Is it really that simple?

Submitted by Pat (United States), Jul 25, 2007 at 19:55

"Why send US troops to finally invade Iraq in 2003 when the Turks, Iranians, Syrians, Kuwaitiis, would have done it for us---FOR FREE!---if we, the US of A, had: 1. Given sanction for a partitioning, 2. Provided air cover and support 3. and some economic support."

William,

Can you expound on this? Would the countries you name have been able to work together? They may have all hated Saddam but there are Sunni and Shia in almost every one of these countries as well as in Iraq. Why wouldn't such a move merely have resulted in Iraq being pulled apart and pieces claimed by each country? Kurds can be found in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Armenia. Which of those countries would accept a free and independent Iraqi Kurdistan? How could the Turks have invaded without stirring up their own Kurdish population? Would the Kuwaitis and Syrians be able to resist interfering in Sunni Iraq? No matter how we oversaw the process, would four separate armies, each from a country with its own designs on a piece of Iraq, have been able to maintain a partition? For that matter, would it have been in their interest to do so? Why should we think the Iraqis would accept their presence any more than they did ours?

We also have the same problem that is being resolved now through bloodshed: the intermarriage between sects. Where does the family go? Is the extended family torn asunder because one son married a woman from another sect?

Why isn't the US leadership promoting total US energy independence?

Maybe it's because independence means reduced demand for oil. Domestic oil companies wouldn't like that. They'd rather sacrifice our future than disrupt their balance sheets.

The last was just an aside, but I am interested in how you think the four-country invasion would have worked. Thanks.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".