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The_Jazz · 01-18-2007, 06:38 AM

I cruised by this one the first time, saw that you basically tried to put any respondent on a tee so that you could bash away at them for disagreeing with you and kept on going. At least you've opened this up to allow some dissenting opinions.

That said, if I magically became the President, I would start by maintaining the status quo for a few months since I think that would eventually benefit everyone (except, of course, the poor souls caught up in the violence). Then I would quietly start trying to ressurect the coalition from Gulf War I to act as a peacekeeping force, with particular attention paid to Arab countries, especially the larger ones. Getting cooperation from the Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians would be very useful. I'd probably also try to tap the Palestinians to give it an even greater air of legitimacy. Obviously the Europeans would contribute, but the majority of the boots on the ground would be Middle Eastern.

The big problem with this tactic would be who would command it, and it's painfully obvious that an American or European could never try to lead or have any real measure of success if they did. To cover that base, I'd either reach out to the UN (which is problematic in and of itself) or someone like South Africa or Argentina (just to pick a couple) to act as the overall commander.

I'd also try to get the Syrians involved, and possibily the Iranians.

Having co-religionists of the various factions would be a big help, but this would be a very complex coalition that would require a lot of management (for instance, you couldn't station Turkish troops in the north without destabalising Iraqi Kurdistan). American troops would need to continue to be involved, and it would cost a lot of political capital to get the Pentagon to let foreign militaries to command US troops. I wouldn't count on reelection, but I don't want the job in the first place.

01-18-2007, 06:38 AM	#4 (permalink)
The_Jazz Asshole Administrator Location: Chicago	I cruised by this one the first time, saw that you basically tried to put any respondent on a tee so that you could bash away at them for disagreeing with you and kept on going. At least you've opened this up to allow some dissenting opinions. That said, if I magically became the President, I would start by maintaining the status quo for a few months since I think that would eventually benefit everyone (except, of course, the poor souls caught up in the violence). Then I would quietly start trying to ressurect the coalition from Gulf War I to act as a peacekeeping force, with particular attention paid to Arab countries, especially the larger ones. Getting cooperation from the Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians would be very useful. I'd probably also try to tap the Palestinians to give it an even greater air of legitimacy. Obviously the Europeans would contribute, but the majority of the boots on the ground would be Middle Eastern. The big problem with this tactic would be who would command it, and it's painfully obvious that an American or European could never try to lead or have any real measure of success if they did. To cover that base, I'd either reach out to the UN (which is problematic in and of itself) or someone like South Africa or Argentina (just to pick a couple) to act as the overall commander. I'd also try to get the Syrians involved, and possibily the Iranians. Having co-religionists of the various factions would be a big help, but this would be a very complex coalition that would require a lot of management (for instance, you couldn't station Turkish troops in the north without destabalising Iraqi Kurdistan). American troops would need to continue to be involved, and it would cost a lot of political capital to get the Pentagon to let foreign militaries to command US troops. I wouldn't count on reelection, but I don't want the job in the first place. __________________ "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin "There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush "We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo