Did the Iraq War accomplish anything long term?

Futurist said:

Isn't this thread itself a violation of this forum rule, though?

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sonofstars said:

What I'm about to write might be very controversial, so please desist from offensive comments and recognize that I am merely putting forth a hypothesis. This hypothesis is to a great extent based upon my reading of the writings of Neo-Conservative philosopher Leo Strauss, who stressed esotericism and the need to think in decades instead of years. I am also NOT a supporter of the amoral Neoconservative strategy outlined below.

1) The goal of the Iraq War was not the removal of WMD (which did not exist) nor was it merely the removal of a nasty dictator (Saddam). Neither was it control over Iraq's enormous oil reserves and therefore world oil (The futures markets in Chicago and friendship with Saudi Arabia are more than sufficient to do this). Besides North America (US & Canada included) is not exactly short of oil either.

2) The goal of the Iraq War was to instigate a definite amount of churn in the historical heart of the Muslim world with the intent of inducing a reformation within Islam and also containing/weakening the theocracy in Iran. This long term objective has recently begun showing results more than 10 years after the Iraq war was started.

There is a sectarian civil war underway in the Levant - one sees this in Syria and Iraq. Lebanon, Bahrain and Eastern Saudi Arabia are tinderboxes. In Pakistan too, Shiites are now beginning to retaliate against Sunni terror. Mesopotamia has been the ancient dividing line between Sunni/Shia as well as Arab/Persian/Kurd/Turk. So, the Neoconservatives certainly picked their spot and in this sense, the Iraq War could well be considered a modern crusade.

The Iranian theocracy's global influence has been severely curtailed due to its client states (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon) being in turmoil. It is not a coincidence that Iran has been unexpectedly conciliatory this year. This has less to do with Rouhani's election and more to do with "facts on the ground" which are not in the regime's favor.

Notice how little condemnation (compared to previous engagements) Israel's defensive war against Hamas received in Arab capitals and in the world generally ? Even the Arab Spring was to an extent motivated by the observation of a functioning albeit imperfect democracy in Iraq installed by the Americans.

In the short term, Iraqis were put through a lot of suffering - they were indeed better off under Saddam. In the long run - well, we'll just need to see.

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funakison said:

Interesting post, it would be more credible had President Bush not claimed that there was only one type of muslim.

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