We did clean up the mess in Iraq, didn't we?

Question

The mess was that Saddam Hussein and his Suni buddies had control of the country and were repressing the Shi'ites and the Kurds.

We eliminated Saddam and now the Shi'ite majority can exert their will. The Kurds are happy, although having their own country would make them even happier.

But now the Suni muslims are pissed off because Saddam is arrested and Suni power has been taken away, so the Suni are attacking the Shi'ite.

But we did what we wanted to do. Eliminated the Saddam-led power elite..

There is no way that a few thousand American GI's are going to run an entire country. Let the Iraqi people figure out how to do it among themselves. If the Suni regain power, then we'll deal with the Suni. If the Shi'ite are in control, then we'll deal with the Shi'ite.

We aren't muslims. It just does NOT matter to us whether Iraq is Shi'ite dominated or Suni dominated. We gave them the chance to be free. We can't hold their hands. Let them go their own way and hope for the best

Answer 1

Personally, I think all our meddling has made the region worse off. Not so much this war, but the first one. Saddam didn't try to hide that he was going to try to take over the entire region, it was one of the basic ideas of what the Baath party was about. We gave him WMD's (not nukes, but just about everything else) and then we acted all shocked when he used them to attack Kuwait.

Honestly I think you need someone like him to run a country like that. There are just too many large groups of people that HATE each other. The Sunni's hate the Shiites over religious differences, not just for shifts in power. You said that the Shiites were the majority. They are but the division is around 50 /40, so they aren't that much in the majority. Saddam might have been harsh, but he was able to keep order in a country where we are failing miserably. The continuing violence and what smacks of civil war are reminders of this. There are a lot of insurgents in Iraq now, but they also have a lot of support within the country.

Bush invaded Iraq because HE wanted to. There are other countries that have refused weapons inspectors, and we didn't invade them. But this was a personal matter for Bush and that is why we are there now. Even IF Saddam had a nuke, he posed little or no threat to the States. Bush got us into this mess over personal reasons, and I doubt he ever really cared if it was in the best interests of our country or the country of Iraq. By taking Saddam out of the picture, he pulled off the only bandaid that was holding the entire country together.

Honestly, I don't think it is for us to decide how the region turns out, and I agree with you. When the country went into a civil war it became beyond our control and place to determine the ultimate outcome of this endeavor.

At this point, I don't know what more we can realistically do. The ball is simply in their court and it was always their game to play, not ours. It's unfortunate that they are deciding the fate of their country with bullets instead of ballots, but that is just the way things are. At most I'd say give the current government another year of our support so that they can build a better army and have a fighting chance. Beyond that though it isn't right for us to choose sides on a civil war. It's their country, it's their fight, it's up to them to decide how it turns out.

Answer 2

I think you're missing a few points here.
America attacked Iraq, a country that had not attacked America, nor could it. Iraq is now fighting a civil war, people are being killed by the hundreds every day. If Iraq breaks up there are other Islamic countries that are waiting to get their piece of it.
So where is this democracy promised by your president to the ordinary people of Iraq? Not quite there yet, but you want to leave anyway??

Answer 3

We absolutely did NOT clean up any mess, we created one though. Soldiers have come back stating they were ordered to "clear homes" meaning basically, go into the homes, kill all inhabitants regardless if they were women and children. This is insane. The people were much better off before we went in. Now the best route is to leave before they make matters worse. We did not go in to create a democracy. We went in to appease the Israelis and join in on the greed fest after falsifying a terror attack to gain American compliance.

http://www.nogw.com/warforisrael.html

Answer 4

It was good to get rid of evil Saddam but why then do they let former Baath party members become local governors, mayors and such. All they do is spend the money America gives them on weapons and paid fighters to attack troops and police
civil war is inevitable. history must play itself out.

Answer 5

no lakota bob, the country should be embarrassed to cut and run and leave a defenseless country to the terrorists demise after crippling their government

And doctor hand your pretty arrogant to assume you speak for the entire population of the U.S when you say "we don't care". you don't speak for me. perhaps you should also read your news a little more clearly, the government nor the Iraqi's want the American troops running their government, we are there until they are able to establish and stabilize their government

Answer 6

We sure did!! Then we covered the cleanliness with a bigger mess.. Now what??

Nicholais S- Yep.. Go and look for him there.. Email me in 10 yrs when your still looking in Iraq, let me know how its going...

Answer 7

yeah, we did now we have to stay there and look for Osama Bin Laden plus enforce Iraq till Iraq's military is back to normal(if its already there yet).

Answer 8

Ohhhh, but the Bush Administration would be embarrassed because his republican supporters would feel we "cut and ran."

I do agree with you.

Answer 9

Well Doctor, I think you have used your 'hand' too much and now you have another 'mess' to clean up.

Answer 10

their newly formed government has asked us to stay on. We will stay awhile longer.