A World Transformed
"An occupation of Iraq could have incurred incalculable human and political costs... There was no viable exit strategy... Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."
George Bush, Sr., 1998
I have run across quotes from George Bush, Sr's book in a number of places over the last year, including the October 10, 2004 Doonesbury. Given our military's experience in Vietnam, Beruit and Somalia, I have a hard time understanding what the current political and military leaders thought we would be facing once we defeated the Iraqi army.
According to the CIA Factbook, Iraq is ethnically 80% Arab, 15% Kurdish and 5% Turkoman, Assyrian or other. Religiously, Iraq is 65% Shi'a, 32% Sunni and 3% Christian or other. Given the passion that each of these groups has for their core beliefs, it is difficult for me to see anything other than a civil war in Iraq's future.
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