Between Iraq and a Hard Place

Ok, my patience is running thin. I had to write about Iraq. This won't be a long diatribe, but it will hopefully cause some thought about the larger issues. First, what do we do now?? Bush got us into this mess and there will be NO good strategy, either staying or getting out. Secondly, why are we there? All the initial Bush reasons for starting this war have been proven invalid. There were no WMD's when we invaded. Either this administration is incompetent in their intelligence gathering or they lied to us. Take your pick. Al Qaida was not there. Do you think a ruthless dictator would allow a rogue group the freedom to operate in his country? Was Saddam a threat? Do you remember the no-fly zone? Heck, he couldn't even fly over 2/3 of his country! And, the weapons inspectors were having him destroy missiles that they found. Enforcing U.N. sanctions? Assuming that the removal of Saddam's government is complete, then why are we still there? Even so, things were going to turn out ok. Iraqi oil was going to pay for the rebuilding, Iraqis would welcome us with open arms and the insurgence is in its final throes (2005). (All of these claims are from our Vice President Cheney.) Now, Al Qaida is definitely in Iraq. Why wouldn't they be? Since there is now a wild west open frontier atmosphere, any terrorist group can thrive there. A larger issue that has not been addressed is Iran. Which country is the biggest threat in the region? Iran. And which country is their historical rival and counterbalance? Iraq. Now that we have removed the biggest obstacle to Iran's regional desires, what happens? We have created a void in the region and Iran is definitely filling it. If we get out you can expect Iran, via the Shiites, to attempt to establish another Islamic state, something that Saddam would never do. His Iraq was a non-sectarian state. If we stay, we will continue to lose American lives and spend more billions of our tax dollars for a dubious cause.

We can't force the various factions in Iraq to get along.

A final question. Why haven't Iraqi troops been trained to defend themselves in 4 1/2 years? Doesn't the training of American Army and Marine ground troops take place in about 90 days?

Mission Accomplished!