What to do about Iraq? The future of the Middle East. [View All]

[Meldread]

Currently we are faced with two choices: Pull out or stay in.

If we stay in the outcome is almost certain. We will fail. Iraq will become an Islamic state. This is a certainty. What happens after that is somewhat uncertain, but we know the fighting isn't going to end.

If we leave the outcome is also somewhat certain, but the result almost definitely disastrous. Iraq has an extremely high probability of erupting into some type of civil war. There will be chaos. It will become a breeding ground for future terrorists (even more than now). The fighting may spread over to other Islamic and Middle Eastern Nations... basically the whole region goes to hell in a hand basket.

Yes, all of this is George Bush's fault. Every last damn thing. We should have never went there in the first place, and now we are screwed no matter what we do. However, we have to find away to salvage the situation in some manner.

It is difficult to say with certainty what the best course of action is because there are a lot of unknowns. I think if we are to salvage anything from this we are going to have to toss the dice and hope for the best, and I think the odds are significantly higher of getting a more desirable outcome by staying. The variables increase too much by pulling out, although that would certainly be the moral and correct thing to do... it just isn't in America (and the worlds) best interests.

If we stay we should begin SERIOUSLY seeking aid from other nations painting the grim picture of American failure. If we fail they will suffer just as we will suffer, especially if the region goes to hell in a hand basket. The worlds dependence on Middle Eastern Oil is a serious handicap in this whole situation and must also be addressed.

By increased international support we can hopefully take some of the burden off ourselves, but I don't think we should delude ourselves into thinking that we could somehow lessen our role in this. We'll always be at the forefront and it'll always be primarily our burden but every little bit can help.

We should try and focus international aid on training the Iraqi forces to help stabilize the country. That should be our KEY goal above all else: Stabilization. Not democracy. Just stabilization.

On the home front we need to begin aggressively looking at our energy policies. We need to begin working on, implementing and creating a fuel source that is renewable, environmentally safe, and cheaper than the oil we get from the Middle East. We can do this. We have the brains and the technology. We need to find away to make it happen, and begin pushing it into the American Public (and other oil-dependant nations as well) this new technology. This new fuel source. It needs to be done in no less than five and no more than ten years. We need to try and sever every tie possible to the Middle East.

While this is going on and fighting is still happening in Iraq we should be aiding those in the government who support a REAL democracy. We should be undermining those who want to subvert democracy and create an Islamic Fascist State at every turn. Ensure that their victory is only temporary, and then once we have freed ourselves from dependence on the Middle East we can become more aggressive in this area not only in Iraq but in other countries as well. The idea should be encouraging the PUBLIC to rise up against the leaders and the United States and other free nations giving support to them. (Rather than going in there ourselves and trying to force it down their throats.)

I would think that the entire region would begin to experiencing some serious economic hard times once the world frees itself from dependence on them as I don't think they have a viable export other than oil. This will make their leaders need foreign aid and that is where we can truly apply the pressure to them and force them to crack.

Of course, we could pull out and allow the entire region to tumble into chaos, but that would have a serious negative impact on the world and on the United States. I'm not sure if it would happen, but I think our economy would seriously start to tank. I think we'd get hit worse than other nations who are already starting to free themselves from dependence on foreign oil. Anyone want to offer a possible scenario of just how bad it could get?

That of course doesn't even go into mentioning the fact that Iraq would become an even better breeding ground for terrorists. It's a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation.

Does anyone else have any ideas or thoughts that could end with us finding something salvageable with the situation?