The Iraq War retrospective Thread

[--Pete]

Hi,

Haven't seen you for a while, welcome back:)

I think we should have finished in 1991 , . . .

We did. And Bush senior did an excellent job of explaining why we stopped when we did and what the consequences of invading Iraq would have been (basically he predicted the mess we're in now) in one of his many books -- unfortunately, I don't remember which.

. . . maybe by now we would have finished all the "rebuilding" of Iraq if we had done so .

Doubt it. With luck and hard work, you might get a significant change in a culture in three generations. And that is if they want to change (or at least the first generation gives lip service to that change). Nothing short of a significant cultural change will enable the Arab states to become true democracies, or even really understand the concept.

What an alternate timeline that would be* , I am sure things would be vastly different now .

Kinda doubt that. Desert Storm wasn't enough to get Bush re-elected ("It's the economy, stupid."). An occupation is seldom popular, so that probably would not have swung the pendulum. Clinton most likely would have been elected in '02 and might have stayed in, probably would be stuck with it. Garrison troops in Iraq would have gotten about as much press as they did and do in Europe, Japan, S. Korea, Gitmo, and bunches of other places we're 'defending'. Which is to say, none.

I was active duty first time around , reserves second time around , now closing in on my 22 year mark and waiting for an end to this whole mess I don't see coming anytime soon . I just want my friends and family who deploy/have deployed to come home safely .

Got back from Nam in '66. Waited for the end of that mess. It wasn't pretty. Don't want to see it again. And don't tell me, tell the Russians how a third world country cannot drive out a superpower's invasion force (and contribute to that superpower's downfall, something else I don't want to see).

--Pete