The Invasion Of Iraq

[billy bentley]

Cock up of the Century (thus far) for sure, lets work, hope and pray there isn't another one. Don't know what kind of coverage you get in Blighty on John McCain, but briefly he was talking about the U.S. military "hundred years presence" in Iraq. His advisors quickly got him to drop that one, I wonder why ?

[Panzer T]

As a person thats been there all i can say is that the sooner that the British Forces are out of there and apart from the bl**dy yanks the better!
People simply dont learn from history!

[David Brent]

Originally Posted by Panzer T As a person thats been there all i can say is that the sooner that the British Forces are out of there and apart from the bl**dy yanks the better! People simply dont learn from history!

The problem now is that the Iraqi troops, police and government officials are not up to the task of taking over.

Look what has happened since the British army pulled out of Basra.

I agree Panzer that the British troops have done more than their fare share of battle duties in this unwinable conflict. Get the lads out before a full scale civil war breaks out.

Dave.

[billy bentley]

You're well late mate, the civil war is "game on". The Sunni, Shia and Kurds are already at it ! It's just these foreigners keep getting in the way. Iraq was never a real country anyway was it ? Just some kind of Middle East post WW1 quick fix, no ?

[Marky B]

Originally Posted by Cooper S I wish as much fuss had been made about the death of David Kelly as has been made about Princess Diana.

Well said,Cooper S. Whether it was suicide or not,that man was treated despicably!
Ta Ta
Marky B

[Marky B]

Originally Posted by billy bentley You're well late mate, the civil war is "game on". The Sunni, Shia and Kurds are already at it ! It's just these foreigners keep getting in the way. Iraq was never a real country anyway was it ? Just some kind of Middle East post WW1 quick fix, no ?

I don't know the full history,Billy,but the constitution of modern Iraq was drawn up by Gertrude Bell (and I believe TE Lawrence had a hand in it),a woman from Bishop Auckland,County Durham.
Ta Ta
Marky B

[DB7]

Originally Posted by Marky B I don't know the full history,Billy,but the constitution of modern Iraq was drawn up by Gertrude Bell (and I believe TE Lawrence had a hand in it),a woman from Bishop Auckland,County Durham. Ta Ta Marky B

IIRC Lawrence drew up plans to carve up the Middle East but they were never implemented - not that his partitioning would have been anymore successful.

Back to the current situation, I'm pulled in two directions, our presence alone is no doubt a cause of anger and a great recruiting tool for the insurgents and militia, but having created the current mess I feel were partly responsible to put things right to some extent. (without making a whacking profit for Haliburton)

[billy bentley]

DB7, wasn't it Colin Powell who said "If you break it, you have to buy it, and we broke it....". In my opininion, a war instigated for sinister purpose, by men who had never fought in one themselves and fought far from their families and possessions. A Pox upon them all !!!

[DB7]

Originally Posted by billy bentley DB7, wasn't it Colin Powell who said "If you break it, you have to buy it, and we broke it....". In my opininion, a war instigated for sinister purpose, by men who had never fought in one themselves and fought far from their families and possessions. A Pox upon them all !!!

It's the people of Iraq I feel sorry for, they've some of the largest oil and gas reserves and yet have intermittent power and water supplies. Surely their revenues could be spent rebuilding (at a faster rate than currently) their aged and partly destroyed infrastructure? The man on the street might not be so pee'd off then.

[David Brent]

I see that Gordon Brown has now gone back on his promise to withdraw 1,500 British troops from Iraq.
The unlucky troops have now been ordered to remain in Iraq as they probably will be called on to sort out the mess in Basra again.

There really looks no way out of this mess.

Dave.

[Moor Larkin]

Originally Posted by David Brent There really looks no way out of this mess.

Any excuse to pass the port.

I was watching a prog last night about the state of Dubai spending their oil billions on building the highest skyscraper in the world, to go alongside their island follies. It's great to see solidarity of purpose amongst the peoples of the region.

Going by the price of crude at the moment, I'm wondering about the theory we went in to 'nick their oil'. No honour amongst thieves, clearly.

[scholes]

Iraq, as part of the Muslim world, is faced with a complex set of circumstances. The US and British invasion of the country was discredited and inflamed public opinion both domestically and worldwide. Whilst military intervention was justified as an act of liberation, it's presence is still seen by a large segment of the Iraqi population as occupation.

The December 2005 election was to act as a catalyst which would restore sovereignty back to the Iraqis.
Although the political sovereignty may have been indeed regained, failure on the part of the emerging government to restore any semblance of law and order over the entire country made it impossible for the US and the UK to withdraw.
As a result, these countries are still seen as occupiers and the new Iraqi regime understandably is seen as an accomplice to this.
Should this situation continue for a year or two, Iraq will undoubtedly split into three countries. The Kurds will solidify their autonomy in the Northeastern portion of the country, the Shi`ites will establish a similar autonomous region in the south, and the rest of the country (the western and central portion) will fall in the hands of Sunni Arabs.
Another scenario hinges on Muslims’ willingness to succeed in undertaking religious, legal, and political reform. The Sunni and Shi`ite divide is the driving force behind the Iraqi discord and only by addressing these issues can the unity of Iraq be preserved.
And that IS a tall order!

[Harleybloke]

All we have achieved is a region wide destabilisation. even moderate Arab states now face the prospect of extremists in their countries. Countires we call allies, Dubai, Bahrain etc, all could fall if the Islamic radicals have their way.

Great respect for our soldiers but why couldn't we be honest. It was regime change and no one should doubt Saddam was a real eveil character - but to go on a mission to remove a Govt and have no real plan in place, to replace it.......................

[Marky B]

We may have won the war,but we lost the peace!
Ta Ta
Marky B