Iraq: Out of the desert into Mosul (closed)

[OUTLAW 09]

We made a temporary alliance with Stalin during WWII to address a greater evil (arguably). Alliances are not always built upon mutual respect, but they are always built on common interests.

Bill--fully agree with the comment but the inherent but---right now a bulk of the ME is in turmoil because of three things;

1. the total failure to settle the Israeli-Palestinian problem in a way that satisfies both parties and right now even Israeli internal politics is being driven by and many may not like the term but they are in fact ultra rightists religious zealots that force a bulk of the more moderate Israeli's farer and farer to the right thus making a compromise virtually impossible

2. the internal dispute between two regional hegemons of two uncompromising religious wings of the same religion ---the Sunni Shia divide

3. the failures of the Arab Springs outside of Tunisia

A possible fourth item might in fact be the Russian and Chinese interests inside that turmoil which they are using for their particular geo political interests.

Address those items and the ME is no longer a center of turmoil.

But by the US taking a "bombing side" and threatening to "eliminate once and for all times IS" we have dug ourselves into a ME version of the Soviet Union and AFG.

Unless we are ready to commit full military power in forcing a settlement the above items will continue to drag in time and energy until we learn to step back and allow those populations to finally settle their issues themselves regardless of outcomes even if we do not like the outcomes.

Many Americans are poor at history ---it took a 30 and 100 years war and virtually the wiping out of the civilian populations in large areas of the now Germany/Rhineland regions in order to get the two large religions of the period to settle their differences---as brutal as it sounds that must again happen in the ME.