Mr. Independant:
What insight do you have to offer on the war in Iraq? Reading your comments, it doesn’t sound like you know anything about the events of the war or how things stand today.
So what does it matter if you don’t agree with the ‘analysis’ from others who are more informed.
If you are wondering about what benefits have come out of the war in Iraq for the U.S. then I’m happy to offer a couple of suggestions:
The first obvious answer is that an Iraq under Saddam Hussein was just another world influence fixated more than anything else on the destruction of the United States. HIs cooperation with Al Qaeda and the threat of him refining enough uranium to build nuclear bombs is no longer a concern for Americans. This American adversary has now been replaced by a government and a people who strongly identify with Americans as an ally, rather than as a foreign power sanctioning them into starvation.
The second less well known benefit of the Iraq war is how it has devastated the reputation of Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden among Muslim peoples. The turning point in the Iraq war for the U.S. was not particularly the deployment of additional troops, but was the simultaneous change in attitudes among Iraqis people in rejecting the tactics of Al Qaeda and their Sharia law, and them joining the Americans in driving Al Qaeda out of Iraq.
This is one argument demonstrating the wisdom of Bush’s ‘limited force’ tactics in Iraq. It was essential that Iraqis see that Americans were not in Iraq to steal anything, and that American blood was given to further the security of Iraq. This daily reality can be contrasted with the tactics of Al Qaeda whose only chance of beating the Americans was to indiscriminately kill Iraqis civilians and encourage unrest between Shiites and Sunnis, hoping that the death toll would shame the Paper Tiger into abandoning the mission.
In effect, ‘staying the course’ was the essential component that lead to victory in Iraq. It was a matter of time and blood, and realization that Americans would not abandon the mission before Iraqis could choose the right side.
The third benefit is the position it gives the Americans strategically to have a central presence in the middle East and to draw the battle with terrorism away from American soil.
The better question is whether or not these benefits to the U.S. have been worth the cost. In this case, it’s hard to offer an easy answer.
