Quote:
Originally Posted by JAD_333
The reason you don't get it is that it that the premise is wrong. We didn't go into Iraq simply to rid the world of a vile dictator. Toppling Saddam was the popular justification for inserting ourselves smack in the middle of the ME from where we could deal better with a geopolitical threat represented by a long string of acts of terrorism against us.
You cite the usual counter-argument, that our presense has only encouraged Islamic fundamentalists. That's putting the cart before the horse. We didn't dream up the threat. The 'soldiers' of fundamentalism already existed. We had been their targets for a long time before 9/11. After 9/11 we moved the lightening rod from our embassies and homeland into their neighborhood where we're more inviting targets precisely so we could shoot back.
Keeping hands off secular ME regimes makes sense in general. But Iraq wasn't truly Baathist; it was Saddamistic. In any case, for the US, strategically, it is an area of the globe between the two major supporters of terrorism in the ME, Iran and Syria. Our being there complicates their goals no end.
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I get your point. But here's my deal . We first of all already have bases in the Middle East in Saudia Arabia, (don't we in Egypt as well). So why did we need one more base...
Besides it seems to me that this is far more about Israel's enemies than it is ours. Yes, Saddam sponsored Palestinian terrorism in Israel, as does Iran and Syria. (Along with Iran and Syria helping out Hezbollah.) But once again, quite frankly Hezbollah wasn't going after America. Yes they bombed our troops, but that was when we were in Lebanon. Once we left Lebanon, Hezbollah LEFT us alone. In fact there are reports that the head of Hezbollah I believe actually condemned 9/11, and said what the heck does the people in New York have to do with the Middle East...
The point I'm making is that if we stayed ouf of their issues with Israel, those specific groups would and HAVE left us a long. I basically look at the whole Palestinian/Israel conflict as a basic civil war. And the Israelis are hardly innocent in what's going on there...
I understand our issues with Iran, and I understand why Hezbollah isn't to popular with us. But Syria. Syria is a country that can be dealt with, they are not Islamic Facists, once again. For example they dealt very strongly with the Muslim Brotherhood.
It seems to me we would be much better served going after the terrorist groups that killed AMERICAN's, and sending a message there. Those terrorists were located in Afghanstan and Pakistan, mainly. NOT Iraq.
And I never bought the whole we are just going in their to get rid of the dictators.
As for Israel and her issues with the Palestinians. I'm happy to let both sides kill each other, until both are ready to accept peace. Quite frankly, I wish we'd stop arming Israel. I don't feel one bit sorry for Israel because I feel they have created their own mess. Of course I feel sorry for Israeli civilians who get hit by terrorist weapons, but I also feel sorry for the Palestinian civilians who get hit by Israeli weapons, and far more Palestinians are dying than Israelis.
I don't think it's necessarily correct to say that the Palestinian groups like Hamas and then Hezbollah necessarily have dreams of creating a grand Caliph. They mainly just have land issues with Israel. So why fighting this issue for Israel is more important than going after the groups that killed us, I will quite frankly never know.