Yet another thread on Iraq - apologies in advance.
Today things took a turn for the worse over there. Civilian aid workers (including one Canadian) have been kidnapped. Will this be sufficient to edge the Western powers closer to negotiated solutions? Probably not. After all, who is there to negotiate with? I fear that innocent civilians will continue to pay the price for President Bush's vindictive approach to Iraq.
On a related note, I read an opinion piece on the BBC website which compared Iraq to Vietnam. There are obvious differences between the two situations, but it's interesting to note that one of the main difficulties faced by the US military is how to separate combatants from civilians. Instead of facing this problem in the jungles of Vietnam, the Americans now face it in the dusty villages of Iraq. Will they ever be able to pull out and still claim victory?
Today things took a turn for the worse over there. Civilian aid workers (including one Canadian) have been kidnapped. Will this be sufficient to edge the Western powers closer to negotiated solutions? Probably not. After all, who is there to negotiate with? I fear that innocent civilians will continue to pay the price for President Bush's vindictive approach to Iraq.
On a related note, I read an opinion piece on the BBC website which compared Iraq to Vietnam. There are obvious differences between the two situations, but it's interesting to note that one of the main difficulties faced by the US military is how to separate combatants from civilians. Instead of facing this problem in the jungles of Vietnam, the Americans now face it in the dusty villages of Iraq. Will they ever be able to pull out and still claim victory?