Originally posted by Captain Virgil Hilts
How amusing. How quickly people forget.
The LAST time we had people who were trying to take control of an entire region, by force, and commit genocide in the process, we had a nasty little
event the history books refer to as World War II. In order to end the war, and restore peace and some sort of reasonable order, it became necessary to completely destroy two of the main combatants, including a large portion of their civilian population.
"Last Time"? Where have YOU been? The phrases "never again" or "not on our watch" haven't meant anything since 1945. Yugoslavia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Darfur, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, Angola, China, Indonesia, Tibet, Cambodia,..... genocide is the national sport in some parts of the world.
If you want the body count:
http://www.genocidewatch.org/aboutgenocide/genpolmmchart.htm By the way, the idea that Bin Laden and his ilk will be satisfied if the West leaves the area is amazingly naive and stupid. Why do you think they want the West out? So they can take control. What ever gave you the idea that once they have control, they'll stop there?
Have any of you geniuses ever considered the fact that these terrorists want POWER? Or the fact that anyone who craves power and is willing to gain power in the manner that they are will never be satisfied with the power they have?
Of course they do. It's all about control and power and influence. But without the western powers in the region as the enemy, or trying to keep a lid on things, all those seeking that power and control will turn on
each other just as quickly. Thousands of years of hate and grudges against their neighbors released.
Arabs don't want the Persians gaining ground in Iraq. Persians don't want the Arabs to take control over Iraq again. No-one else in the region likes, or trusts, the Kurds. You have tribe against tribe, clan against clan, ayatollah against iam, secular interests against fundamentalism, and everywhere greed in regards to control over oil, drugs, and arms sales. How far will the other groups go, if it looks like one group is gaining ground?
Will the withdraw of the western powers from the Middle East stop terrorism? No. Might dampen it a bit. But at least the cost in blood and treasure trying to keep that part of the world artificially stable will be gone, and much of that hatred in the region would be turned on each other rather than outward.
But the reality is, we need to stay in the region to protect our "national interests" read as: the economy. For Congress to talk about pulling troops out is short sighted insanity. Going in was a bad idea. How they prosecuted the war was mis-handled. Winning the war meant nothing since we've lost the peace. There are no "good " ways out of this mess any more, just less bad...... but we can't withdraw.
A couple British get taken by Iraq, and the price of oil goes up. Were the United States to pull out of Iraq, there is a good chance the whole region would erupt.... with the result being the collapse of western economies.
Americans don't want to see dead soldiers coming back to the States, but I'm betting they would hate what the results of $6 to $10 a gallon of gas would do to their world even more.
