Financial Shakeup this weekend

[catchacab]

I wouldn't call the invasion of Iraq, the battle against Muslim extremist.  Iraq is more of a secular society than other nations.   What we were dealing with was a leader who didn't comply as he should have with international agreements.  One error that was made by GHB, is he let the UN resolve Iraq, instead of the US having a direct end of conflict treaty.  Had we had a direct treaty with them we would have had the legal authority to work outside of the UN with our unilateral actions.

I believe part of the invasion of Iraq, was to show other nations that are more dangerous that we have the resolution to take action against them if they become an impending threat to our national security (primarily Iran and South Korea).  Additionally, Iraq is a good launching point for a conflict with Iran.

We were a bully.  Had we executed the rebuilding of Iraq better, managed the different religious sects, and ethnicities better, the public opinion would be different. 

The bottom line when it comes to Iraq, WE made the situation what it is, it is up to us to make Iraq an a self sustaining, safe, stable and independent democratic country.  The only problem is that due to the different religious sects and ethnicities, a strong dictator is more likely to make Iraq stable, safe and self sustaining than a democracy will.