What in the hell are we doing in Iraq ?

[Simon]

Yup, that is right.
Look at all the places that western power have intervened

So what makes you think it will be different this time around

East Timor, Solomon Islands,

 

[lizzie]

so far the helpers have a proven track record of causing bigger horror, than there would be if they just stood by.

so using your analogy - their help consistently leads to all car occupants dying while the helpers are trying to save the trapped one

If you go back and read past history ... there were already significant "horrors" occurring - just under the shroud of dictatorship secrecy.

It's just now out in the open

 

[Strannik]

If you go back and read past history ... there were already significant "horrors" occurring - just under the shroud of dictatorship secrecy.

It's just now out in the open

not to the degree they are occurring now.

the thing that disappoints me most, is that west is quite happy to support dictators and close eyes to all the atrocities they commit, as long as said dictators are useful and loyal.

gulf countries are prime example.
during arab spring there were protests in Bahrain, and they called on Saudi army to crush them. no one said a thing, yet when the army/police was used in Egypt, Syria and Libya (or China for that matter) - the whole world went nuts.

Most of the aggressive Islamic ideology comes from Saudi Arabia, as well as financial support for different terrorist groups, yet they are western world's best friend.

 

[Francesco]

not to the degree they are occurring now.

the thing that disappoints me most, is that west is quite happy to support dictators and close eyes to all the atrocities they commit, as long as said dictators are useful and loyal.

gulf countries are prime example.
during arab spring there were protests in Bahrain, and they called on Saudi army to crush them. no one said a thing, yet when the army/police was used in Egypt, Syria and Libya (or China for that matter) - the whole world went nuts..

Not the whole world, but the world as worked up by the media. However, this is a matter of perspectives whether the journalists were working up the world or not, as evidence by the tussel between Al Jazeera and the Egyptian court.

Most of the aggressive Islamic ideology comes from Saudi Arabia, as well as financial support for different terrorist groups, yet they are western world's best friend.

Saudi Arabia along with other oil rich Arab countries play the western academia and seduced them with grants and setting up of 'chairs' and studies.

IMO Saudi Arabia along with other Arab countries flaunted their strategic control over oil to influence international relationship with Israel and precipitated the first oil shock. The global back lash on reliance of oil caused deep dives in demand of oil and impacted on their budgets. Saudi Arabia saw that their sovereign interests with the West and in the region are better served by being the 'swing producer'.

 

[Strannik]

http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ht-us-power-global-necessity-conflicts-spread

glad i'm not the only one who sees the root of the problem