> I thought more or less the same, but I wouldn't go for air strikes against
> Iran. AFAIK Iran's pro-freedom opposition is not geographically
> concentrated and would not benefit particularly by air strikes.
Not now. Now I would favor air strikes only on the city of Qom to take out the mullahs, plus strikes on Iran's nuke facilities. In 2003, the pro-democracy people had the Iranian govt. tottering. Air strikes would have been useful in keeping the mullahs from moving Revolutionary Guards to fight them.
>
> As to Iraq, I second the sweep-up of Syria. I was always against an
> occupation of Iraq for anywhere near this length of time. I think Iraq
> could've been deal with swiftly, and Kurdistan severed from it as
> unfortunately delayed payback to the Kurds for their friendship.
>
> What's that, you say? The Turks wouldn't like it, and they're our
> longer-term friends? I think those who'd say so are overvaluing that
> relationship. Turkey was friendly for one reason only: scared shitless of
> the Russians. Domestically and internationally, Turkey has not been too
> congenial with liberalism. They've whipsawed over the last century between
> domination by, and suppression of, Islam -- an unstable situation. Plus,
> they were on what I take to be the bad guys' side on Cyprus. So I say if
> they need to be dumped for our new "date" in the region, Kurdistan, fine.
> I think they'd just pout & hang on anyway.
I agree with you generally, though not completely on Cyprus. The Greeks triggered the whole thing back in 1974; the Turkish Cypriot separation was a reaction to the Greek Cypriot move to annex Cyprus to Greece, which collapsed when the Greek junta did.
>
> As to the rest of Iraq, who cares? Install a puppet on long strings, and
> look away. It'll take them a long time to find & install another Saddam
> Hussein. Meanwhile they'd just be glad to be able to sell oil again to
> someone besides the French & Germans, and get dollars.
I agree.
Doug
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