AL Qaeda, Iran and Syria has planned the sectarian violence so they can drive the US out of Iraq and declare their divine victory, control Iraq and the Middle East, and use its oil resources to destroy us and the West. If you read Zaraqawi letters before he was killed you know exactly that the whole Al Qaeda plan from the begining was to create such a secterian war so the American people will lose "hear to fight" and surrender Iraq and the Middle East to the terrorists. If we leave Iraq because we think it is just a civil war between Sunnis and Shia then we have fallen into the trap of AL Qaeda and Iran.
Frankly, I believe if we won today, they wouldn't see that as long term defeat. They would only retreat to plot and scheme another day. But that new day is probably not that far away. And the cycle starts all over again.
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There are excellent posts throughout the thread--one that I especially like is by MEGoody: Patriotic citizens will take into account the consequences of exercising their right to criticize. Unpatriotic citizens don't care about the consequences, especially to others.
I think that is a key element of the definition of giving aid and comfort to our enemies.
I think another key element is that a patriotic citizen will be careful to be truthful, to develop arguments based on facts, evidence, and logic, and to avoid confusing fact and opinion. This requires considerable intellectual and emotional self-discipline and maturity.
"AL Qaeda, Iran and Syria has planned the sectarian violence so they can drive the US out of Iraq and declare their divine victory, control Iraq and the Middle East, and use its oil resources to destroy us and the West. If you read Zaraqawi letters before he was killed you know exactly that the whole Al Qaeda plan from the begining was to create such a secterian war so the American people will lose "hear to fight" and surrender Iraq and the Middle East to the terrorists. If we leave Iraq because we think it is just a civil war between Sunnis and Shia then we have fallen into the trap of AL Qaeda and Iran."
Again, this is entirely clear headed and completely true.
The PROBLEM is that your choice of strategy and tactics will not achieve your goal.
And, in fairness, it's not YOUR choice, it's the PRESIDENT'S choice. You are very loyal to the President, which is commendable.
If the President made the RIGHT choice, and took the sides we need to take, we would be well on our way to the victory we MUST have or face disaster. But he has made bad choices, and continues to be stubborn in refusing to take the ugly choice to do what must be done to win.
You understand the need to win, but you are too loyal to the President. He is wrong. His strategy is bad. He shouldn't be supported. He needs to be hit by the ugly two-by-four of reality FROM US, HIS ALLIES, so that he FINALLY choses the right strategy option and takes sides in the civil war, arming and supporting the sides that will end up being our allies when all is over. We CAN'T make Iraqi Sunnis our allies. We just deposed them after a century of rule and centuries of dominance before that. They HATE the Shi'ites, who WILL dominate any democracy. We have to kill these guys, not try to be nice to them. That's what taking sides MEANS.
Similarly, we CAN'T make peace with the Mahdi militias et al. They are in Iran's watchpocket. They are NEVER going to come around. Like Communists, they will undermine. They need to be marginalized and, eventually, destroyed.
WHO CAN DO IT?
Not the Kurds. They hold Kurdistan admirably. They MUST NOT be asked to give up oil and treasure to their former oppressors. It's madness!
It has to be the Arabist Iraqi Shi'a. THEY are the majority, but they are the weakest and least organized of all. They voted in a government, but the pro-Iranian militias have the guns. And the Sunnis will not stop killing everyone in sight. We have to consciously chose the deaths of the Sunni Arabs and the pro-Iranian militias, by consciously arming the Arabist government faction in its own right. FIRST they will slaughter the Sunni Arabs. SO WHAT? They're the chief cause of OUR misery. Like Nazis, they have to die for us to win. And WE can't kill them all: too barbaric. But Shi'ite Arabist Iraqis can, and will, given the weapons. So give them the weapons. Power seeks its own level. Right now, ravaged by bombings and death squads, Shi'ites HAVE to rely on the pro-Iran militias. But arm them ourselves, and they gain power and territory in their own right. And they're IRAQI, not Iranian. The pro_Iranian militias either open a new front in the Civil War (which Kurdish Sunnis will assist in defeating - OR - more likely, they find an accomodation with their coreligionists and cousins that leaves the country uncomfortable, but under command, and specifically under the command of our two militarily allied factions.
It's obvious.
So why doesn't Bush want to do it?
It means letting a Shi'ite Army go butcher Sunnis and commit ethnic cleansing.
So he's trying to pretend Nazis can be made our friends to avoid arming a side to commit crimes against humanity.
To win, we have to arm them to commit crimes against humanity.
OUR soldiers can't be asked to do that. But they can be gotten out of the way.
If we want to win in Barbaria, we have to let the barbarians fight as they must, and pick the winner.
You SEE what the outcome has to be, but you are supporting the President in a pipe dream. Let your loyalty to the future of America supersede your loyalty to Bush. He's gone down a rathole. He's not going to be happy about having to back down and order things that will produce horror. But he HAS to for us to win. And the only way he can be gotten there is if the Maginot Line Cheering Section knocks it off and says to him that, respectfully, that can't work and you have to do the necessary evil so that we can have a tomorrow.