Politicians the world over are some of the meanest s.o.b.s, IMO. Going by the opinions expressed in that BBC link I posted above, I personally think the divide between the Muslims and the Non-Muslims in the USA is going to widen further. Perhaps to a level where it cannot be bridged at all. And most of that hatred will be sown by politicians looking to make a quick popular impression of being patriotic.

With the pullout from Iraq completed in theory, the pullout from Afghanistan already announced, the conflict over the mosque, I guess the Muslim world will have more reasons to hate the USA. I personally feel such pullouts and announcements thereof are a good example why people should not be decisive. I feel it was a blunder to invade Iraq, but this kind of a pullout is worse than the invasion, where the entire country is left in a limbo. If the US were really serious about freeing Iraq from the clutches of Saddam, they should stay on and help build the democracy. It appears the US are now eager to wash their hands off the whole affair and get out of the muck as soon as possible, leaving the common Iraqi to fend for himself, without much means. Regime change from a dictatorship to a democracy is not a matter of a couple of years or just holding general elections and pretending to have a popular government. But then that never was the reason behind the Iraq invasion.

Same is the case with Afghanistan. Only it will take a bit more time before it falls, as the NATO troops will still hold out for a few months longer.

With Pakistan reeling under the floods, the risk of losing Afghanistan back to Taleban or Al Qaeda is even greater. Sadly these two invasions stand out as a glaring example of starting something that you can't finish.

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