cods wrote on Nov 19
th, 2015 at 10:39am:
Karnal wrote on Nov 19
th, 2015 at 10:28am:
Armchair_Politician wrote on Nov 19
th, 2015 at 10:07am:
America has a history of pulling out too soon. They celebrated too soon for victory in Iraq then pulled out before Iraqi security forces were ready to take over. The same is happening in Afghanistan. By comparison, when Howard lead Australia against Indonesia over the independence of East Timor, we saw the birth of a prosperous, free, democratic brand new country right on our doorstep. Relations with Indonesia were strained due to the presence of Australian troops, but nothing worse. I reckon if Australia had lead the planning of operations in Syria with Howard as PM, we'd be seeing a far different result - a far more desirable result.
The US was in Iraq for twice the length of WWI, Armchair. The problems in Iraq are not to do with any
lack of US involvement, but the decisions they made during the occupation. The biggest mistake they made was ousting the Ba'athists (or ex-Ba'athists) from positions of power. Many of those Ba'athists went elsewhere, including ISIL. They took their weapons and their connections. And they took their grievances.
Howard wasn't involved in the post-war planning. But he was an active member of the so-called Coalition of the Willing. His decision to commit to the invasion of Iraq was the biggest folly the world has seen this century. Not only did it destroy any semblance of security in the Middle East, it saw the US lose its grip on power. It saw a trillion added to the US deficit, and for nothing. The result of the Iraq invasion was the creation of ISIS.
And this is why Obama is so "weak" today. The US has lost its grip on both hard and soft power in the Middle East. This has created a vacuum Iran and now Russia has jumped in to fill.
the trouble is karmal....you are saying that in hindsight...
when we all know Hussein is dead.. so we have no idea what IRAQ would be like or what he would have done.. when it comes to ISIS....had IRAQ not been invaded??..
do you think HE would have
attacked ISIS or
welcomed them???????..
we will never know will we.......the world could be even more unsafe.....its just a thought.
No, Cods, we know. The invasion of Iraq was the
second invasion. George Bush Snr deliberately left Saddam in power to avoid exactly the problems the world is facing now.
Bush Jnr's Iraqi candidates for the Iraqi leadership proved unpopular and unable to govern. The US held elections off for 3 years for this very reason. Basically, they had no post-occupation strategy. Cobbling together political and ethnic alliances proved almost impossible. A number of candidates were assassinated. The US were forced to rely, as they always do, on a corrupt regime. Worse, they were forced to rely on a
Shia-backed leadership that alienated the rest of the country.
Hence, ISIS.
Not only was this predicted by talking heads all over the world in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, it was predicted by George Bush Snr, who left Saddam in charge for this very reason.
Therein lies the problem with Islam. It is so bitterly divided between Shia and Sunni. It's like the Catholic Church going to war against the Anglican Church.