America has messed up Iraq beyond belief. ⇒
21 August 2006, early evening
This is a post from my link log: If you click the title of this post you will be taken the web page I am discussing.
21 August 2006, early evening
This is a post from my link log: If you click the title of this post you will be taken the web page I am discussing.
i essentially know jack about the interdynamics of how different iraqi political and paramilitary groups operate but could it not be said that the only thing that kept this country from total civil war was a ruthless dictator?
And if that’s the case, then wouldn’t that have made Rumsfield-circa-1980 right to support Saddam?
by award tour on August 21 2006, 9:37 pm #
the flaw in your argument, as i see it, is that it isn’t true that the only thing that could keep the country from civil war is a ruthless dictator.
a more true statement would be, between the two options of:
1. having a ruthless dictator like saddam
2. having what it is they have now
#1 was more stable option.
the hope is that there are more than 2 options. i.e. what many are saying is that it is not democracy that has failed, but, rather, the american-british way of implementing it in iraq.
and rumsfeld’s reasoning for supporting saddam back then was quite certainly not because he wanted to avoid civil war. it was more likely that, at that time, the american administration knew who would be in power (democratically) if saddam was overthrown and they thought that saddam was easier to control or deal with.
by ali on August 22 2006, 12:12 am #
Was there a history of sectarian violence in Iraq prior to Sadam? In the 60s and 70s for example? I am pretty sure there wasn’t so it seems more reasonable to conclude that this extreme sectarian hatred is a new phenomenon, or something that has its roots with Saddam.
I suspect that years of war, both with Iran and then the US, followed by years of sancations, followed by more years of war, have probably had a damaging effect on the people of Iraq. I suspect growing up with such violence makes you crazy.
It is also quite possible that Iran is aiding various Shia militant groups in order to destabilize the country.
by ramanan on August 22 2006, 1:44 am #