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Post by Don K Hotay on Sept 13, 2007 17:09:22 GMT -5
If the US had not gone to war against Saddam how much of the middle-east whould he now own? If you play monday morning qb and look back on it, you would wish we did not go to war back in the 90s to liberate Kuwait. I would have liked to have seen Saddam annex other nations and impose a secular way of life. The fanatics would still be preoccupied in trying to over throw his regime......9/11, Britain train bombings, USS cole, Spain bombings, and countless other terrorist attacks would never have happened. ..........of course in that scenario, every single one of us would prolly be driving around in ethanol or hybrid automobiles today; we come to realize why we went to war........keep our allies happy and exporting cheap oil. |
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Post by jeffmann77 on Sept 13, 2007 17:09:44 GMT -5
it is dangerous for a country to have nuclear weapons when their leaders routinely boast that another country will be "wiped out" and "does not have a right to exist"
that being said, i seriously doubt that the iranians have any plans to act on these boasts. Iran is in a constant state of paranoia. Most of their neighbors dislike them and are fearful of them. they are the heart of shia'ism (minority) surrounded by sunnis (majority). and too boot, right next door in a country they fought a very bloody war with, sit 150,000 troops of the most powerful military machine in the world. It doesnt help that they have an extreme paranoia about US meddling in their internal affairs (rightfully so). the most likely reason for irans pursuit of nukes is because they are scared and because they hope to gain some influence in the region. I mean it is well known that Israel has at least hundreds of nukes, and if they were attacked by Iran would not hesitate to wipe it off the map. I dont think anyone wants that and I cant see how even the iranian leadership can imagine any other outcome.
There is no chance though that the U.S. will engage in a military campaign against Iran. The Bush administration does not have 1/20th of the political capital they would need to start yet another military operation. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to put down the wacky tabaccy
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Post by Gracchus on Sept 13, 2007 17:19:23 GMT -5
If the US had not gone to war against Saddam how much of the middle-east whould he now own? If the US had not supported and armed Saddam Hussein, where would he be now? I bet nobody would even know who he was... |
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Post by jack on Sept 13, 2007 18:18:16 GMT -5
nothing more to add over gracchus and donk lines..
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Post by BoNeHeD on Sept 14, 2007 2:01:52 GMT -5
The enemy of my enemy must be my friend...when the Shah of Iran was overthrown the power vacuum made a big sucking sound in the middle east...
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Post by whiplash on Sept 14, 2007 6:29:59 GMT -5
The enemy of my enemy must be my friend.. Oddly, that doesn't always happen. Syria does not support Al Quaida. The shiite hatred seems to be at least as strong as the American hatred. Here's an example of how Sunni feel about Al Quaida: www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1494.htm |
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Post by Gracchus on Sept 14, 2007 22:41:16 GMT -5
It gets even more complicated...
Both Syria and Al Qaeda are Sunni Muslim.
But Syria is controlled by the secular Ba'athist party, whose sense of secular arab nationalism is greatly at odds with Al Qaeda.
Both of them hate the persian Shiites of Iran.
Our two biggest Muslim allies in the war against Al Qaeda are both Sunni (Pakistan and Saudi Arabia). Saudi Arabia is the only nation in the world where Wahabbism is the primary sect (a Sunni sect) -- the same form of Sunni Islam Al Qaeda is based on.
Lebanon is more Shia than Sunni, while Palestine is mostly Sunni. Unlike Iran, Lebanon is Arab Shia. Hezbollah is a militant Shia organization in Lebanon, while Hamas is a Sunni militant group in Palestine.
According to the US state dept, Shiite Iran is currently leding support to Sunni Hamas.
In Palestine, a majority os Shiites support Hamas (A Sunni group), while it is overwhelmingly unpopular among Lebonese Sunni.
All of them hate Israel.
Both Sunni and Shiites are divided into smaller sects, which often hate each other as much as anyone else.
Is is any wonder we have no clue whats going on over there?
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Post by jeffmann77 on Sept 15, 2007 0:03:11 GMT -5
the moral of the story is: religion is f*cking stupid
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Post by jeffmann77 on Sept 15, 2007 0:04:43 GMT -5
The enemy of my enemy must be my friend.. Oddly, that doesn't always happen. Syria does not support Al Quaida. The shiite hatred seems to be at least as strong as the American hatred. Here's an example of how Sunni feel about Al Quaida: www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1494.htmim not sure what you are saying here, but Al-Qaeda is traditionally a sunni organization. so your post makes no sense |
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Post by Assédix on Sept 15, 2007 5:22:10 GMT -5
It gets even more complicated [.....] Is is any wonder we have no clue whats going on over there? That's why we all need to be thankful the US have such Brilliant Leaders who break these subtle issues down into simple fairy tale concepts that even the average American can deal with: 'good', 'bad', 'wicked terrorists', Axis of Evil, etc.  |
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Post by Stormbringer on Sept 15, 2007 9:22:11 GMT -5
AKA "dumbing down',cuz lets face it,it has to be done
What does Pinochet,Hussein,Marcos,& Noriega have in common?
(I mean besides the brutal,genocidal,despotism)
No,they didnt all like little puppies-cept Marcos,but only w/ketchup
They were all put or held in power by the good ol us of a
oh ya,then after they served their usefulness,were left hangin,sometimes LITERALLY,lol
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Post by whiplash on Sept 15, 2007 21:33:24 GMT -5
AKA "dumbing down',cuz lets face it,it has to be done What does Pinochet,Hussein,Marcos,& Noriega have in common? (I mean besides the brutal,genocidal,despotism) No,they didnt all like little puppies-cept Marcos,but only w/ketchup They were all put or held in power by the good ol us of a oh ya,then after they served their usefulness,were left hangin,sometimes LITERALLY,lol errrr.... So what? |
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Post by Assédix on Sept 16, 2007 4:57:32 GMT -5
oh ya,then after they served their usefulness,were left hangin,sometimes LITERALLY,lol errrr.... So what? Some people just can't stand hypocrisy I guess. Hopeless romantics! |
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Post by Stormbringer on Sept 16, 2007 11:11:10 GMT -5
AKA "dumbing down',cuz lets face it,it has to be done What does Pinochet,Hussein,Marcos,& Noriega have in common? (I mean besides the brutal,genocidal,despotism) No,they didnt all like little puppies-cept Marcos,but only w/ketchup They were all put or held in power by the good ol us of a oh ya,then after they served their usefulness,were left hangin,sometimes LITERALLY,lol errrr.... So what? Accepting help from the us of a is like pulling a big,foreign wooden horse into the city. or maybe they oughtta just get better judges of character-THAT WOULD SAVE MILLIONS OF LIVES WORLDWIDE |
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Post by BoNeHeD on Sept 16, 2007 13:26:22 GMT -5
so funny when the next natural disaster strikes and guess who's coming to dinner? The world can talk smack but you know what? Like water off a duck's arse. The US of A will still come to aid in times of crisis. Hey it may be AFU at times and some parts broke and need fixin' but it's the system we got and is still the best in the world for all its faults.
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