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Kissinger: Iraq Military Win Impossible
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 Coolness: 145185
| LONDON - Military victory is no longer possible in Iraq, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said in a television interview broadcast Sunday.
Kissinger presented a bleak vision of Iraq, saying the U.S. government must enter into dialogue with Iraq's regional neighbors — including Iran — if progress is to be made in the region.
"If you mean by 'military victory' an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.
But Kissinger, an architect of the Vietnam war who has advised President Bush about Iraq, warned against a rapid withdrawal of coalition troops, saying it could destabilize Iraq's neighbors and cause a long-lasting conflict.
"A dramatic collapse of Iraq — whatever we think about how the situation was created — would have disastrous consequences for which we would pay for many years and which would bring us back, one way or another, into the region," he said.
Kissinger, whose views have been sought by the Iraqi Study Group, led by former Secretary of State James Baker III, called for an international conference bringing together the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, Iraq's neighbors — including Iran — and regional powers like India and Pakistan to work out a way forward for the region.
"I think we have to redefine the course, but I don't think that the alternative is between military victory, as defined previously, or total withdrawal," he said. |
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| I'm feeling surly right now.. |
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 Coolness: 178630
| methinks they shouldn't have been there in the first place... |
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| I'm feeling tentacles inside me right now.. |
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 Coolness: 56185
| me too and admitting that it was a mistake and for what reasons would be a good next step-- |
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 Coolness: 509545
| they've somewhat admitted the mistake, but they make the point that just taking all the troops out would do much more harm than good. Knowing the history of Iraq, I simply can not understand why they thought a united Iraq was possible, There are three main religious sects that control the region and they have been at war for far longer than most of us have been alive. A much larger campaign promoting acceptance and toleration should have been the agenda as Iraq, Iran, Saudhi Arabia, Egypt, Isreal and even the Soviets have had severe military conflicts over the past three decades. |
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| I'm feeling bond, james bond right now.. |
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 Coolness: 122295
| well they're in a really bad spot right now. especially now that the republicans have a minority government (sorta at least. withdrawing now is impossible. this won't be over for years to come and it won't be easy. |
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| I'm feeling computer meltdown right now.. |
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Coolness: 42735
| Logically, the integrists in the Middle East should gain some social power in their countries. I think this is unavoidable, unless we call a genocide. So we might as well just say fuck it right now then do it in four years. The difference, well four more years of this kind of mess will create only more opportunities for the violent movements inside the muslim socities to recruit more lost individuals. Obivously pulling out of Iraq would might provoke a civil war. Yet if Iranians and Syrians diplomats and politicians could push aside the extremists, who are a true force inside their respective governement, sit down with the Westerners and make a deal about it, they could save the day. Hell, get Saudi Arabia in the debate also. All the main actors in this conflict have to sit down at a table and find a solution. But I don't see how things could get better and they will probably get worst. |
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Coolness: 178630
| I'd like them to say "sorry, won't do it again". ^__^ |
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| I'm feeling tentacles inside me right now.. |
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Coolness: 509545
| violense is the answer it seems. |
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| I'm feeling tuesday right now.. |
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Coolness: 56185
| I do agree with what it says in the article about the necessity of not withdrawing the troops sporadically. It, I believe, would need to be done transitionally.
There is so much I do not know about the particulars about this precarious social situation... but I can be sure that violence is only ever thought to be the solution and is not really. there ought to be every overt gesture made to display that reality, not only to say it or preach it but really to show it. I know I can be naive but when will we learn.. |
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Coolness: 145185
| we are going this war and we're going to lose the war on terror too. |
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| I'm feeling surly right now.. |
Kissinger: Iraq Military Win Impossible
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