http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2007/08/09/the-us-and-the-uk-look-for-the-exit-in-iraq/ Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Wokingham Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:17:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/2007/08/09/the-us-and-the-uk-look-for-the-exit-in-iraq/#comment-4608 Peter Turner Thu, 09 Aug 2007 23:15:12 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=406#comment-4608 Is it not now obvious that Iraq was only held together by the ruthlessness of Saddam Hussein and it was bound to fall apart once Saddam was removed from the equation? If or when Britain and the USA leave there will be a re-alignment of the indigenous population along tribal/religious and nationalistic lines i.e. a Sunni sector, a Shia sector and a Kurdish sector and whether democracy could survive under the influence of radical Islam is doubtful. This may well result in a further conflagration in the area as the Turks do not appear to like the Kurds. The Sunnis and the Shias do not appear to be able to live together and Iran will poke its nose further into the morass in order to gain influence. This could draw Saudi Arabia in and create even greater instability in the world's major oil producung region. We need urgently to reduce our requirement for oil. We need more nuclear power stations as a matter of urgency. Is it not now obvious that Iraq was only held together by the ruthlessness of Saddam Hussein and it was bound to fall apart once Saddam was removed from the equation? If or when Britain and the USA leave there will be a re-alignment of the indigenous population along tribal/religious and nationalistic lines i.e. a Sunni sector, a Shia sector and a Kurdish sector and whether democracy could survive under the influence of radical Islam is doubtful. This may well result in a further conflagration in the area as the Turks do not appear to like the Kurds. The Sunnis and the Shias do not appear to be able to live together and Iran will poke its nose further into the morass in order to gain influence. This could draw Saudi Arabia in and create even greater instability in the world’s major oil producung region. We need urgently to reduce our requirement for oil. We need more nuclear power stations as a matter of urgency.

]]>