Let us for a moment indulge the wildest fantasies of those on the left who want every soldier, sailor, and airman out of Iraq as quickly as transport could be rounded up to bring them home.
Let us further indulge the fantasy by patting our lefty friends on the back and congratulating them on coming up with a war winning strategy.
How’s that? No responsible nation would leave Iraq in the state that it is in now, would they? The consequences would be catastrophic – especially for Iraq’s neighbors.
Wait a minute…hold the phone. Aren’t Iraq’s neighbors Iran and Syria? Of course, Saudi Arabia is also a neighbor as is Turkey. But this is war. Sometimes allies or innocent bystanders have to suffer for the victory to come.
Besides, perhaps giving the Saudis a little taste of what their myopic and dangerous policies toward al-Qaeda has wrought wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all…
To indulge this fantasy, we would have to look at some of the fallout that would be the result of our immediate and precipitous pullout from Iraq.
Certainly the government would collapse and the men with guns would rule. It would be Somalia times ten. Sectarian violence would spiral completely out of control and militias would battle for turf. Millions might flee the country.
Where would they go? Here’s where the pain would be inflicted on Iran and Syria.
Shias would stream toward their co-religionists in Iran as would the Sunnis toward Syria – unless one or both countries were forced to intervene. As it stands now, the Syrians and Iranians will probably help us just enough to stabilize the security situation so that we would leave Iraq. But suppose we left the stabilization and security problems with them?
It would be Iran and Syria not only in a quagmire of their own making but also forced to deal with hundreds of thousands of refugees – unwanted visitors that the Saudis are already preparing for by building a massive wall that will separate the Kingdom from Iraq. And the Saudis wouldn’t remain untouched as they would be forced to watch the Sunni slaughter in Iraq. Such a horrific bloodletting would not sit well with their own population and could force the Kingdom to intervene themselves.
This would all be grossly irresponsible of the United States, of course. But do the Iranians know that? Are the Syrians sure that we’d never do it? Such a scenario hanging over the heads of diplomats during our coming talks with the terror states might make them a little more prone to cooperate.
It will never happen this way – but Iran and Syria would royally deserve to have to pick up the pieces in Iraq after they have done everything possible to destroy civil order and keep the country embroiled in violence.
11:15 am
Rick,
Of more immediate concern should be the possibility (probability?) that early withdrawal could encourage jihadists within the United States and abroad to execute more attacks. The Bush-hating crowd has claimed this war is a failure since it started in spite of the fact that the enemy hasn’t carried out an attack in the U.S. since September 11. If we pull the troops out of Iraq now, and it could very well have the effect of painting a big old bullseye on the back of every American.
12:27 pm
“It will never happen this way – but Iran and Syria would royally deserve to have to pick up the pieces in Iraq after they have done everything possible to destroy civil order and keep the country embroiled in violence.”
To be absolutely accurate, the US and UK did everything possible to destroy the civil order by bombing the daylights out of it and sending the survivors home without pay. As far as I am aware there is no actual evidence of Iran and Syria being directly involved at all.
I know, I know, evidence is sooooo 90s…
12:31 pm
Riiiight…and the reason we are going to talk to Iran and Syria is so that we can exchange Christmas cookie recipes…
Dolt…
12:42 pm
Drango,
Conduct your own research, but Iranian agents have been captured and killed in Iraq by the US military during the course of this war – just because CNN isn’t reporting it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Iran has been supplying and advising various Shia insurgent/terrorist groups from the outset, which is consistent with it’s lengthy history of engaging the United States and Israel by means of terrorist proxy.
Can’t blame them for sticking with a winning strategy, but we should take a long hard look at ourselves if we continue to ignore a major source of this mayhem. Should Iran actually build or acquire a nuclear/atomic weapon, it will only be a matter of time before it finds its way into the hands of one of the many terrorist groups Iran sponsors.
1:05 pm
got to disagree with you again, rick. while you say “No responsible nation would leave Iraq in the state that it is in now, would they?”, I would argue that ‘our’ responsibility is to take care of the United States, not to play nursemaid to the world.
2:10 pm
“Riiiight…and the reason we are going to talk to Iran and Syria is so that we can exchange Christmas cookie recipes…”
Yes, your government’s action usually make sense, don’t they. The words “desperate” and “last gasp” don’t ring true here at all?
Still, good to see the quick to insult thing working for you.
As for the later chap who said;
“Conduct your own research, but Iranian agents have been captured and killed in Iraq by the US military during the course of this war – just because CNN isn’t reporting it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.”
I have no idea where to even start. Since you obviously do, could you show me the evidence? Remembering that, of course, I trust US military sources as much as I trust Iraqi stringers.
3:48 pm
Drango, google “Iranian agents in Iraq.” Review the sources and draw your own conclusions, but don’t simply dismiss facts because they may not fit your perception of reality.
10:54 pm
It would seem that what is considered the epitome of a foreign policy success is Cambodia, Rwanda and the shameful betrayal of the Vietnamese.
As long as the dead are “gooks” and “wogs” it doesn’t matter. They can tell Mr. and Mrs. Average American that they have kept their lily-white sons from dying to free the dusky heathen., who is incapable of managing a civilized society anyhow.
They may talk about “human rights” and the dignity of man. But they’re not about to do anything beyond lip service. They’re all for the dirty business of freeing the “oppressed” as long as it’s someone else getting their hands dirty. They want to do it by remote control.
But when the bombs come home, when the planes strike the towers, then they will whine “why didn’t someone do something?”
If not us, who? And if not now, when?
5:29 am
I have wondered about this scenario or something similar as well. I think Turkey would play a large role in the violence that would follow a western withdrawal. Unfortunately, they would start by going after the most promising element in Iraq, the Kurds. The Saudis would be drawn in and then, of course, they would be begging the US to return. The Israelis would be no help with their current leadership. It would be a stalemate. All would go down with no clear victor.
The Chinese, as usual, would sit back and enjoy the whole thing. It’s a shame we have leaders who are afraid to finish what they start. Bush is a big disappointment. He has ignored the obvious intent of Iran and Syria to sabotage everything he has tried to do in the ME. What was he thinking? He has never really explained.
6:18 am
MSM engaged in running gun-battle with U.S. Forces
Has there ever been a time in American history that the Department of Defense (or its predecessor, the War Department) was forced to mount “information operations” against the mainstream media? I strongly encourage all bloggers to link to the DOD’s…
10:27 pm
Dropping Sanctions: Keeping the Threat
Iran’s participation in sports, sovereignty, human rights, or nuclear technology, remain irrespective to international cooperation. Keep your eye on the following: Rick Moran posts: