Saddam shouldn’t have pissed us off. And the Saudis buy more stuff from us.
I’m not making moral considerations, I’m just stating the best play for our interests.
Dude, no way we could have trusted the Saudis. And Iraq as such should never have been created. It never had a good reason to exist.
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Saudi’s and Iraqi’s are not good playmates, Iraq is mostly Shia and Saudi is Sunni.
Diminishing Iran’s proxy influence is good, they did that in Iraq, they are currently aligned with the government of Yemen who are fighting Iranian backed rebels, in Syria the USA is all but out (one area of agreement was ISIS which both the US and Iran hated).
The other area is Hezbollah and Hamas which are aligned with Iran. Although Hamas seems to only be united by a hatred of Israel since they are Sunni, they seem much more aligned with Hezbollah who are Shia and in fact some top guys from Hezbollah were also taken out in that missile attack on the Iranian General.
I actually think Trump is eyeing the possibility of relocating some troops away from Iraq, which could be a step in the right direction.
No, but having a mostly Sunni country neighboring a mostly Shia country gives them something else to focus on.
That’s the point. If they are busy fighting in the sand pit, they have less time to fight the West.
That would make all sorts of sense if 9-11 had never happened.
Any regime that sponsors terrorism against Americans is America’s problem. Any regime that doesn’t, isn’t.
Yes, trying to get nuclear missiles while chanting “death to America” qualifies. Fuck anyone who does that.
Alright mate, I think the point is to try and unravel this knotted mess without creating more knots.
One thing I do agree with the Democrats on, (not to weigh in on the rights and wrongs) the taking out of Soleimani was high risk and in a part of the world that is a tinderbox.
But Trump’s insistence he won’t let Iran have nukes brings up some questions for me, like how’s he going to do that. Which leads to a conversation about the Iran nuclear agreement which from the Democrat side of things they would argue was working really well. I don’t think it really was, more like a policy of appeasement that enabled Iran to engage in so many proxy conflicts.
I think they already have a few, but not enough to make a fuss about yet.
I don’t know for a fact, but I have a feeling it involves regime change. Via undermining, not invasion.
Excellent, well-articulated, thoughtful and justified … rant. Right on target … even if those behind the whole tragedy aren’t named. I like to call them Team Z.
Donald Kagan was Master of Timothy Dwight College at Yale when I was there in the late 70’s. We used terrorize his tastelees, homely wife Myrna after she painted over all the fine woodwork in the Master’s House living room pink.
Between father and son Robert there was plenty enough ugliness to cause government officials to agree to deliver their war … just to get them to leave the room.
‘Myrrrna!’