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At some point in time...

Reader comment on item: Assessing the Situation in Iraq

Submitted by There is NO Santa Claus (aka TINSC) (United States), Jun 16, 2014 at 08:19

... The U.S. State Department needs to come to grips that we cannot stop Muslims from killing one another. Not only is there conflict between Sunnis and Shiites, there is conflict between Sunnis for supremacy of various extreme (I believe the word is "Salafist") movements.

The U.S. really cannot stop it. We can force some semblance of tranquility for a brief period of time at great cost to our military resources. We've done that and now note that the results are temporary.

One last thought: With a power vacuum in Iraq, what will ultimately happen to Mosul Dam? The O'Bama Administration talks about possible responses. Yet U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports tell us that one stick of dynamite at Mosul Dam (or even failure due to neglect) will cause 500,000 fatalities in a day and collateral fatalities on the same or greater order of magnitude as a result.

I wonder if/when Iraqi terrorists are going to attack Mosul Dam (aka "Saddam Hussein's Damn Dam").

Dr. Pipes: I have two questions for you:

1. Do you think Mosul Dam is vulnerable in the present crisis?

2. Do you think the O'Bama Administration looks like a "bully" when we continue to push Israel for concessions to the Palestinian Arabs? If so, is this undermining our diplomacy in the region?

Regards,

There is NO Santa Claus (aka TINSC)

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Reader comments (5) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST [154 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Ameer Labeeb HassanJul 1, 2014 17:44215697
Jihadists cancelling each other out [93 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
LindaKJun 19, 2014 01:53215497
ISIS Is Surrounding Baghdad On Three Sides [153 words]Tom SkylarkJun 18, 2014 02:14215457
3At some point in time... [226 words]There is NO Santa Claus (aka TINSC)Jun 16, 2014 08:19215424
1ISIS War The Sunnis Rise To Power [147 words]Lujack SkylarkJun 15, 2014 16:25215416

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