What is the "bigger picture" in Iraq?

Question

im kinda calling out somebody on here who always answers that liberals dont know the facts or need to check their facts and they dont know why we are really at war and that conservatives understand the bigger picture or war. so leogirl, and whoever else wants to answer, please tell me what the bigger picture is.

Answer 1

The bigger picture in Iraq is a "BIG MESS!"

Answer 2

The bigger picture is we have to have a connection in the middle east and the ones we have been tied to in the past are slowly being erroded. the saudis are pulling away from us and being the only fully practicing shariah law country in the world I would say that is probably a good thing. Iran, the former Iraq and Venezuala has stated publically that they want to raise oil cost and lessen the flow to the countries in the west. If they get this wish our economy would be destroyed. we have a drug addiction to oil of which not just needed for the economy but for our military might as well. The rogue nations know they cant beat us militarily but they can bleed us todeath if they get control of the blood of this country oil. If Saddam had WMD or not is not the important thing. the point was that the reason he wasnt very clear about it was he was fearful of Iran. He had to keep the picture that he did have them or the Iranian govt would have went after him. Iran wants Iraq and their oil and if we didnt install a western friendly govt there Iran would have found the means to do the same. Our presence in Iraq and the unwillingness of working with the Iranian govt has showed their people that their leaders dont have their best interests at heart as you can see from their recent election that a majority of the people voted for a more conservative anti ahmadenijad govt. We had reason to take out saddam, torture, wmd and so on and that was the excuse to protect our interests. We are also helping the people in ways they would have never had under the bathists as well as keeping the foothold we need. We have to show the people of the middle east that there are better ways to live in order for them to realize the radical islamic way of life isnt the best way. they have been brainwashed to think that is the best way to live and if an effort to begin the education of their people didnt happen soon the problems would get worse. The radical islamists are using its religion, lack of education and the worlds most important resource to spread death, destruction, islam and the caliph through the world. Its been the goal since the 1700s but they are just now finding the means to achieve this.

There has been mistakes and miscalculations no doubt but the goal and future view is the right thing that needs to be done. This is a complicated subject ofcourse and I probably wasnt very clear but hopefully you get my point. For the people that say we didnt state our goals and reasons clearly they dont understand it is not the job of the govt to tell everyone why and what they are doing. If what I say is right then it is saying we are imposing our beliefs for the greater good but it will look bad in some others eyes. ofcourse. So we guise our motives to help ease the tension it may cause. World politics is a delicate matter that you have to appease alot of different groups in different ways while still getting done what needs to get done for the greater good. and some will not see this good

Answer 3

As I see it, the bigger picture is Islam vs. Christianity. Whether you're Christian, atheist, Hindu, or anything else, living in the west means your country comes from a Christian tradition, going back thousands of years. Since Mohammed, the Christians and the Muslims have been almost constantly at war. The last 60 years has been the most peaceful period between those two groups in the last 1400 years. We've tolerated each other recently because the Muslims have the oil we need, and because nuclear weapons have made attacking us futile. As more countries build nuclear weapons, as the formerly Christian nations become less dominant, and as the Muslims' oil runs out, that peace is deteriorating. Fighting them now means we're guaranteed to win, if we stop pulling our punches. In 50 years? Who knows. In this ancient war, the Muslims have had the upper hand for many more years than we have.

I don't claim that either side is better, or deserves to win. But I was born into one side, so it's clearly in my best interests if that side wins. Or at least keeps the upper hand until I'm gone.

Answer 4

I guess the big picture now is a power grab between the US and Iran.

First things first, going into Iraq was a dumb thing to do. There were NO Weapons of Mass Destruction and last time anyone checked, Osama was hiding out in Afghanistan, not Iraq.

Thing is now, we're stuck between Iraq and a hard place (sorry about the lame pun). We cant let it descend into a full Civil War between the Sunnis & Shia. And if we were to leave immediately, Iran would step in to fill the void in Iraq and threaten moderate Arab states like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. They would also probably become the world's largest Oil producer, taking over Iraq's production and reserves.

Somehow, someway we have to make the huge mess in Iraq work out.

Answer 5

Iran is tied in with Syria. Much speculation the newer weapons were moved to Syria. Again Iran is seeking nucleur power probably already has it from Saddam's weapons.
Kim Jong ILL in North Korea. Seeking weapons.
Even IF Saddam hated Iran/North Korea, what makes any sane person think that he wouldn't want to keep up with the other ones?
Israel our closest ally is being threatened virtually daily by Iran to be "wiped off the map"

Don't see a problem?

