What has 60 years of our covert and overt intervention in the ME, resulted in?

[cali]

A big fucking mess, that's what. Of course I'll stipulate that it's impossible to know what it would look like without intervention and our not intervening doesn't mean others wouldn't have, but let's just take the past 20 years since the first gulf war. The Middle East has become increasingly unstable. The trillions of dollars, the death and destruction haven't made for a safer world. It hasn't made for better lives in the region.

We can tell ourselves that we can't just stand by, but our history of intervention has been a huge humanitarian failure. It's benefited no one so much as the Saudis and the military industrial complex here.

We really don't learn from history.

[Gravitycollapse]

1. I Think the United States and Russia have caused more death and destruction...

than any other collective force in modern human history. We are the enemy we so despise.

[limpyhobbler]

2. We contributed to the mess in Syria by arming the one side in a civil war.

The predictable result of that was that Assad was going to be backed into a corner and do some hideous shit.

[cali]

3. We don't know who used chemical weapons

Could be Assad, could be rebel forces.

[steve2470]

4. I agree

Syria is basically a very nasty civil war with outside agitators/combatants thrown in the mix. I can see absolutely nothing good long term coming from us bombing/shelling/putting boots on the ground.

Let the UN fully investigate Syria.

[snappyturtle]

5. I agree...it's a civil war. We need to stay out of it. Can you imagine

the UN sending in forces during our civil war? From my understanding
we've aided the rebels. Aren't factions of them the very same types
we've been fighting against in the ME? This whole thing is nuts....
been going on for some time but now is the time to get involved...
well, we do need a diversion from the NSA stuff.

[silvershadow]

6. But why on earth did we do this? Why did we benefit the nation that produced 19 of the 21? nt

[Egalitarian Thug]

7. For no other reason than to benefit well-connected corporations, we jumped

into a gigantic, European clusterfuck and made it even worse.

And to repeat: All to profit politically connected corporations.

[Downwinder]

8. The Seven Sisters and an addiction to oil.

[michigandem58]

9. Oil & Israel

Keeping the oil flowing and trying to contain or eliminate military or terrorist threats to this country or Israel.

[truebluegreen]

10. I saw the title of your post and even before I clicked on it I was going to reply

A Big Fucking Mess! Cascades of stupidity and arrogance culminating in the disaster we have today. And here we are winding up for the next installment.