CarolC,

I thought your post of, 23 Nov 05 - 02:17 PM, was absolutely hilarious. Now that my sides have stopped aching can I ask you a few questions regarding the rather bizarre content.

"Some of the people who wanted the US and other Western countries to invade Iraq (and destroy Saddam's government) want Iraq to dissolve into smaller units (like in the Balkans)."

Now who would those people be Carol? The biggest threat to the stability of the region if that were to happen would be posed by the Kurds. An independent embryo Kurdistan in Iraq would attract cessationist elements in Iran and in Turkey, so those two countries can be ruled out of those wishing to see Iraq fragment.

Let's have another look at Iran, while it is an Islamic Republic, it is not an Arab state. Recently it's main centre of Arab origin has been a bit restive, Tehran is sensitive to this because this region contains most of Iran's oil. The Arabs of this part of Iran are Shia. Iran should really worry about this province moving more towards an independent Shia State in southern Iraq with Basra as it's capital. No Iran does not want Iraq to fragment, as with their Kurdish population and their Arab minority stirred up, the Azeri population of Iran might just get it into their heads that they would be better off as part of already independent Azerbijan. I don't think that The Twelve Old Gits would welcome the prospect at all.

CarolC continues..."Those people want the various religious and ethnic groups in Iraq to be fighting each other. So my guess is that at least some of the kind of stuff you have reported here in this thread is an effort by these people to create the conditions that will have that result (of splitting Iraq up). And I also think that they are probably some of the people who are agitating for the US to withdraw from Iraq now."

Oh you mean the 'foreign fighters', or the Sunni insurgents, or the Ba'athist Saddam supporting Rump who want to provoke the country into a civil war that will fragment the country, because they don't want to be part of a country in which they may be marginalised - Hey I don't think they could get any more marginalised than they would be if Iraq fragmented - they could of course become part of Syria or Jordan, but I don't think a bunch of disaffected Saddam loyalists armed to the teeth would be too welcome, plus the fact they would be bringing any oil to the party.

CarolC continues..."There are other people who want the US to maintain a continual, long term presence in Iraq, in the form of a puppet government and permanent military bases, for the purpose of controling Iraq's oil resources. I think these people are the ones who are saying we should stay the course and finish the job."

Why would they want to do that Carol? How would they 'control Iraq's oil resources'? With Chavez, that darling of the left, giving his oil away to the United States of America, why the hell would the US go to all that expense and bother in Iraq, they never supplied the US before so why would it be so essential now.

Wolfgang - 24 Nov 05 - 07:35 AM - Excellent post.