Why doesn't the US military not leave Iraq but sit back & let the Iraqi Shia & Sunni fight it out to see who..

Question

will control Iraq? The Iraqi Shia will not only be killing the Iraqi Sunni Insurgents but also the foreign terrorists like Al Qaeda as well. And since the Shia are the majority democratically elected leaders of Iraq and they make up most of the Iraqi National Army/police why not let them fight to perserve their Democracy that US helped to create? And once a winner has been decided the US military so can do a little mop up & then leave knowing that the terrorists have been defeated and the Iraqi Democracy perserved. Mission (finally) Accomplished. Or can Bush not stand the fact that the Iraqi Shia will get all the credit for winning the war in Iraq & defeating the terrorists?

Answer 1

Americans are just waiting who wins in Iraq to pick up the pieces. It adopted the principle of "divide and rule".

Answer 2

the problem is that most of the people doing the fighting their are not fighting for democracy. They are fighting to gain control for their sect. Terrorist will win. Iran would probably emerge victor. Iraqi Democracy will not be instated if the US does not help it along.
If the US pulled out it would look like a defeat. This would simply embolden more zealous fighter's for terrorism. Iraq doesn't need more.
Finally, terrorism will not and never will be defeated. Sectarian feuds have been waged for many centuries. It will not simply disappear if Iraq becomes Democratic. The US will not "win" anything in the short term. The only way the US will win is 10 or so years down the road when people finally see that progress has been made. Though sectarian violence has strongly challenged that idea. That is precisely what the terrorists want to happen. Cause so much bloodshed that the American people will leave Iraq. Terrorists do not value life like the US does. And it's difficult to fight an enemy who hides within it's citizen's. The Army is also faced with a big challenge of acting within a police role. Armies are not trained for that. They are trained for combat. Not as peace officers.

Answer 3

The Shia are, more often than not, religiously more conservative and opposed to outside influence than the Sunni. If you look at the composition of the majority of moderate Arab governments, the ones with which the U.S. has the closest diplomatic ties they are Sunni. Further, the Shia leaders in Iraq have refused to meet with U.S. envoys to the region. Their opposition to the U.S. is party philosophical and partly political. Iran, a Shia nation, is strictly dedicated to a Shia dominated Iraq which would become a close ally of the government in Iran. We have not had diplomatic ties with Iran since the 1970's. Also consider what allowing the Shia to attack the Sunni's would do in the long run. Saudi Arabia has already announced that they will back Iraqs Sunni population if the U.S. pulls out before the country is stable. Such an overt act by the Saudis would leave Iran open to war with Saudi Arabia to protect the Shia population in Iraq. Nations would choose sides based on religious philosophy and a regional religious war would errupt in an area vital to global energy markets. The international economy could grind to a halt if such a thing were allowed to happen. The Shia are not inclined to be a friend or ally to the U.S. any time soon, no matter when we pull out or what we let them do. If we abandon the Sunnis, friendly governments throughout the region will cease to be quite so friendly. The worst part is that to resolve the conflict the presense of U.S. troops may be necessary again but when that time comes both sides may opt to attack us (as well as each other) rather than tolerate us.

Answer 4

The first thing you need to understand is that the typical Sunni and the typical Shia have no desire to fight each other. It is a small group of trouble makers within these groups that provokes the violence. As you point out, other terrorist groups like Al Qaeda attack anyone who they perceive to not go along with them.

Iraq under Saddam was ruled by a group of elitists who happened to be Sunni. The Shia were and are the majority in Iraq. The is resentment between the two groups. Some Shia now want to treat the Sunni badly. If democracy were to prevail in Iraq, that's what would happen, after all, democracy means majority rule!

A better situation would be a republic where all parties, majority and minorities rights are respected. What is stopping this from happening is these small groups of trouble makers. If they could be eliminated, the problem would be solved.

I think the only solution would be to put a price on the heads of the terrorist groups (in gold, not dollars or dinars), or to infiltrate these groups and eliminate the leadership. The vast majority of Iraqis are tired of the killing.

Answer 5

What? Actually let people determine their own fate through civil war? Look what happened when we had a civil war: things changed and got better over time! Is that really what we want for the Iraqi's, a better life? Get serious--the reason Dubya denies a civil war is occurring is because that might bring about change...

Answer 6

Bush won't do it because he would have to face the fact he was WRONG. Also, I don't care who wins in Iraq. I don't care about Israel or Palestine. Let them beat on each other. I am tired of suffering fools and small children. Its not my job to MAKE other people come to their senses.

Answer 7

It will not be to Israel's interest.

Israel and its lobby are working to somehow (militarily) engage the US with Iran. If the US withdraws now from Iraq, that means Israel will have to fight the Iranians. Why should the Israelis fight and take casualties when they can con the Americans to do it for them?

Brilliant plan.

Answer 8

Ahmedinejad would win for sure! We sure don't want to leave our fragile allies in the hands of that monster!! It would be bad for Iraqis and the whole world, really...

Answer 9

I agree with the "let them have their civil war then mop" up part of your question. But bashing Bush again sucks!

Answer 10

they've been fighting for years we're there to fight to end it sooner then 100 years from now