[Atheist]

Japan, definitely... Germany? Probably.

The US is getting a lot out of this war. Access to oil fields, for instance. Reconstruction rights (hey.. gotta boost the economy some how, and things around here are pretty stagnant).

Back to what you said about the people being somewhat responsible... maybe.

Here's a direct quote from what Var said:

Shortly after the war ended two uprisings occurred in Iraq. First, the Shiite Muslims in the south held protests against the government. Second, the Kurds in the north began to launch a campaign with the goal of ending Saddam's reign. The Kurds managed to gain control of all of northern Iraq short of Baghdad itself. They called upon America to assist them in the final upset, but as popular opinion of the war had diminished we did nothing. Because of this Iraq broke the cease fire and used its Air Force to slaughter the Kurds, most of whom were forced to flee north across the mountains, where they were killed by the Turkish. The Shiites demonstrations were also similarly suppressed, which is why the UN enacted the no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq, which have been violated on a weekly basis since they were put in place.


What Var says is the definite truth, and in fact, it seems like the US is probably *MOST* responsible for the fact that Sadam is a) still in power, and b) so well armed. The Iran-Iraq war. Who fed the Iraq regime weapons? Of course this is in answer the the growing anti-US sentiment that Iran was nurturing. Then the Russians fed Iran weapons and it escalated from there. While it might have been in their best interests back then to support one harsh and evil regime over another, it still comes back and bites the US in the ass. The in 1991, US had the option to keep going and finish the job, free the kurds, the iraqis all at once. But didn't. US encouraged the Kurds to rise up, and then abandonned them because of lack of popular support (directly from Var, and other sources). So come on. Don't tell me it's the fault of the people. Do you really think they're going to trust the US after that? I wouldn't. Be rational. But then again, this isn't a matter of trusting the US, this is about standing up to Mr. Hussein.

Another wonderful quote straight from Var's magical fingers (no sarcasm intended):

Since Saddam came to power elections have been held. The ballot has two options. You may vote For Saddam or Against Saddam. On the back of the ballot is where you fill out your name and address. If you do not fill out that portion the vote is invalid. If you vote against Saddam, you and your family are killed.

And so, voting against the regime would be life threatening. As a cohesive force, maybe the people could have stood up. But there's no evidence anywhere to suggest that they are a particularily cohesive people.

Sadam used CHEMICAL weapons against the protesting kurds. CHEMICAL weapons! Dude, would you protest under those conditions? *laughs*

It's one thing to say that the government is evil, but it's another to say that it's the peoples fault.

Anyways, I'm tired and I need some sleep. Just some thoughts.