Be careful of what you wish for ... You might get it
No one, it seems, is satisfied with the conclusions of The Iraq Study Group. That is by no means surprising. There is no good options or solutions to the mess we created there. Still, some of us believe that creating more mess is better than the mess we have now. The problem is this: Do we have the right to decide what is good, or not good for Iraq?
We certainly have the right to talk about what is good for the USA, but to start even thinking of what is good for other countries or other people is a pure Hyperpower arogance. The ISG report discusses in details what they thought was best for the USA, not what is best for Iraq. This group consists of people who have some knowledge about the region, about the conditions in Iraq, about our capabilities, about the actors involved. They sure are not military experts but they have a lot of knowledge and facts to support their conclusions.
One of their conclusions is that partioning of Iraq will result in the Middle East going in flames. Some of us here in the USA think that it is still a good idea. They base their opinion on the fact that there are three main factions in Iraq killing each other and we are in the middle of it. They think if each faction get a piece of Iraq for its own they will be satisfied. They say even if the three pieces fight each other for a while, eventually they will reach an equilibrium or get exhausted and just settle and give up.
The problem with that opinion is that it is not based on any thing that is real or factual:
Did any one of those who think partioning Iraq is a good idea listen or read what the Iraqis want?
Did they look at what happened when that same opinion was used in partioning Syria/Lebanon, Isreal/Palestine or even Iraq/Kuwait?.
Invading Powers have a habit of trying to cover their retreat by destroying what is left after they realize that they cant stay anymore. Those powers thought that by dividing the lands they invaded is in their own best interest. But is that what happened? was it really in their interest to create conditions that fuels the fire that consumes the Middle East since WW I?
When you take a country with a history that we can't even imagine, like the Old Iraq or the Old Syria, or the Old Palestine and divide it, you think any of the factions will be satisfied with a piece of it? was Iraq satisfied without Kuwait? Are the Kuwaities ?Is Syria satisfied without Lebanon?Are the Lebanese? is Israel satisfied without Gaza and the west bank? Are the palestenians?
The root of the troubles in the Middle East IS the partitioning that was done by outside invading powers, was it a good idea? and was it to the benefits of those powers? The trouble from the Middle East spread allover the world. We tasted it in 1973, then in 1991 then in 1993, then in 1998 and it finally reached us big time on 9/11.
And we still think more partioning will be in our interest?
He who doesn't learn from history is doomed to repeat it. let us remember that.