First, let us not all forget that 9-11 happened. Further, militant Islamic groups hate us, are going to continue to hate us and are going to continue to try to hurt us. This is going to happen NO MATTER WHAT WE DO.
So here is an incomplete of things we could do going forward:
1) Cut and run with our tail between our legs (proposed as a brilliant solution by many on this board).
2) Stay the course.
3) Split Iraq into three areas based on religious majorities with their own governments.
4) Increase our military presence, throw out the incredibly restrictive rules governing military engagements and crack down really, really hard. This may include kicking the s**t out of Syria and Iran.
If we cut and run, does anybody really think the terrorists are going to decide to leave us alone? I think they will be emboldened even further. We end up looking weak and unable to strike back effectively.
Staying the course does not seem to be working but at least we are doing something rather than sitting back, picking our nose and waiting for them to hit us again.
Splitting the country will probably result in civil war and an increase in Iran’s influence in the region.
If we approached the crack down with the intent to WIN and without trying to make it look pretty for the press and the bleeding hearts here, we just might stop them from hitting us here again. Of course, they will hate even more but the underlying goal is to stop their ABILITY to get to us.
We need to do something to stop them. I believe that the detonation of a nuclear weapon in the United States is coming. We have to pull out the stops. Cutting and running accomplishes NOTHING in this goal.
As for the cost, it is certainly huge. We should be sucking every ounce of oil out Iraq and using it to pay for the war (that is going to cause some outraged squeals). This is what almost all occupying countries have done in the history of the world. They take what they have conquered and add it to their own treasuries. Rome ran on the money of the conquered.
However, we are too “nice” to do what needs to be done.
I invite all those who want us to cut and run to give a prediction as to what they will think will happen if we follow that course.
Does anyone have an alternate course of action that they would like to put forward?
