What I Think About Iraq
I go back and forth on the war... ambivalent, I suppose. No, I don't agree with how it was begun. No, I don't agree with us being there. However, I DO believe that eventually these islamic extremists would become a huge threat to our country and others. Is occupying Iraq the answer? Probably not.
Fighting terrorism is a long, hard process... the fact that we're in it alone means it will be even longer. I wonder, though... if we had stayed home, would they just keep fighting each other? What about September 11th? Was that a sign that it was time to react to all the warnings we'd been presented with?
I think we chose Iraq because it's in the heart of the Middle East, it has a larger population of Shi'ite than Sunnis and the infrastructure was already f-ed thanks to the previous war. That and we knew they didn't have any real means of fighting back since we'd already forced them to disarm (which is why the reason they gave for going to war in the first place is so infuriating).
I really don't think it's because we want oil. I really don't think it was a personal family vendetta either. The fact that Bush Sr. was in office when Iraq invaded Kuwait was coincidence and Iraq didn't try to kill Bush, that was not the reason for the first war.
Of what I know about terrorism, it seems that a majority of them exist in areas around oil. Usually it's poor people who grow tired of being poor while their country gets rich off of such a lucrative export, but doesn't seem to care about the suffering masses. They form up and try to take over the oil because they see it as a way to win the money and power. They're usually funded by drug trade also (Afghanistan happens to be the largest heroin producer).
When they can't achieve success (which they never can) their anger transfers over to those supporting the richness of their uncaring government... the US gets a lot of foreign oil! Add that to the previous War on Drugs, which was successfully cutting funding from terrorist organizations, and we become a huge target for the disenfranchised.
Knowing all this, I support the reduction of terrorism. I support forming a new government in Iraq... will it work? I don't know. I hope it does. I hope the government begins taking care of its people. Notice in countries with programs for healthcare and welfare there is little or no terrorism (USA, Canada, England, France, Germany). If people are taken care of, they're happy to not revolt. If their leaders are filthy rich while they're licking dirt just to stay alive, they draw weapons and attack.
I hate the war, I really do. I understand the motives, but I don't think we're going about it the right way. If we were, we'd have more international support. Change needs to happen all around. I really do hope things will improve, responsible government will spread and terrorism will lose its appeal. I don't know if it's very likely. But, I will hold on to hope.
Fighting terrorism is a long, hard process... the fact that we're in it alone means it will be even longer. I wonder, though... if we had stayed home, would they just keep fighting each other? What about September 11th? Was that a sign that it was time to react to all the warnings we'd been presented with?
I think we chose Iraq because it's in the heart of the Middle East, it has a larger population of Shi'ite than Sunnis and the infrastructure was already f-ed thanks to the previous war. That and we knew they didn't have any real means of fighting back since we'd already forced them to disarm (which is why the reason they gave for going to war in the first place is so infuriating).
I really don't think it's because we want oil. I really don't think it was a personal family vendetta either. The fact that Bush Sr. was in office when Iraq invaded Kuwait was coincidence and Iraq didn't try to kill Bush, that was not the reason for the first war.
Of what I know about terrorism, it seems that a majority of them exist in areas around oil. Usually it's poor people who grow tired of being poor while their country gets rich off of such a lucrative export, but doesn't seem to care about the suffering masses. They form up and try to take over the oil because they see it as a way to win the money and power. They're usually funded by drug trade also (Afghanistan happens to be the largest heroin producer).
When they can't achieve success (which they never can) their anger transfers over to those supporting the richness of their uncaring government... the US gets a lot of foreign oil! Add that to the previous War on Drugs, which was successfully cutting funding from terrorist organizations, and we become a huge target for the disenfranchised.
Knowing all this, I support the reduction of terrorism. I support forming a new government in Iraq... will it work? I don't know. I hope it does. I hope the government begins taking care of its people. Notice in countries with programs for healthcare and welfare there is little or no terrorism (USA, Canada, England, France, Germany). If people are taken care of, they're happy to not revolt. If their leaders are filthy rich while they're licking dirt just to stay alive, they draw weapons and attack.
I hate the war, I really do. I understand the motives, but I don't think we're going about it the right way. If we were, we'd have more international support. Change needs to happen all around. I really do hope things will improve, responsible government will spread and terrorism will lose its appeal. I don't know if it's very likely. But, I will hold on to hope.
