<<we're pretty much at a stalemate>>
... less stale by the days, and more mate by the week.
<<... not against Saddam and the Iraqi military, which were trounced decisively in 2003, but at 4th generation warfare against guerrilla fighters who have the support of their neighborhoods>>
... do you mean to say ... eh ... a national liberation movement along the lines of vietnam?!
<<The question in Iraq has been, since late 2003, when will the Iraqis stand up so we can stand down?>>
... if the iraqis stand up some more, they would invade the kingdom of saud. is that where we are headed with the developing situation?
<<The Muslim Middle East is at a very interesting crossroads. The men and women who want to bring the Muslim Middle East forward into the 21st century are fighting against the men and women who want to bring the Muslim Middle East back into the 7th century>>
... that changes the complex of the equation by quite a bit, and certainly was not the bill of goods on display before the get go. Saddam was secular. What is in place now is far from secular. Are we retreating in order to make progress, or fighting in the opposite direction to not win a defeat?
<<For decades, almost a century, the rest of the world didn't really care who won, as long as we got the oil. See, e.g., China, which is perfectly willing to opportunistically support whichever group appears to have the upper hand at any given moment, which, of course, means every group, because it changes from day to day>>
... so China supports every group? Difficult trick, those clever Chinese trying to push the way of Daoism on to an unwilling region.
<<It's true, the US is sticking its neck out supporting the forces of modernity against the forces of antiquity, democracy against autocracy and dictatorship, but it's the right thing to do>>
... we shall see, but so far, not so good. The force of modernity relative to what is now in place had just been tried, sentenced and will soon be strung up for crimes against humanity.
At some point your disappointment with the thankless effort will well up and flood your enthusiasm for war and conquest under various guises. |
