All things Middle East related

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by That Guy

when japan and germany were beaten, the nations were very homogeneous. germany had differing groups between ww1 and 2, but afterwards that, um, wasn't the case. you didn't have the shia/sunni/kurd/yazidi/etc divides, and you also didn't have 42 different tribes and organizations with 42 different agendas operating in the same regional space.

our military presence doesn't change that, and when we leave, barring some miracle, those divisions will become immediate flash points for continued problems. that's what happens when your country is given artificial borders.

I agree with everything you said, but the bolded point is the key. We shouldn't have left. We should have stayed and strengthened the coalition that we had fairly successfully unified around Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq. If it was known that the US presence was there and not leaving then the Iraq government could have matured under our protection and we could have guided them to be more inclusive. Sure there would have been losses by IED's and I'm definitely not pie in the sky thinking that it would be an easy peace to win. but Instead we fled and left a vacuum. That vacuum has led us to where we are.

I do agree about artificial borders - to a degree. Ultimately, every border is artificial, and the only true way to bring about peaceful resolution is to create systems that respect and account for the localized differences. The US has been fortunate to be established in that principle and have enjoyed a pretty amazing run internally thanks to it. We have, by way of NATO, created a similar safe zone within the European continent, and it's my strong belief that a strong ME equivalent would be able to (over time) actually lead to regional peace. But the leadership of the US uses the ME for politics, not actual solutions. That statement is directed at both parties.