Any student of history knows that many many different outside forces have tried to instill their own version of peace and stability to this arid area. Turks, Ottomans, Russians...Heck for all we know aliens tried it at one time. One can count the number of actual successes on one hand and have five fingers left over. Matter of fact, about the only real times there was any real level of stability in these areas was when Local Dictators/Holy Leaders/Western Propped up Puppets essentially took over and installed a State of ME in an area.
So why do outside forces still think that they can make any sort of lasting difference in lands where no one likes anyone and even the ones who like each other can't agree on anything? Using the US as an example even though we are far from the only ones, we invaded two separate nations (We liked one of them so much we invaded them twice.) under the pretense of Self Defense.
I say pretense even when speaking about Afghanistan and 9/11 simply because the Nation of Afghanistan didn't attack the US. Radical elements within that country did attack us and I do feel our response was justified however the Nation and the majority of its people never attacked us. So after a decade of two wars and over 6 trillion dollars spent, what do we have to show for it? A lot of American Dead and Maimed and the moment we removed our forces, all heck broke loose.
Soooo, now ISIS or whatever the fudge it is calling itself at the moment is roaring across Syria and Iraq. The defensive forces, many of which we helped train and equip, are being about as effective as ice cream in a forest fire. They seem to be setting a new record for atrocities not seen since WWII (Or as I like to call it, Phase II of the Global Conflict) and don't get me wrong. If half of the reports about some of the crap they are doing are even half true, then things are pretty damned bad.
So now, all of the experts who were screaming that we needed to end our involvement in the current phase of MECK, BRING OUR BOYS HOME etc are screaming that something should be one and that enough wasn't done to prevent it. The same Geezers who demanded that all US troops be brought home (To defend the borders of course j/k) are in a rage saying "American forces should have been left behind to keep an eye on things.
Obama, who won two elections on his promises to end the wars and bring US troops home, is now authorizing air strikes against ISIS (or is it the IS now) and is rumored to be considering following some GOP (you know the same geezers who wanted the US out of the ME and our boys brought home?) suggestions of sending in limited ground support.
So we move back to my opening statements. No outside force has been able to effectively create lasting peace in the ME. The 2 wars in Iraq and the 1 war in Afghanistan should have showed us all that no matter how much money and blood you pour into that region, it won't make a whit of difference once the support stops. It is high time we stopped trying to fix their problems for them and just let them work it all out on their own.
Now do I believe with all of my heart and soul that we should do everything we can on a purely humanitarian level to help those caught in the crossfire? Absolutely. Fly as much medicine and food and other supplies as we can to help them. Heck, lets start another Berlin Airlift. Maybe with our help, there might actually be people still standing (or hiding in holes) once all the shooting stops.
End of Rant
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