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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Machaon who wrote (752979)	11/1/2006 1:19:40 PM
From: pompsander	Respond to of 769667

"===> ... but that having EXTREMIST SUNNIS and EXTREMIST SHIITES fight each other to a bloody draw, <=== Nonsense. The Iranian backed Shiites would win very quickly. The question is, what would happen to the Kurds? Would Iran allow the Kurds self-determination, so that Iran and Iraq could focus their attention on destroying America first?" I disagree. The Sunnis have powerful financial backers to call upon, if this becomes a sectarian bloodbath. The Saudi's for one...Syria can provide logistical support. I would not count the Sunnis out without a vicious, long struggle first. As for the kurds, they already are planning for independence and are set up to pursue it ASAP. But then you have to ask the Turks how they feel about an emereging Kurdistan.

To: Machaon who wrote (752979)	11/1/2006 1:30:59 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

Re: "If the US pulls out, the Iraqi people would not have any possibility of self-determination." Nonsense! They don't need Uncle Sucker to mediate their civil war to have the ability to determine their own futures! Re: "The Iranian backed Shiites would win very quickly." Why on Earth would you say that? (You think the Sunni nations in the region would NOT oppose Iranian expansion? That's just CRAZY, it's the #1 thing on their minds! :-) Points: The Shia are ALREADY in control in the areas where their population dominates... but NOT where they are minorities (as in the Gulf regions of S.A., or Kuwait, or central 'Iraq', etc.) So, that's no change. And, two, the Sunni world is significantly larger --- more populous & richer --- then the Shia minority is worldwide. The US military and US Intelligence has ALREADY reported that the Sunni rebels are receiving "unlimited resupply and financial support" from neighboring Sunni nations... and, let us not forget that the bulk of the old Iraqi Army was Sunni. Likely the lines of control wouldn't shift all that much inside of Iraq no matter how long the extremists on both sides fought each other. (&, all that would likely benefit long-term Western goals... a HELL of a lot more then current policies are.) Both sides (Sunnis with all the support from other Sunni nations like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, etc., etc.) and the Shiites (with support from Persian Iran) are actually rather well balanced as far as military potential and sustainability go. Re: "The question is, what would happen to the Kurds?" Well... that's 'A' question! Answer: they would STILL need the US to keep our other ally, Turkey, from rolling down on them like a ton of bricks. And... not being ethnic Arabs, they would be somewhat exempt from the Sunni/Shia struggle to the south of them.