Answer 6

The bigger picture is about international control over Middle East Oil. The powerful Houses in the world are fighting for control, and the Middle East Oil is a battleground. The Bush family represents one of these Houses, and they are trying for Dominion in the region while there are no real competitors in the race now that the Soviet Union is broken up and the Chinese are not asserting themselves too strongly. The problem is the local Arabs are not buying into the story, don't like the plan or the messenger ( Bush ), and are willing-not so unusual-to fight for their countries. There is no winning this fight as we are now up against the will of all the Arab people, and they are more willing to die for this than we are. All the countries in the region are related by tribe and by religion and to think that we can beat one of them alone, we are mistaken, for they will join together to stop Bush's plans for Dominion. But, there is still his Plundering Herd of Halliburtons in Iraq, and his other buddies drawing billions a week out of the US Treasury.
Republicans would have you bellieve that Bush is the firstt President in US history to go to war out of the goodness of his heart, just to save the poor oppressed Iraqis, those same people his dad helped oppress when he was supporting Saddam. The big picture is pretty big, but not very pretty.

Answer 7

Well, prior to the war, the bigger picture in Iraq itself was completely open to debate. There was only one officially professed reason for resorting to armed force, "weapons of mass destruction." It was generally thought that Saddam possessed such weapons though the extent of the arsenal and the threat that they represented was the subject of much discussion. The UN weapons inspectors responsible for insuring that Iraq had fully complied with UN resolutions requiring the destruction of such weapons regularly complained about obstructions and difficulties in carrying out their work. At the same time, they were reasonably certain that the mass of the weapons had been destroyed or at least significantly reduced. With the advent of congressional authority to conduct armed intervention and further UN resolutions, Iraq relented and allowed, what the inspectors concurred was, full access. The inspectors complained that the Bush administration did not provide sufficient time to conduct exhaustive inspections but they did conclude that the weapons were non-existent. The administration pulled the plug early and conducted the invasion. The rest is now historical record. They have had years and have never found any substantive evidence of weapons of mass destruction.

Once the original casus belli was removed, the administration began to construct a new rational for the war they were embroiled in, fighting terrorism and Muslim extremism. This was clearly not the original reason for the war nor was it initially validated by our experience inside Iraq. Unfortunately, the administration story line has become a self fulfilling prophecy, as radical Islamists from around the globe poured into Iraq to battle the U.S. directly.

The current situation in Iraq is fundamentally different from the one of simple containment of Saddam that we faced prior to invading. Now we are presented with a large, ethnically and religiously divided nation that is dissolving into civil war and is permeated with competing bands of radical and terrorist fighters both stirring the pot and attacking our troops. The potential exists for Iraq to break apart, inviting intervention by neighboring states, especially Iran and Turkey, who would like to suppress aspirations for independence by their own Kurdish minorities. The idea of an independent Kurdistan makes Turkey particularly nervous as they fear, with some justification, that it would act as a base for Kurdish separatists (terrorists) causing internal unrest.

The specter of a failed state in Iraq as a place of intermittent civil war, a battleground for the region and a breeding ground and base of operations for global terrorist networks is very real and the worst possible big picture scenario for failure in Iraq.

The real question at this stage is how the U.S. can best facilitate the transition to independent Iraqi rule with at least a modicum of rights for its citizens. it may well be that we can no longer affect such positive change. It may be that our presence exacerbates the problems. It is also likely that our withdrawal would lead to at least a temporary increase in violence.

Weighing these possible outcomes and deciding the best strategy for disentangling ourselves from Iraq without it falling to pieces is what our government needs to wrestle with. Like it or not, an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops is neither likely nor in the best interests of either country. There are no good options at this point. The Iraq study group's report should have made clear to most people that the options are understood and we must now do the hard work of choosing one and moving forward. This is no longer a liberal vs. conservative issue. It should be an issue where the best ideas from all points of view are aired and debated and the best way forward for the country is taken.

So, are we fighting them there so we don't fight them here? That's overly simplistic. We are fighting terrorists everywhere we encounter them and through all means, covert, military, criminal, intelligence and diplomatic. Even if Iraq were to become a peaceful democracy overnight, we would still have to be vigilant for terrorists of all stripes. Remember that, prior to 911, the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil was committed by a right wing fanatic named Timothy McVeigh. That is part of the reason why the "war" on terrorism is a misnomer. Unless we are prepared to fight a "hundred years war" once again, it is not a war we can "win." Instead we need to be prepared to protect ourselves and our interests against all violent opponents, internal and external, at all times through means most in keeping with the threat and our national and civic traditions and laws.

Answer 8

Thats all me haha.

Liberals are saying we went in for oil and that Bush entered the war to get back at Saddam for his father and so on.

We entered the war because Saddam ignored 27 UN sanctions after receiving petrolium. And after he recieved petrolium he wouldnt let any weapon inspectors from the UN or any other nation into his country. So obviously he was up to something in there. On top of that he was testing mustard gas and sarin on his citizens killing hundreds of thousands of them.

The Liberals are just ignorant wanna-be Americans.

Answer 9

The bigger picture is beyond Iraq.

Answer 10

Thousands of Iraqis are being murdered. Thinning out the world population so we Americans have more resources left for us to use up. Such as oil.

Answer 11

Yes, the bigger picture is oil.