That would have fixed exactly one problem. American soldiers would not be dying. But the rest of the mess that is there would still exist, and might be worse. I go back and forth on this all the time. I was for the war when it started, did think it would be a hard peace to keep, but never thought it'd be this bad. The two options were this: Very long term, involved containment and war. People forget that we have been in Iraq for 15 years. UN forces (read: the US military) has been camped in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, flying missions and enforcing the no-fly zone since the end of Persian Gulf War I. The US would have been camped there until the overthrow of the government or until a more benevolent dictator took over. (In other words, until the end of the US, Iraq, or the world, whichever comes first.) In retrospect, which is better? I really don't know. I'm for dividing the country at this point. Turkey may hate it, but the Kurds are living peacefully, give them their own country. The southern part of the country is relatively peaceful, give them their own country. Withdraw US troops to those points and defend the borders vigorously. Sit back and watch what happens. At least this dictatorship will have less influence.
didn't W leave Afghan before the mission (captureing vin Laden) was complete ? didn't W declare mission accomplished some >1,000 days ago ?
