Sometimes dictators exist for a reason. Saddam had kept all the factions in his deeply divided country in check. So did Gaddafi, in Libya. Take out the dictators, and all hell will break loose. Maybe we need to stop being naive and idealistic when looking at politics. Not all countries are ready for democracy. [Despite the blood and treasure America spent in Iraq it now has very little influence there, and Iraq is in almost as much of a mess now as it was at the height of the civil war that raged through most of the country. Iraq is broken. Its broken because it was never fixed. The US got into Iraq badly and from an Iraqi point of view they got out equally as badly. Getting out, though, was the right thing to do because by December 2011 the US had more than overstayed its welcome. But while there is much that can be blamed on the US there is also just as much blame for the Iraqi politicians left in charge. They have proved themselves to be thoroughly incapable of building democratic, accountable institutions. Corruption is endemic. And if that wasnt bad enough this year has seen a huge increase in sectarian violence, much of it due to a campaign of bombings by al-Qaeda in Iraq. The United Nations estimates that more than 5,000 civilians have died this year alone. ]
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 04:45:38 +0000