BF2S Forums Iraq Quagmire: What should be done?

Unfortunately, I say leave.  If they want to continue killing each other and acting like a bunch of animals, instead of trying to help themselves and advance their civilization, then I say the hell with them.

usmarine2005 wrote:

Unfortunately, I say leave.  If they want to continue killing each other and acting like a bunch of animals, instead of trying to help themselves and advance their civilization, then I say the hell with them.

Yeah, I'd originally felt that immediately leaving was the best answer.  But as I've seen more and more pictures and video (one good thing about the media, eh?), and because I have friends in Pakistan who are in touch with suffering indirectly in Afghanistan, I've realized that those people are NO different than me and others I associate with day in and day out.  I've slowly come to understand that Americans and Iraqis and North Koreans and Iranians are all very similar people...just misguided through various means (government, propaganda, religious teachings, history, etc).  Being religious, I have two conflicting values - 1) Stop the war imediately; 2) Stop the killing we started.  What to do?  Stopping the war serves our countrymen in service...stopping the killing of Iraqis means to stay put and taht means our forces will still be killed but iraqis will be killled less..hopefully.

Tough decisions.

Last edited by IRONCHEF (2006-09-26 15:03:15)

absorbed by Iran?

By a "power vacuum", what do you mean?  meaning surrounding countries would get grabby with the country?  dissolving of borders?

Well as much as an immediate pull out would be awesome, it's just not possible. That's the problem with most people who scream "pull out now!" it's just simply not that easy.

Need more in there too get the job done. Mainly get Iraq on its feet.

We went there we should have the decency to at least stay and try to sort it out, a war is not won in a day excluding zanzibar.  By leaving now we will probably create more anti-western views, we can't justify bombing the shit out of a country and then leave when the going gets tough. Being honest the war should have been prevented pulling out now will only cause more problems. Iraq was actually sorta stable with Sadamm in power we f'd it up.

usmarine2005 wrote:

wah1188 wrote:

We went there we should have the decency to at least stay and try to sort it out, a war is not won in a day excluding zanzibar.  By leaving now we will probably create more anti-western views, we can't justify bombing the shit out of a country and then leave when the going gets tough. Being honest the war should have been prevented pulling out now will only cause more problems. Iraq was actually sorta stable with Sadamm in power we f'd it up.

We need some help from the Iraqi people and we are not getting it.  If they do not want to help themselves, then what is the point of us even trying anymore?

Man, I wish it could be that easy.

Oh, just remembered.  We have a current issue which is an example of completely cutting off US support...Somalia.  Clinton got bad press after the bodies of the spec forces troops were paraded on national TV, so US pulled out.  What's happening now in Somalia?

Why is moving troops to pakistan part of the poll? last time I checked Pakistan was neutral... As for Iraq, I say slowly pull troops away.

You're Damned if you, you're Damned if you don't.

If we leave the country, it'll just create more violence then everybody will hop on the bandwagon of "The U.S. abandon Iraq in its time of need!!" or you'll have the current Bandwagon of "With drawl from Iraq Now!!"
Its really a no-win situation.

If we stop the occupation of Iraq, some extremist, anti-west nutjob will take over and shazam! back to square one. But the KEY is for Iraq's people to turn against the insurgents and start pointing them out. I was over there for 8 months and during that time, myself, my squad, my platoon, my company, The MEU, never once had one Iraqi citizen approach any Marine and say, "Hey!! Badguys in the house next to mine..."

Pulling out would be a bad idea, and with all this time spent there you would think we would have accomplished much more. I think our chances our better if we stay, but no matter, do our allies and other nations think of us more? American media, especially right-winged, belittled the rest of the world for not 'supporting' us. Now, the humble Americans we are, have just realized maybe invading Iraq wasn't such a good idea. Who has their foot in their mouth this time? We do, and it's not coming out anytime soon, so let's stick with the plan. What do we have left to lose? I don't see how we could tarnish our image any more, and maybe we could redeem ourselves if Iraq turns around. It has to really fast though, because the polls are getting fed up.

I believe amnesty international reported of more torture by the Iraqi army/police forces than done by Saddam’s regime, or at least near it (don't quote me). If we leave, Iraqis are just going to be abused and pushed around even more, and then you're 'civil war' will begin to show it's true colors. It would be a downward spiral from there, and I wonder who would seize the opportunity then.

Last edited by Hellogoodsir (2006-09-27 02:30:06)

Civil war in Iraq is inevitable, it's already begun.  Do we stay and kill both sides as they kill each other?  Can we pick a side?  If we fight with the Shi'a, the Sunni will hate us.  If we fight with the Sunni, the Shi'a will hate us.  The Kurds will hate us no matter which side we pick.  We could fight with the Kurds and then everyone in Iraq will hate us along with turkey and Iran and every other Muslim on the planet.  We could step up the effort, increase the violence, really get the fundamnetalists worked up.

The real problem is that by tossing out Hussein we have irreparably destabilized the middle east.  He was the crazy linch pin holding everything in check.  He was strong enough to keep his neighbors at bay.  but weak enough to not pose any real threat.  ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALIST TERRORISTS WE NOT ALLOWED IN IRAQ.  Hussein was a secular dictator in the middle of islamic wacko land.  Islamic nuts we a threat to Hussein because he was decidedly un-muslim is his ambition and rule of Iraq.

When we took Hussein away, every muslim terrorists in the mid-east hopped the train to Bagdad.  We finally gave Iran a chance to get inside Iraq.  Husseins removal and Irans introduction has spurred the long supressed sectarian strife that will eventually envelop Iraq in a civil war.  More people are being tortured and  dying now than when Hussein was around. 

We have managed to put the people of Iraq and ourselved into an incredibly shitty situation.

- complete withdrawal - all hell breaks loose in the middle east, not just Iraq.

-Add troops - more of us die, more of them die, pisses off detractors even more.

-Move troops - All hell breaks loose in Iraq

-stay the course - we continue dying, they continue dying.  everyone hates us.  keep putting off inevitible civil war.

We are fucked, no matter what.