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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)

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