Ranger Question of the Day:
Why does America care if the Iraqis kill each other after we leave?
Presently the U.S. taxpayers are paying billions upon billions to kill Iraqis.
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to let them kill each other?
The question hit me between the eyes… not something I had asked myself or anyone before. But, the more you think of it, the more Rangeragainstwar is right.
Here’s our predicament: If we stay in Iraq, more of our soldiers die and, of course, more Iraqis die. If we leave Iraq, less of our soldiers die, but, of course, more Iraqis die.
Hmm.
It seems clear that we really don’t care about Iraqis. We say we want to help them set up a democracy… but we really mean a democracy on our terms, with leaders we approve of and with, of course, the oil available to our corporations.
The Sunni and Shi’ite contingents both have their groups of insurgents. Sometimes we back one group. Sometimes we turn around and back the other. Most Americans could not really tell you which group we were backing when… or what which group stood for. An I don’t think either of those groups care for the Kurds.
Then there is this that I found in the Washington Times:
Nabil Comanny and his family endured the dead bodies in the streets, the roaming kidnap gangs and the continuing power failures.
The Christian family stayed in their southern Dora neighborhood after their Muslim neighbors fled the daily fighting between Sunnis and Shi’ites.
But when a hand-scrawled note appeared on their door telling them to convert to Islam, pay $300 a month for “protection” or die, they realized they had to leave their home of 11 years.
“We don’t have weapons, and the government doesn’t protect us. What else can we do?” said Mr. Comanny, a 37-year-old journalist.
Islamic militants are increasingly targeting Christians, especially here in the capital, forcing an exodus that has cut deeply into the long-standing minority community.
And while we are defending Sunni’s (or Shi’ite’s… I don’t remember this week), they are going after non-Muslims. So even more Iraqis die whether we are there or not. And I imagine we provide the weapons for most, if not all, of the killings (sorry, I forgot… the Iranians are supplying weapons… we’ll have to go after THEM shortly.)
America, I believe, cares for the most part about one thing: getting out. That is what the election said in 2006. That is what the polls say. That is what Americans say in the press. That is what the blogs say. That is what just about everyone but Bush says.
And we go on…
