It has taken the British 38 years to leave Northern Ireland, will Iraq be the same?

Question

If we leave Iraq now who would fill the power vaccum? So would it be wise to leave and if we do how long before we do?

In case of any confusion, I am English and my ex husband (we were married for 19 years) is Northern Irish so I do know what I am talking about here and yes I knew a garrison of around 5000 remain

Answer 1

No doubt we will be there for years and the fatalities will constantly mount because no politician will have the guts to pull us out.Bring our soldiers home they shouldn't be dying out there and in Afghanistan, just to satisfy the egos of politicians.

Answer 2

Considering Northern Ireland is actually a part of the UK and Iraq is not and never will be actually a part of the USA, I think that while there may be similarities in the situation regarding terrorism and discontent, the reality is that the situations are actually not the same.

Northern Ireland is made up of people that both like being part of the UK and people that don't. According to law they are all both Irish (as Ireland considers anyone from either side to be Irish) and British.

What is interesting about your question is that you don't seem to understand the difference between the terms British and English. The people of Northern Ireland are all British. English people are British people from England, but people from any part of the UK are British.

Consider a non-violent, and equally different situation, of a small town in Maine that is half in Canada, and half in the United States. If Canada said tomorrow- "That town is in America now, so now you're all American, sorry if that bugs you- see ya." That would be closer to reality for some of the Northern Irish people that actually like being a part of the UK.

Iraq is still it's own nation, regardless of what political pundits like to say about The New Imperialism. While I believe Iraq should rule itself, the fact is it's irresponsible and horrible to leave them in a situation now where they are not yet able to do so.

Answer 3

No. Iraq is not part of UK. In pumping up a military presence in N.Ireland, the Brits were just protecting their investment.

The British intend to remain in Northern Ireland so long as the people there wish to remain British - which on the whole they do. Not only that, the British have persuaded the Irish government to amend the Irish Constitution so that it no longer calls for a military victory in N.Ireland and it's forceful joining to Eire.

It's not going to happen. Wise up. The British are staying. It's part of UK just as London is where I live.

There's little or no UK investment in Iraq save lost lives, so staying there for 38 years seems entirely futile.

Time to withdraw soon, I think. Do it before it becomes a rout.

Answer 4

The British have not left Northern Ireland just a majority of the British Army There will still be an Army Garrison there

Answer 5

You cannot compare the two situations, in reality there was no war in Northern Ireland and the British could have filled the country with troops to finish the conflict, but thankfully it never got to that point.

There never was much danger to the military in the South of Ireland getting into an all out slogging war with the British Army, (In my honest opinion we couldn't anyway too short of decent equipment and not strong enough).

In the end both sides realized it has to be a peaceful-political solution to solve their problems.

The situation in Iraq is far more complex, and there are a lot of weapons lying around for the Insurgents to use both against their fellow countrymen and the Allied Forces. Also their political makeup is very unstable, the correct thing would be to hang in there, by pulling out there will be an all out Civil War, the Americans owe it to the Iraqi people to finish what they (the US) started.

Another better comparison to Northern Ireland would be the Spanish-Basque situation the Spanish have not used their military forces in this situation, its been left to the Police from both sides of the Spanish-French border areas to stem the attacks on innocent civilians etc..

Answer 6

stable, New Zealand which was once specifically English and Scottish settlers became independent from Britain and not utilising a impediment, so why could Scotland be diverse? Northern eire could stay component to the united kingdom for the reason that the Unionists could block any strikes in the direction of independence or merger with the Republican of ireland.

Answer 7

Yes Angela as Alexi and Military and others has so clearly put the British have not left at all in N. Ireland. Nor have they left England, Scotland or Wales. N. Ireland is British because the huge majority of people there voted regularly to remain so despite daily murders by the IRA to force them into a United Ireland. So Angela the British is what N Ireland is. Thats why its called the United Kingdom of N. Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. Look at your British pasport or ask anyone who has been to school. Iraq has never been British so there is no similarity.

Answer 8

despite your claims .
You obviously DONT know what youre talking about.

The British have not left Northern Ireland.Northern Ireland is british and so are all the people who live there.
However,due to Blairs treacherous surrender to the IRA ,aka "the historic peace deal",then sinn fein will be awarded power sharing with the northern ireland assembly.The sinister deal has meant a withdrawal of surplus troops.

I think you should get your husband to explain the NI situation more clearly.

if british troops left Iraq now ,the vacuum would be filled by further american troops.The USA told Britain before the invasion that only public support was required and British military deployment was not necessary.
This said,withdrawal would send out the wrong signals to the enemy ,who sensing a propaganda victory would step up the violent campaign against our allies and tribal oppostion.We must stand firm with our allies,we must complete the task in hand and prevent the countrys implosion or invasion from Iran.



Just read "alexi a"'s post.
This is probably the first time I have ever heard sense on Yahoo q+a.Outstanding.

Answer 9

The British did not leave Northern Ireland; it is still part of Great Britain.

Answer 10

Well it depends how long it takes the USA and UK to steal all of Iraq Oil reserve. I dont think at current pumping rates they have a 38 year reserve left, more like 20 years. Both the US and UK are quite capable and prepared to accept current military losses, and could not care about Iraqi losses (they aint even counting) to get the oil out. Besides both the US and UK are using Iraq and Afghanistan as training for their military in preparation for tougher conflicts such as Iran and Pakistan. The US and UK people are only worried if they cant buy a gallon/litre of petrol/gas for their motor vehicles, as long as they have both have a compliant media who keep the military coffins off the TV screens it can go on indefinately.