posted on Apr, 29 2003 @ 08:11 PM
I think the military planners have seriously underestimated the powerful effect of the Shiite mullahs on the Shiites. There will be many more "set
ups" like the one here where the american military are put in a situation where they come out as oppresors. We are not talking about a people,
middle class westerners, like ourselves, but poor, niave and easily influenced in the name of their religion. We have nly begn to see protests and
'uprisings'.
When they can muster easily over 1 million faithful to a festival they have enormous influence on an uneduacted emotionaly driven people.
Its a no win situation. These people will get their own way, the only way to overcome them is to do to them what basically they are doing to the
military. Let them have their way and then subvert them from within.
Any policing actions will be twisted to show the populace that they are oppressed and imprisoned, and if you try to subdue them totally you are infact
replacing Saddam and using the same power that he had.
Good governship admits when they have to change the gameplan. The current plan is obiously unworkable.
If the reason they stay is to recoup the money spent on the war then that will pay worse dividends in the future with charges of oppression and a
gurilla war.
If its to continue the "war on terror" then that too can and as we have seen, has been easly redefined to mean whatever the power brokers in the
pentagon wish.
If they offered to leave immediatly after getting Saddam and his cohort, then I bet they would be turned over within 24 hours. They could strip the
country of weapons on their way out, just to protect themselves.
Iran itself is not a happy place I have been reading some background on it and the people there are ripe for a regime change themselves, such regimes
only survive for a limited period. The lure of the west and affluence is too strong.