can do is let the Iraqi leadership make its own decisions, act like the autonomous entity we said we'd help and defend as long as they want our help, and that includes letting them order our troops. In just the past half-year, the US military has respected the autonomous authority of the Iraqi government, taking direct orders from it and shown that the government "is in charge." Despite all the rhetoric, pull out recommendations and countless other commentary, this is all we can do for now.
And that includes leaving when the Iraqi leadership says to do such. I'm just afraid, even if unjustified, the actions over the last year, including the UN resolution to allow the coalition to stay more than one year, is all for not. Complaining about the past does nothing. All I can do is pray for the future, that Iraq will make it through the early years of its Democracy. For I do admit and accept the US would be to blame for attempting to introduce Democracy if it does not take hold.