The United States might withdraw from Iraq before the fighting is finished. American public opinion may well demand it. But if that should happen, the war will simply rage on without the Americans, and the Iraqi government might not survive the post-withdrawal scramble for power from insurgents, militias, terrorists, and their foreign patrons. And if the government falls, there probably wont be another. Iraq may end up resembling other weak-state anarchies, such as Somalia, which exist solely as geographical abstractions. Or it could go the way of Lebanon in the 1980s, and divide into ethnic and sectarian cantons. Perhaps it will be invaded and picked apart by Turkey, Syria, and Iran ... Even if Kurdistan doesnt declare independence, there may still be more war on the way. We believe if the Americans withdraw from this country there will be many more problems, Colonel Mudhafer said. The Sunni and Shia want total control of Iraq. We are going to get involved in that. Iran is going to get involved in that. Turkey is going to get involved in that. Syria is going to get involved in that. The Sunni and Shia fighting in Baghdad will pull us in. We are going to be involved. Turkey and Iran will make problems for us. It is not going to be safe. All the American martyrs will have died for nothing, and there will be more problems in the future. Americans should build big bases here. For obvious reasons, the idea of the American military garrisoning its forces in Kurdistan is wildly popular among the Kurds. - Michael J. Totten, Autumn 2007 amazon/gp/product/0615508405/
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:50:46 +0000