Your very first portion of your response was wrong. We are, and have been daily fighting the terrorist group Al Quaida in Iraq. It was prominent two days ago on all major news networks that the Iraqi's had killed the #2 man, and thought to have wounded the #1 man.
Yes there are Al Queda elements in Iraq - along with tens of other Islamic factions hell bent on gaining the power hold on the country. Here is a link to the type of factional fighting we are caught up in-
Soldiers of HeavenHere .
Bahgdad Divisions more about the target of the "surge" - Sadr City - actually a Shia enclave but a stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia loyal to radical *****e cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Supposedly a political sopporter of the elected government but who is rumoured to be in Iran talking to the Iranians - not something the US government is happy with. The US needs the Shia power base on side but not those cosy with Iran - the US needs west friendly Shia and so needs challenges to the government smacked down.
As for the war being about oil, well, I think it is more about stability and safety. As long as religous extremist nut bags are in power in the middle east, they will use their money (gained through oil) to support the terrorist groups that are hell bent on attacking western civilizations that they believe are wrong and need to destroy.
I would agree with that so why the reluctance to act on Iran ? The insurgents in Iraq have no real capability to lanch a mass destruction attack on the west - Iran however does and, by your own argument, it has the oil to pay for it. so how does pouring resource in to Iraq improve our immediate safety and security ?
Actually If things were to kick off in Iran we definitely need the Iraq government on side to base operations in Iraq - hence the support to consolidate a friendly power base in Iraq.
We are right to have gone into Iraq. I do not believe we are in a "civil war" that the liberal newsies and left wing nut jobs claim we are. I believe that terrorist elements sponsored by Al Quaida, Iran, and Syria are hell bent on creating the illusion of a civil war though.
Hell of an illusion .......
63 killed in market bomb The latest push to eradicate the terrorists in Bagdad has been very succesful with a massive drop in civilian casualties as a result. This is because the terrorists are being pushed back, and captured or killed. If we continue this, we will see a dramatic drop in the violence while a country gets back on it's feet!
This is temporary .... and as far as the country getting back on its feet ?? We won't see that in our lifetime.
We support the monarchy in Saudia Arabia from which the original terrorists came from; we support the military dictatorship in Pakistan because they came on side. At the same time we turned our back on Rwanda; we largely turned our back on Yugoslavia and we turn our backs today on Sudan. This is no great philanthropic cause - this is about strategic postion and power over resource.
The Al Queda link - yes there is a faction of Al Queda but it isn't The Al Queda operating under orders from Bin Laden. Look to Pakistan and Afghanistan for the real deal.
And as far as the Reps and Dems ?? The Reps bungle the original mission and then the Dems concentrate on point scoring at home while leaving their young men and women die on the streets of Iraq for an unknown cause - Sketch's words not mine ....... Quality Government.
Oh and the UK government is no better.
Oh and no bold caps this time ................