The Iraq Conflict - What's at Stake
Since April of 2003, a conflict has been on going in Iraq in the Middle East. Some have been in favor of the attempt to democratize Iraq, others feel it would have been better to leave Saddam Hussein to run his fiefdom regardless of the untold thousands that he had killed or maimed. The American public has tired of the conflict and politicians - mainly Democrats - have attempted to gain political points by calling for a schedule for withdrawal of all American troops by late in 2008. Politicians and the news have labeled the Iraq conflict a civil war. Civil war is a vague term and lends itself to a myriad of interpretations.
To call the current Iraq conflict a civil war is to exaggerate what is occurring in the country. The conflict pits Sunni against Shiite Muslims but in a limited scope. We don't have armed groups fighting one another in the streets or fields of Iraq. If those that are referring to Iraq as a civil war want an example of a true civil war, then they should watch what most likely will happen should the US remove its troops before the Iraq government and military bring stability to the country.
If US troops leave before stability in the country is achieved, the true civil war is likely to begin. With Sunni fighting Shiite with no well organized troops to intervene. Whether one group or the other gains the upper hand, it would then be likely that primarily Shiite Iran would enter the fight to insure a win by the Shiites and primarily Sunni Saudi Arabia and Syrian would enter the fight to support the minority Sunnis. It would not take long for the conflict to encompass all four of these countries in the area. Other Muslim countries in the region might also decide to intervene.
An all out conflict in the area might seem to some to be the region's problem. Those thinking that way obviously don't gas up a car or order heating oil for their home. A Middle East at war would stop the flow of oil from that region and eliminate 20% of the oil that the US ( and the rest of the world) depends on to power their economy.
In short, the world's economies would enter a recession and quite likely a depression not seen since the 1930's. The conflict in Iraq may not have been a conflict worth starting, but now that it is in progress, much depends on its final outcome.
4/14/07 ( 95 )
© Copyright 2000-07 www.mypov.org - All rights reserved.
Post Your Views On This Topic