So we’ve got one vote for “divide and conquer” and another vote for “kill ’em all”.
The problem with “divide and conquer” is that Bush’s actions have not further divided the Middle East, but will in fact result in Iran obtaining even greater influence. Before Saddam was taken out, Iraq was controlled by Sunnis. Now that Saddam is gone, the Shias have seized power. As you may know, Iran is also a Shia country. In fact, Iran and the new Islamic Shia government in Iraq are already beginning to join forces:
But he said that the Iranians were in Iraq because “the two countries agreed to solve the security problems.” The Iranians “went to meet with the Iraqi side,” he said.
In a surprise announcement, Mr. Qumi said Iran would soon open a national bank in Iraq, in effect creating a new Iranian financial institution right under the Americans’ noses. A senior Iraqi banking official, Hussein al-Uzri, confirmed that Iran had received a license to open the new bank, which Mr. Uzri said would apparently be the first “wholly owned subsidiary bank” of a foreign country in Iraq.
“This will enhance trade between the two countries,” Mr. Uzri said.
Thus, it looks like the “divide and conquer” rationale now espoused by some to justify the war is in fact more vapor just as was the original “WMD” rationale and the later-espoused “democracy” rationale.
The “kill ’em all” strategy might work if all the terrorists in the world were living in Baghdad, but that is not the case. There are terrorits living in Afghanistan, Iran, Africa, Europe — most of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabi. North Korea has supposedly developed a nuclear weapon on Bush’s watch and China is ramping up its weapons capabilities. And yet, Bush continues to waste $100s of billions on his Iraq boondoggle.
Given all the other threats to our nation, does it really make you feel safer knowing that a signigicant portion of our military resources are being spent on Iraq? I for one feel more vulnerable thinking about the other threats that have been allowed to proliferate while Bush focuses our entire military effort on Iraq.
