As troops leave, Iraq wants surge of American business

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As the United States completes its withdrawal of all military forces from Iraq by the end of the month, Iraq's prime minister made a pitch to leaders of American commerce and industry Tuesday: Iraq is open for business.

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Open for business? Maybe. It'll be interesting to see what course Iraq takes. There's a very good chance the Shia and Sunni won't get along at all. Civil war is quite possible. Maybe not next month, but with in the next few years.
 
I spoke to a friend who is presently in Afghanistan.
things have been "slow" in Iraq for the last year and the military is making plans to leave (everywhere)....I can't say more...or shouldn't...
but I know I'M glad this nonsense is over.
let the Iraqis figure out what the hell they want. It's basically none of my business
 
cecilia said:
I spoke to a friend who is presently in Afghanistan.
things have been "slow" in Iraq for the last year and the military is making plans to leave (everywhere)....I can't say more...or shouldn't...
but I know I'M glad this nonsense is over.
let the Iraqis figure out what the hell they want. It's basically none of my business
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people are leaving iraq but they arent "leaving" the area necessarily, they appear to be shifting troops around...
 
theonestonecutter said:
people are leaving iraq but they arent "leaving" the area necessarily, they appear to be shifting troops around...
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I know what you mean but I don't wish to say anything more because my friend still has 6 months in a really unpleasant part of the world
 
cecilia said:
I know what you mean but I don't wish to say anything more because my friend still has 6 months in a really unpleasant part of the world
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son is heading to places soon to be unpleasant as well ... expeditionary forces...
 
Nah, I doubt it. I think it was pretty clear the Shia Iraqis wanted the US out so they can get on with dealing with the Sunni head on. The timing here stinks of such a conspiracy. The Shia have enough firepower to do the job, and with the US out of the country, they'll have the freedom to use it as indiscriminately as they'd like. Overall this will be bad news for the US as it will strengthen Iran's control over the region. But there was really no way to avoid it (except of course, to have never invaded in the first place).
 
cecilia said:
I don't give a damn....the Iraqi's have to figure out their own lives and government.
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Apparently not. That's what they were doing back in 2003 and it was deemed to be not good enough. That's why we had to go and teach them about "Freedom(TM)" and now they're a democracy. Hooray.
 
Democracy could never work in a place like Iraq. Iraq, and much of the Middle East, will require it's borders redrawn along ethnic lines. But that's not likely to happen until WW3. And even then, they might not be redrawn the way they should.
 
Glaucus said:
Democracy could never work in a place like Iraq. Iraq, and much of the Middle East, will require it's borders redrawn along ethnic lines. But that's not likely to happen until WW3. And even then, they might not be redrawn the way they should.
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they are far too corrupt to create an enduring democracy or anything else for that matter. saddams iron fist had its silver lining...
 
Glaucus said:
Democracy could never work in a place like Iraq.
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It could work much better if outsiders didn't maintain destabilization operations. Democracy requires abundance and peace. Outside pressure and privation lead to dictatorship. Mind you, too much wealth and ease leads to the same thing as people get lazy. It's part of the arc of civilizations.
 
the thing with democracy is that it will never work unless the people living there want it.
if they don't, fugettaboutit
 
Democracy requires many things. Like Fluffy said, you need peace, and sorta like what Cecilia said, the people need to earn it. You certainly can't go into the middle of a civil war, hold a few elections and walk away. Now, Iraq wasn't a civil war when the US invaded, but it certainly wasn't peaceful as it was clearly a case of the minority exerting control over the majority through brutality and fear. Fluffy's point about outside pressure and privation (I read that as sanctions, which Iraq was also facing before the invasion) certainly do help the dictator (although sanctions on a democracy may help it become more democratic - I'm thinking of South Africa here).

Still, I think my main point is valid about democracy in Iraq. As things stand now, leaders of the different religious/ethnic groups will act like ultra-nationalists primarily to fast track their own leadership. It's a cheap trick but an effective one and it only takes one side to get things started. Iraq has at least three sides (I'd say 4, but I think the very small Coptic minority mostly left following the invasion) and all of them are making claims to oil fields that are claimed by at least one other group. Plus there's Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia meddling on all sides. And with interests reaching far away places like the US, Russia and China, there's still quite a good chance that Saddam's prophetic promise of the "Mother of all battles" may still come true.
 
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