America should not send ground troops to Iraq again
Americans are hearing debate on TV and in the print media — including Time magazine — about whether the U.S. should send ground troops to Iraq to fight ISIS. I do not think America should go in again.
History tells us sending army to another country, whether allies or enemies, never leads to peace and harmony.
During the Vietnam War, ground troops of USA were more than 500,000 in one peak time.
What did we achieve other than losing thousands of troops in Vietnam? The USSR sent ground troops were in Afghanistan. Did they achieved any of their goals? A decade back, the US troops went to Afghanistan. Have we achieved any of our goals there?
In the context of current situation of Middle East — especially Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya — should the U.S. send ground troops? No way.
Having lived in a Muslim majority nation for more than three decades, I came to know there are two major sects in the Muslim population: Sunni and Shia.
They have fought throughout history. Iraq fought two wars with Iran while Saddam Hussein was in power. Being a Sunni leader and a minority in Iraq, he ruled Iraq with an iron hand.
What happened after the US invasion to Iraq?
The Shia majority in Iraq came to power and they never fully accommodated Sunni, and thus ISIS, which is basically Sunni (can be called extreme Sunni), was born. Remember, the majority Muslim people around the world had a hidden support for ISIS (though, maybe not the activities of Jihadi John) simply because majority Muslims around the world are Sunni.
Look at the irony of history, the Iraqis one time fought against Iran and now, the Iranian army is in Iraq with Iraqi Shia fighting against extreme Sunni ISIS.
The U.S. didn’t do a good job in invading and uprooting Sunni government in Iraq in the past. Now if the U.S. sends ground troops, what will they achieve?
ISIS will have an immediate slogan, that the U.S. is against the Sunni population in the world. Then ISIS will then start killing all except Sunni Muslims. Who knows, they may even become more powerful terrorizing rest of the world.
The U.S. should support its allies, by all means, but they should not send ground troops unless American lives are at risk
Jiben Roy
Columbus
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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