How can the Bush administration intend to make Iraq the next South Korea?

Question

I voted for President Bush in '04 and would do so again, but how can he envision Iraq as the next South Korea? Tony Snow has started to draw the analogies and sources from inside the White House say Bush was intrigued by the Korean plan.
In Korea, our enemy was a definite soveriegn country. The battle lines were drawn and the tactics were modern warfare. In Iraq, Al Quieda is an amorphous guerrilla movement with no borders. Establishing US bases and occupying the country is simply not feasible given the political views of the region. I supported attacking to rid Iraq of the WMD's (which yes, were there and were smuggled out just hours prior to the invasion) and ridding Iraq of Saddam for a democracy, but I simply don't see a scenario where the US can exist in Iraq as we do in Korea. Can you?

Ok, up to 3 responses, the third being an immature response by someone obsessed with bodily fluids. Any one else? How about a glimmer of intelligence?

Always happy to educate:
WMDs smuggled out
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39182

Words cannot express how sorrowful I am that you have no respect for other people's political views if they don't coincide with your own.

AND FINALLY Bob offers intelligence!
Ok, so what here is the solution? Divide Iraq in half and give each side their own section? I see the logic in your argument, but still see a flaw in implementing the strategy.

Answer 1

I can't see democracy happening in Iraq. A good way to make democracy in Iraq is to kill all the hate mongers there such as the leader of the kurds, shiites, and the other **** heads. Also find Osama Bin laden and burn him alive and televise throughout the whole world.

Answer 2

The WMDs were bunk. I too supported the war, still do now only because I see a lack of good options.
Perhaps in a decade Iraq can be similar to south Korea. We need to remember SK recieved shell fire from the North occassionally for a few years after the war. This continued into the 1960s. Despite the way it looks, there has never been a true peace with the north. Technically we are still at war with North Korea, we just agreed to stop shooting each other.

As for Iraq becoming like a South Korea. That is up to them. In the end South Koreans wanted to be an ally and develop along the same industrial lines as the US. They made that choice. If the Iraqis do not choose that way then we are whizzing in the wind there and having soldiers die in vain.

Answer 3

Straitening out Iraq is going to take a long time. I think most people believed when we went in that it would be long term. The problem has become the fact that we have been unable to control the violence in isolated parts of the country and the American public has become frustrated. You are correct in saying that the situation in Korea was much different, but I don't think that our long term goal should not be similar to the results seen in South Korea. The Democrats own this war now and I don't think that a Democrat President, if elected, will be able to walk away from Iraq. (Maybe with a Democrat President the press would cover some of the good things happening there.) I predict we will be in Iraq for a long time, just like we still have a presence in Germany. I remember the "Yankee Go Home" slogans from the 50's & 60's and we are still there.

Answer 4

You're mistaken about our enemy in Korea being a definite sovereign country. The Korean war was (and is) a civil war. The war has never been resolved, but has had a cease fire that's lasted over 50 years. In that sense, it is similar to what's going on in Iraq.

There is a major difference, however. Korea was a political civil war while Iraq is an ethnic civil war.

There's huge differences between the two. The major one being that political civil wars are sometimes resolved by peaceful settlement (Mozambique for example) and last around 5 to 10 years (Viet Nam was very long for a political civil war) - ethnic civil wars are virtually never resolved by settlement (South Africa is the only exception, so far) and last around 20 to 30 years (India's been fighting a civil war against a group in the Northern part of their country for 60 years).

A more similar analogy would be Bosnia and Kosovo. Neither civil war has been completely resolved, but UN control has at least temporarily stopped the warfare in both areas.

Answer 5

all your factors are ultimate. the present administration replaced into adamant approximately invading Iraq because of the fact the 1st Gulf conflict. the comparable proponents of ousting Saddam have been disgruntled while Bush 40-one stopped at its borders. 9/11 gave those rooster hawks bogus motives for the Iraq conflict, and that they often pronounced the conflict could be fast and occasional-priced. particular, Saddam replaced into an evil thug and ruthless dictator, yet as you pronounced, there are various countries international whose leaders could in fantastic condition that description. Oil, oil, oil and the build-up of the militia business complicated have been the underlying motives of Bush's conflict.

Answer 6

What I have read likens Iraq to Korea in terms of staying there indefinately. Don't know where you read that the WMD's were smuggled out the day of the invasion. There never were any. Even Bush admits he got bad info. What it boils down to is "war is good business, invest a Son/Daughter.

Answer 7

Hmm you make a good argument as to how and why what we did in Korea cannot even somewhat be done in Iraq. Makes me wonder two things then. Why would you vote for someone who has this as their plan? and smuggled out just hours before the attack, are you on crack?

Answer 8

So far, my job has been given to: Canada, India, South Korea, and Mexico... I've stopped paying attention to some things.

Answer 9

You lost me when you said you voted for Bush in '04 and would do it again. The question lost all credibility at that point.

Answer 10

at this point, i cant imagine any coherent foreign policy coming out of this man's mind.

it isnt our job to set up democracies all over the world, including in Iraq.