[Grovenet] The Iraqi View

[Jeff Cooper]

In case you haven't noticed Ron, we're *still* in Japan and Germany... over 60 years after the end of WWII!  Not to mention South Korea, Serbia, and you tell me where else we are.  Personally, I chalk it up to U.S. Imperialism, and not a need to keep an occupied country safe and secure.  

That being said, I am also probably one of the few Berkeley hippies left on the planet who thinks that we *shouldn't* pull out of Iraq unless/until we can have reasonable certainty that a massive civil war won't ensue upon our departure.  Yeah, yeah, I've read the arguments about how we're exacerbating the problem by remaining in Iraq, but I don't buy the fact that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis (on top of those already killed) will occur when/if we leave.  The major difference between Iraq and Japan/Germany is the (mostly) homogeneous nature of the latter two countries.  Neither Japan nor Germany will perform ethnic cleansing when/if we leave.  Serbia is another story, and much more recent history.

No, if we are to truly start demilitarizing, then we should start with Japan and Germany (seems safe to leave both of those countries, don't you agree?).  South Korea *may* be the next on the list, assuming we could get reasonable assurances from North Korea that they won't cross the border (and yes, perhaps the word "reasonable" is an oxymoron when dealing with their dictator, though recent news indicates that he's actually backing down a bit).  

However, I really don't see our military-industrial complex backing out of *anywhere*.  Perhaps when/if the Dems take back the White House we can start moving in this direction of anti-imperialism, but I'm not going to hold my breath.  

Regards,

Jeff Cooper
 
       
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