I saw some information on the anniversary of our invasion. Over 3,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, over 60,000 Iraqis dead. That second number I had no idea about. It was sobering.
Unfortunately that's where the anger stems from in the Muslim world. I get leading Arab, Indian and Pakistani newspapers among others and most of the reports from Iraq in those newspapers involves innocents being killed. Like you said, the Iraqi casualties are twenty times that the number of American casualties.
However the anger in the Muslim world regarding Iraq isn't nearly as massive as you'd think. What I find most interesting is the letters section in those newspapers, and it is a good way to gauge the public opinion. The fact is that of those 60,000 dead most haven't died at the hands of Americans, but rather each other. There is a civil war in Iraq and most people are dying as a result of in fighting.
I am very sure that the infighting and the casualties will continue regardless of American presence, except it will get far worse. Iraq is a country with a lot of natural resources, and Iran desperately wants of Iraq. Much of the civil war has been instigated by Iran, and it uses Muslim sentiment as a catalyst. They are taking advantage.
I think most Muslims realize that what America wants from Iraq isn't a bad thing. They want a stable democratic government and they essentially want Iraq to prosper. How is that a bad thing? Yes they will take full advantage of Iraq's resources, but in the process Iraq will become an asset to the rest of the world.
I remember when Saddam was initially toppled. The French, the Germans as well as other European countries were falling over their feet to invest in Iraq. Iraq has a lot of oil and these European countries that were opposed to the invasion were suddenly very eager to get a piece of the pie.
It was the quiet before the storm unfortunately.
In my opinion the Iraq issue can't be solved without solving the Iran issue, since most of the resistance is coming through Iran.
Also just to let you know, the Shiites and the Sunnis don't get along
at all. Iran is predominantly shia while most of the rest of the Muslim world is sunni. It is like the protestants and the catholics having so much animosity in older times. I have a feeling that this sentiment can be taken advantage of.
Yeah, Bush made a huge mistake invading Iraq. We overthrew the dictator, but did we free the people? And here we are now with a legitimate threat that needs to be dealt with and we can't do anything about it.
I almost feel like we're abandoning our British allies.
I don't think Iran is doing itself any favors with this. Countries in the middle east were already weary of Iran and filing massive defense contracts in case Iran attacks them for some reason. So far the opinion of Iran is negative because of this, and the markets are fluctuating. Oil is at $66 a barrel, and could go up to 80 within a week. On a side note, it will mean the Canadian dollar climbing back up.
While the democrats' congress has started contesting Bush on all issues Iraq, I am sure they would agree to any action in a heart beat if Iran does something stupid.
