Melissa Cronin | Gawker.com
"On Saturday, a swarm of protesters stormed the country’s parliament in Baghdad"
History 101
I don't understand why the United States (an offshoot of the Brits and Western Europeans) don't get it given this area's history up unto this present day. They're never going to become Democracies. Almost all the borders for these were drawn up by the old British forces having little to do with anything resembling their peoples. Every last one of these governments have always been (and always will be) based on various religions and/or local tribes.
Today Russia just like other nations (including ours) are slaughtering them wholesale somehow in the hopes they will come together under one banner be it a dictator, a religious leader or a forced Democracy more favorable to each of the invaders History says it ain't never going to happen. People will always defend their home turf over foreign invaders. If there's one thing about human nature I understand it's the enemy without is always hated greater then the one within.
What I Would Like To See
The rest of the world get out of their backyard. Let them have a go at themselves and just maybe after the dust settles they might have a more decent life even it's not the kind of governments all of us would have liked.
I don't think it takes a genius to see Baghdad once looked a hellva' lot better under Saddam then the rubble it's turned into today. Same goes for Libya, Syria and these other countries which have been turned into piles of uninhabitable rubble. People on all sides are enduring far more suffering in war then they did before under even the worse governments they once had to live under.
The proof is, unlike any other time in recent history, the amount of refugees flooding beyond these countries borders. They might have been hell holes under previous regimes but nothing like the numbers we now see fleeing.
Previous dictators and religious kooks would never have allowed ISIS to gain power threatening their governments. By eliminating who we named tyrants ISIS faces no strong single element they would have had to overcome under the Saddam or Gaddafi regimes to name two. Indeed they were evil leaders, but the lesser of two evils considering how many have died since they were eliminated.
KARMA
The more we and others mess around in the middle east, the more they've become a threat. Not just the burdens of refugees fleeing but so too the terrorists that have arisen because of this interference. Not one of these prior leaders were a direct threat beyond their borders to other Western countries and Russia. That much can't be said now.
The Road Ahead
Butt out-- Forget about these phony borders. Allow these people to rebuild and form whatever governments may result. It would take decades before any of the emerging governments could be a direct threat to the United States, our allies or Russia. We took out Saddam's Air Force when it became a threat. We bombed terrorists camps in Afghanistan. We know very well how to eliminate strategic threats. What we (and other nations) are lousy at is 'Nation Building'. All of us need to get out of the business. None of us are good at it.
When it comes to dealing with ISIS: They've grown to power by recruiting suckers into the fight against the United States, Europe, Russia and their allies. Take our presences out of the equation and I'm certain they'd rot from within. The middle eastern people, like all peoples, are more concerned who they think is locally shafting them.
When you look at the destruction in these countries it's insane to think how decent people and families could be on anyone's side except to insure they're own safety and survival. So the question boils down to this... Do we continue bombing the crap out of these countries killing and turning cities into rubble for the next ten years OR back off and see what may become of them?
Call me stupid but I don't see how bombing and killing is going to win friends and influence enemies.