# Iraq War:  Six Questions?



## Marauder06 (Mar 21, 2013)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/11/iraq-war-lessons-intervention




> There is a temptation to draw a line under the Iraq war and to write it off as a regrettable occurrence, best consigned to history. But there is much we can learn from the experience about the challenges facing countries in transition, the limitations of our power and the unintended consequences of foreign intervention.
> *Lesson one: interventions require legitimacy*
> 
> 
> ...


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## DA SWO (Mar 21, 2013)

Lesson 3 and Lesson 6 are the ones Military Planners need to concentrate on.


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## Scotth (Mar 22, 2013)

I always say that time is ticking on these operation.  You have a limited window to affect substantial change and establish stability before the people will turn on you regardless of the merits of the mission.


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## DA SWO (Mar 22, 2013)

Lesson 7: Don't let opposition parties or the UN delay action.
That gives your intended victim time to disperse/hide his cool shit.


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## Marine0311 (Apr 16, 2013)

Failure of these lessons will cause history to repeat itself in furture wars. The cost will high. Men and women in uniform will pay to price yet again. We did not have total victory or absolute defeat. We had a peaceful withdraw at best.


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## x SF med (Apr 17, 2013)

....  and a lesson - that works and is forgotten because of the fall of  'communism/socialism' is that the will of the uneducated masses can be swayed by promises of a better future - either on this earth or in paradise.  This promise will be bestowed by those who have no need to suffer the privations of the masses because they are in charge, but want more based on the level of prosperity of those deemed as the 'evil oppressors'...

All these friggin experts need to re-read Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, Hitler, Mao, Castro and Guevarra...   and draw a few parallels to the historical paths that have befallen the societies that have chosen these paths, either religiously or politically...  but then again, that would mean they read and understood Santayana, Pliny, Gibbon and Euripides....


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