Re: The Iraq War - Chapter 5
The Prez has given the military the power to shoot or capture Iranian fighters who venture into Iraq, and I'm sure he would do the same for al Qaeda/Hezbollah agents trying to cross from Syria. Our soldiers could do more than the US Border Patrol can (for one thing, border guards at our southern border can't shoot illegal aliens who try to cross into our country.)
So Syria and Iran should definitely not be called in to "help stablize" Iraq. If the Iraqis don't do it for themselves, then we will have the same situation as we're in now...foreign powers trying to change things. What Syria and Iran can do diplomatically is stop meddling in Iraq by allowing insurgents to leave their countries to fight in Iraq.
Having UN forces in there wouldn't work because if you recall, there was sort of a UN force in there with us...remember the "Coalition of the Willing?" Well, by the end of this year, everyone but the US will have pulled up stakes and headed for the hills. UN Forces aren't able to do much in Lebanon, where there is a little less violence, so I have grave doubts about their being effective in a civil war in Iraq (they didn't do so hot in Kosovo, either, as I recall).
The troops that we have in Iraq today have not been trained to be instructors anyway. So their mission would have to be totally changed and they all would need more training. If anyone can pull that part off, it would be the current head of our forces in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, because he's been called "the thinking man's general". The guy has been in charge of training soldiers in the past, so at least he understands the logistical and practical things involved in that job. He also helped write the current counterinsurgency manual, which is what they will use to train the Iraqi forces. But even he has admitted that he has a daunting task.
If I had my druthers, I druther have all our troops home asap, but that's not practical, either. So if they have to stay there, let's get more of them out of harm's way (i.e., Baghdad and Anbar province) and keep other countries from sending their fighters in to muddy the issue. Most of the countries surrounding Iraq are Sunni countries, so while the current Iraqi government is Shia dominated, it's kinda outnumbered.
Miulang
Originally posted by joshuatree
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So Syria and Iran should definitely not be called in to "help stablize" Iraq. If the Iraqis don't do it for themselves, then we will have the same situation as we're in now...foreign powers trying to change things. What Syria and Iran can do diplomatically is stop meddling in Iraq by allowing insurgents to leave their countries to fight in Iraq.
Having UN forces in there wouldn't work because if you recall, there was sort of a UN force in there with us...remember the "Coalition of the Willing?" Well, by the end of this year, everyone but the US will have pulled up stakes and headed for the hills. UN Forces aren't able to do much in Lebanon, where there is a little less violence, so I have grave doubts about their being effective in a civil war in Iraq (they didn't do so hot in Kosovo, either, as I recall).
The troops that we have in Iraq today have not been trained to be instructors anyway. So their mission would have to be totally changed and they all would need more training. If anyone can pull that part off, it would be the current head of our forces in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, because he's been called "the thinking man's general". The guy has been in charge of training soldiers in the past, so at least he understands the logistical and practical things involved in that job. He also helped write the current counterinsurgency manual, which is what they will use to train the Iraqi forces. But even he has admitted that he has a daunting task.
If I had my druthers, I druther have all our troops home asap, but that's not practical, either. So if they have to stay there, let's get more of them out of harm's way (i.e., Baghdad and Anbar province) and keep other countries from sending their fighters in to muddy the issue. Most of the countries surrounding Iraq are Sunni countries, so while the current Iraqi government is Shia dominated, it's kinda outnumbered.
Miulang
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