Matt wrote:I think the Iraqi people are much better of than they were before the war.
Hmmmm, let's ask the Iraqis today...
No WMDs after all, no excuse for war
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Rspaight
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With the exception of some Shiites, I bet most of them would say they are ALOT better off without Saddam.
Interesting. I would think the Shiites (and maybe the Kurds) would benefit the most from Saddam's exit. The Sunnis are definitely not going to be as favored as they were, and the fate of Iraqi Christians is uncertain. Tolerated under Saddam's secular regime (Tariq Aziz was/is a Christian), they will probably be worse off under the more Islamist regime most Iraqis would choose (assuming some form of "democracy" takes hold, which seems extremely doubtful for just that reason).
As far as conditions in Iraq today, they sound pretty dire to me. Rampant looting, spotty availablity of electricity and clean water, outbreaks of disease, general anarchy, and so forth are the rule. Gonna take a lot of work to rebuild things, which the administration hasn't shown a lot of interest in, aside from getting the oil wells working again. They've already moved on to eyeing Syria and Iran. The track record in Afghanistan doesn't leave one optimistic that serious improvement in Iraq is forthcoming.
Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney