Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

The real reason(s) for going into Iraq may not be known for half a century. Whatever they may be, I'm pretty sure they are a lot more complex than we know at the present time. We only get to know, generally, what the powers that be want us to know. At the end of the day, does it really matter? The facts are these: The wellbeing of the whole world as we know it today is almost totally dependent on Western Technology and the sustenance of the Western business world which influences our buying power globally, thus giving countries worldwide the necessary revenue to function. In order to flourish WE need oil. So if that was the main reason for going in there, to have control of it, then so what? We need to remember that if the west goes bust, so does the rest of the world. The sooner we find an alternative form of energy to oil the better. I've said it before but I feel it is worth repeating. The only thing the Arabs have is oil. But for western technology they would still be grubbing around in the sand looking for lizards to eat. The sooner their damned oil runs out the happier I will be. They will then be powerless and unable to hold us to ransom. Roll on that day! I'm sure the oil companies do not want us finding alternative forms of energy at the moment for obvious reasons. However, the day will come when oil is not a viable economic option. By then, hopefully, we will have invented the successor to the internal combustion engine and they'd better make sure we can power the damn thing by something abundant in the western world.

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

Agreed, but we mustn't forget China as a challenger to Western dominance.
The sleeping Tiger, and the world's fastest growing economy, and it's Communist.

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

Yep i think so

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

I agree with what JohnW said about the oil issue. If it really did boil down to being all about oil are those who complain about that possibility actually saying we should let the Arab world have control of all the oil and hold us to ransom whenever they wished?

I do tend to think though that there are many things we may never know in our lifetime - perhaps the younger ones amongst us will learn of them one day and they'll scratch their heads and say "Iraq war? When was that then?"

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

I agree, and that is probably another reason why we went into Iraq because China is, I believe, now the second largest consumer of oil in the world. So, we need to be controlling the flow rather than them eh?

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

Totally going off thread l know sorry, but regarding China. A quarter of the world's population are Chinese, they are the world's fastest growing economy and are still defiantly Communist.
The whole global power base could change so easily, and l think that's frightening.

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

I have been having a look at the posts I made in this thread in June last year, and it is surprising how little has changed in the intervening nine months.


Blair is now exposed as a liar, having told porky's to Parliament and to the country, and yet still expects to be re-elected like his best mate George, only in his case for a third term. There were no weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein was a threat only to his own people .

Our soldiers, both British and American, are still laying down their lives. The invasion and occupation of Iraq has cost UK Taxpayers over £5 Billion and rising. And is the situation any better in that benighted part of the world? Well, no, not really. Despite the election held in Iraq in January, it seems that they still cannot agree on who should form a government and so they do not have one. In the meantime, religious fundamentalists are ignoring the Iraqi parliament and enforcing the law as they understand it. The British and American forces are becoming bogged down in a guerilla war led by imported extremists and financed by Syria and others.

How far would the £5 billion spent by the UK and the astonishing amount spent by US Taxpayers have gone in researching a viable new form of energy to reduce our dependence on a dwindling and increasingly expensive resource? But the oil companies don't want you to have free energy, where is the profit in that? It is for this reason that they use their obscene profits to buy up the patents on on new developments and stifle research.

It will be remembered at this point that the Bush family made it's money in Oil, and is on very friendly terms with the Saudi Royal Familyand that the majority of the members of George W Bush's first administration were also intimately connected with major American Oil Companies and/or Defence Contractors. This is not to suggest a conspiracy theory, it is simple plain fact. In trying to discern the truth from the disinformation and outright lies surrounding the Iraq Adventure perhaps it would be useful to ask the same question that Cicero asked in the courts of ancient Rome- Cui Bono - Who benefits ?

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

Oil life blood of the world. Who ever controls it controls the world hence the Yanks want the honour besides they are scared of China. :D :D :D

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

NOT IF WE SEND IN ALL THE BLOKES THAT WEAR SKIRTS............................lol the meanest fighting machine going.

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

Do i get to do the "Carry on up the Kyber" bit to subdue em? Or is it just a squad of mad bad highlanders yo want for the job?:eek: :p Are volenteering as well?

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

I don't know whether it is time to pull out of iraq but if you all make the great decision - please, please bring my son home with you - it would be nice for him to see his new baby before it wonders who on earth he is!

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

No. Things are really turning around there now and it would be a huge mistake to leave. Change is coming from the bottom up. Local and regional government in Iraq is doing what the national government has not yet accomplished. Recently, I saw a photograph taken at St. John's Church in Baghdad. A group of Muslims and Christians were putting the cross back on the dome of the church. There was an accompanying story by Michael Yon - a reporter who also took the photo. It was positive and uplifting.

In my opinion, a tectonic shift has taken place in the Middle East, because suddenly the Arabs and Israel have a common enemy - Khomeinist Iran. The danger posed by Ahmadi-Nejad seems to have eclipsed all the old antagonisms.....as the current Annapolis meetings may soon reveal - and from which Iran was deliberately excluded.

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

the current annappolis meeting is just talks about having talks bullseye, but you may well have a good point. as for Iraq, think weve gone too far down the road now,not to finish the job.

Re: Is it time to pull out of Iraq?
 

it was never time to invade in the first place I know someone who was injured serving over there