US doesn't equal the UN or international law. A country that shrugs off international law countless times has no right to enforce it. They put the cart before the horse (to use a disgusting cliche') with Iraq. Intel analysis was taken the wrong way at best by politicians (at worst: cooked books). Hell, look what the Bush admin did to Former Ambassador Joe Wilson (appointed by G HW Bush) when he repeatedly denounced US-Iraq policy and came out against the reports that they had sought Uranium in Africa: they leaked that his wife was a CIA operative into the press and blew her cover. Just that one instance should set off warning flares.
I'm sure when we do invade Syria and don't find Iraqi WMDs, we'll claim they went to Lebennon with them or something equally false.
Democracy cannot be forced on people.
Lets clarify that: Take a country that isn't homogenous and is made up of three ethnic groups: Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds that really doesn't have natural borders. They all dislike each other, and putting them into a democratic representative government is dangerous because the minority groups will fall victim through a concept called "Tyranny of the majority." Yeah, everyone has a say, but it doesn't mean a damn if 49% of the population wants to pass a certain law when the 51% ruling majority will simply vote against it. The more safeguards you put into place, the more unstable your Bringcivic structure becomes. Look at the disaster known as Lebennon. A country that was once the Switzerland of the Middle East in terms of banking and commerce turned into a warzone because of the various groups and the post-mandate power-sharing governments used.
Bringing it back, everything I've read suggests a pretty decent mix between homegrown and foreign terrorists. Certainly, you're going to see a flood of radicals with any action in that area, but not to the extent of what was seen by the Soviet Union in Afghanastan. However, the US has become increasingly unpopular with the Iraqi people...likely due to the perception that we aren't exactly imposing order and we aren't exactly leaving. Combine the fear of ending up as another colony/mandate with the recent abuse stories, and you have the perfect message for an insurgant recruiting drive. Every time an Iraqi citizen dies from US bullets, more people pick up against the US. |