Iraq

[C0FFINCASE]

Its 2011, we went in 2003 and we're going to have to pay $1.9 trillion in costs for the war. The issue and legal ramifications of going in have divided not just Americans but the world. It not a UN sanctioned operation, it is a Nato mission but the US is the major player and not all Nato countries are assisting. Several non-Nato countries are.

My questions to you is why do you think we went in? Why have we stayed? Was it worth it? What does it mean for the future?

Because of my field of study and the people I get to talk to have come to have some answers that I think are rather legitimate but I want to see what other people think, or what the average person thinks.

If requested I can provide what the answers I have to these questions but I'd like to withhold them for the moment.

[Aleena]

As said by Mr Wuncler.
The american way is to keep doing the wrong thing again and again and again and again, until eventually we get it right.

Hate to say it, but those are pretty true words. I personally have watched quite abit of lifestreams and ect in realtime from people on the frontlines, Iv seen a first person view in real time from the gunner of a humvee when it ran over an IED, And even watching a guy going on patrol where his friend took one step out of the trench, and lost his foot and half of his face due to a landmine.

Shits pretty hardcore over there, But everyone seems to agree, They wont admit invading was a mistake and pull out already.

And for those who dont know who wuncler is, Here you go.

[C0FFINCASE]

Why we went in? We went into Iraq not because we thought they had WMDs. Actually we were pretty damned sure they didn't. See Iraq was under sanction since the end of the 1st Gulf War. These sanctions were pretty strict as a result people started to starve in Iraq. The world wanted to control Sadam but not kill all the innocent people. So we started a program called Oil For Food. Iraq sells oil to x and the money gets deposited into a UN controled account, then when Iraq wants to by something it ask the UN to le it and the Un checks to make sure its not something they don't want Iraq to have and so no one starves. Come 2000ish the sanctions on Iraq have relaxed and Iraq is actually doing pretty good. Some of the world wants to drop the sanctions to do business with Iraq. UN and most western powers are against this because if this happens it would be the first time a Middle Eastern country bested the Western powers and actually came out ready to imerge as a global power and regional hedgemon. The West and US are certain that Iraq will rise to power because it has WMD technology and scientist prior to the 1st Gulf War and the use of these is what triggered that war. When the sanctions were removed from Iraq it could not only build WMD it was likely it would. So what do we do? We go to the UN and point out that the 1st Gulf War was never ended(true story) and the condition of the cease fire was that Iraq would disclose all its WMD tech, supplies, personel, and stores and that the UN wold be allowed to monitor them. Iraq didn't do this. 2002ish a report comes out that proves the Oil For Food program was corrupt and that most of the people running it were on Iraq's payroll and that Sadam had made a ton of money off the program as well as shipped some stuff into Iraq he wasn't supposed to. UN security council says that it won't sponsor an action(because Russia and China are some what passive allies to Iraq). US takes issue to Nato, Nato is split about it, we still go in. we go in to remove Sadam, to get hold of all the things in Iraq that could lead to the production of WMD and to make sure that there is no chance of there being an example of a 2nd World Country besting a 1st World country.
I've assembled that story by talking to people that had the highest of clearence in the years leading up to the war and the years right after we went in.

Why have we stayed? We have stayed in Iraq beause we destroyed the state, ie the goverment. If we just left we'd leave a failed state and these always lead to problems and can destablize entire regions. We've been there for near 10 years and we really ought to stay for another ten and dispite what Oama says we will. The pulling out at the end of the year will still leave a lot of boots on the ground and its likely iraq will ask us to come back. State building is an expensive and long slow process. In 1998 the UN and world helped build the state of Kosovo and only recently did it even begin to show progress.

Was it worth it? Fundementally, yes. Though it sounds a little petty the world acted to ensure the current balance of power or rather ensures the dominance of the US. As a poltical scholor that studies and views the world in balance of power theory, this was the best action for the US to take. Despite the terbulance in the Middle East from the US's action, its decidedly more stable that it would have been if left alone.

What does it mean for the future? It can mean a great deal or nothing. We invaded a country to stop it from maybe doing somethng in the future. That has not been done for a few hundred years. It could mean we end up in Korea or Vietnam or Iran, it could mean we do nothing for the next hundred years.