"'Our goal is simply to make sure Iraq succeeds, because we think a successful, democratic Iraq can be a model for the entire region,' Obama said."
To do so, Obama told the Iraqi prime minister that they will build up trade relations, support the building up of Iraq's democratic capacity, help Iraq rebuild its air force, and possibly help in training Iraqi troops
"The U.S. goal 'is a sovereign Iraq that can protect its borders, protect its airspace, protect its people,' Obama said."
In order to help achieve its goals, nonmilitary U.S. personnel will remain in Iraq.
So could this truly be the start of a "new chapter" as Obama says?
8 comments:
It seems that as the war is winding down, we are starting a new chapter. It's been roughly 10 years since the beginning of the war and much has happened, the world has changed and our priorities are shifting. With the assassination of Osama Bin Laden we can now finally focus on our internal affairs, specifically the economy and the people.
Well, the US does have an interest in Iraq for its oil, but would it actually be worth it to build up a democracy over keeping the country just stable enough to keep pulling out oil? After all, a democratic sovereign Iraq could have people elected that would want the US to keep its influence out.
Anyway, the country's economy is based on oil. To make Iraq a nation that can stand on its own feet, economic diversification is necessary. How exactly does/can the US plan on attracting foreign investment into the country?
An Iraq heavily aligned with the US would maintain a lot of pressure on Iran, and Iran and Iraq have fought before.
Along with dealing with economic issues, the U.S. may have to also focus its attention on the people of Iraq. The people still have to find a way to fully accept a democratic political culture instead of hanging onto the usual ideal of a non-representative government.
Although the Iraqis are probably more open to democracy now than they were 10 years ago, I think the way they approach this new form of government is something that will take a very long time and won't be easy for the U.S. to control. There will always be regional conflicts, religious issues and many more problems that will slow the process of building a democracy.
So, even though the war is ending, there still needs to be a lot of involvement in Iraq if the U.S. wants to see any progress.
I agree with Pritika, while this seems nice and a good new beginning, it almost seems too good to be true. I can definitely foresee many obstacles arising with such a dramatic change of culture as Pritika pointed out as well as any left over Anti-American sentiment.
I guess all we can do it hope that all goes over smoothly.
It could very well be a new beginning, but just as Crystal had said, it seems too good to be true. The mains reason that the US was even in Iraq was to get oil and stop "terrorism". Looking at it now, did America's perspective really change now that Bin Laden is dead? I guess we will have to see how it all plays out, and if there is a deeper, more complex reason as to why troops are still in Iraq.
A democratic Iraq is another goal of the U.S. that will just have to tough out the decisions of it's sovereignty. It is the meaning of soverignty after all. Like censorship, the public will always have something to pick at because of the various opinions. Although, such democratic processes are slow enough addressing local and religious concerns as they are, extremities will have the most impact on the compromises since they are a significant amount of the population in Iraq. However, the question of how the Iraqi government will accept democracy IS a reaction we've yet to see.
OF COURSE the US will build trade relations with Iraq. Hearing and reading this it makes it seem like the entire Iraq war was a ploy to get Iraq's rich oil supply. It seems like the US just sugar coated the war to sound like it was all for a noble cause when we really just wanted the oil.
What I wrote above is what I think upon hearing how we'll be starting trade relations with Iraq. I acknowledge that there were actual reasons for going to war with Iraq and Congress would not have declared war so that their new fancy sports cars can have a nice full tank of gas for them to speed on a highway somewhere.
I honestly believe that "starting a new chapter" in the relationship between US and Iraq seems like a pipe dream. Can Iraq really forget about 10 years of war and bloodshed? I'm not saying its impossible, it just seems highly improbable. I'm also uncomfortable with the idea of rebuilding the military that we just annihilated. Is it really smart to help rebuild something that we just destroyed? And if so then was there a point to destroying it in the first place? Why destroy something we're gonna rebuild later? I do see the logic in rebuilding their army, but I'm just very uncomfortable with the idea. Its a smart move, I'm just uncomfortable and may later turn to bite us in the behind if we're too trusting of Iraq.
If I was a citizen of Iraq I would be angry with the US, Destroying my nation and then staying to rebuild it into a doppelganger United States might seem agitating.
Despite my doubts, this is a chance for Iraq and the US to start everything anew. This is a chance to forget past actions and focus on how our world is today. Again I'm riddled with doubt because I find it hard to believe that Iraq will just forget the past 10 years of war that tore their nation up. Its a beautiful opportunity, but the likelihood of starting a friendly relationship with Iraq, I doubt will happen.
Although the war is officially over, I doubt that this will not bring further conflict between the two nations. And although Osama Bin Laden is no longer in the picture as Lexi mentioned earlier, there could still be a group of people who feel a strong resentment towards the US because their leader is now gone. The transition to a democracy, as covered by other bloggers, is not going to be a simple action and this could take many more years. That being said, it is a step towards a possibly more fair country that has the potential to prosper once we finally leave. And there may even be a glimmer of hope that they will like us again.
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