Hal - Deliberately Basic

How much hate can we stand?

No matter your feelings about the Iraqi war, did you know that 61 percent of the Iraqi people would attack the United States? In January, General Joseph Hoar, former chief of U.S. Central Command, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations committee, citing a poll as such. According to a USA Today Report 6 in 10 Iraqis say they approve of attacks on U.S. led forces.

In the military there exists a method to calculate how many enemies are against us, aptly named, order of battle. Using round figures from these polls, calculations show that there is a maximum 26 million Iraqis against us. Two-thirds of the maximum would attack us, so there is a potential for millions against our 150,000. Our troop level will change, of course, with the political wind that blows in Washington.

But wait, that’s not all. Let us not forget Iran. Of course they would attack us in the millions, and there is every possibility we will be at war with Iran. Now the order of battle has changed and we face extreme numbers against us.

Meanwhile, the so-called moderate Arab states are not sitting idly by ignoring the situation. Under the current administration the U.S. has created a potential Middle East nightmare, with scores of millions who hate us.

The possibility that the Middle Eastern countries will unite against the U.S. and our allies may be remote. On the other hand, this entire conflict is about oil, not WMD, not those who attacked us on 9/11, not democracy, or any idealistic idea. Developing countries, especially China, and India, need that oil as much as we do.

Nevertheless, to paraphrase General Hoar, when we face several states where the current regime is on our side, but the public is not – millions upon millions against us, that is not a good situation to be in.

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