[QUOTE]We started this, so we are going to have to end it[QUOTE]
All the scribes ( particularly the anti-war liberals) repeat this mantra and no one challenges them.
We went to war because Tony Blair believed the WMD threat served up to him by creeps in the upper reaches of the intelligence services. I also trusted Blair/JIC and supported the war on that basis. There was an imminent threat to the UK and its interests, so lets go sort it out. IMHO thats what the armed services are paid for - not to go around "changing" uncongenial régimes.
It has turned out that the JIC assessment was crap. (Not for the first time. It is a predominantly civil service organisation and attracts creeps like honey attracts bees). So having had a good look around and found no WMDs or any capacity to produce them, why could we not have declared "Endex" and bu**ered off home"?
I have lived in the ME long enough to know that Islam has no clear idea of property rights, and so makes capitalism almost impossible. THis probably accounts for the economic stagnation of the whole region. Lets face it - who in their right mind would lend money to an Arab (or a Turk) with the hope of seeing their money again plus interest? Also Islam is an authoritarian religion, does not recognise an individual "free will" (which lies at the root of Christian values) and is therefore inimical to democracy.
As for oil, the West ought to use the time that has been bought by the recent discoveries in the Caspian basin to develop a hydrogen-based economy.