When will Iraq have no population?

[EverClean]

I hear on the news every day about another suicide bomb or roadside bomb that kills 50, 60, 80, 100 Iraqi civillians. Add to this the fact that hospitals have been damaged and there are real issues getting medical supplies into the country. If there were 100 killed per day due to acts of terrorism plus the natural births and deaths in the population, would there be a danger that one day there would be no Iraqis left? How long would this take? Would there soon be more soldiers from boh the Iraqi army and the illegal occupants form USA, UK, etc?

[HatPin]

When under Hussein's regime we heard regular reports of people dying in the tens of thousands. How do you come to the conclusion that foreign forces are illegal occupants when they are now stationed there by the request of the Iraq Government.

[HatPin]

I join fender62 wishing them all peace. I shudder to think how many hundreds of thousands would die if coalition forces were to pull out.

[admarlow]

I think we should stay there until the iraqi army can defend the country its self, and yes it is impossiable to compaire the country now with iraq under saddam as Im sure there were hundreds of thousands of murders under him, many which will go unreported

[EverClean]

They are quite clearly illegal occupants as they have invaded a country and are not wanted there by the people who live there. I wish that peace could be brought about in Iraq in an instant but I wondered if this were to continue (and there is no sign at all of it stopping) would there be a point after which there would be ore armed personnel than civillians.

[admarlow]

did you conduct your survey of the iraqi public yourself or read it in the Guardian?

[EverClean]

As you have already said, Ad - it is impossible to compare. I have not lived in Iraq either under Saddam or since the occupation, I assume neither have you. There is definitely a reaction to our troops being there and it isn't positive. At the moment it is a magnet to terrorists all over the World - but perhaps it's better that people are blowing themselves up on the streets of Baghdad than on the streets of London.

[admarlow]

well as a Londener I would have to agree!

[EverClean]

Fender - please describe "free elections" when many were too scared to vote and this Iraqi Government you talk about - is this the one put in by the Americans?
I'm missing something with the British publics views on Iraq. Put yourself in their shoes.

[johnizere]

who exactly were the crowds I saw rejoicing in the streets of Baghdad, slapping the fallen statue of mad saddam with their shoes (an insult of the highest order, so I'm led to believe), ?
I see no end to the conflict between these warring factions, and until the world wakes up and rejects religion, it will stay that way. Imagine there's no heaven....John Lennon.

[kwicky]

If we were to leave Iraq and Afganistan tomorrow the fighting would soon cease. The insurgents are not only fighting an illegal invasion but our ideals we are trying to force down their throats.

[maxximus]

johnizere, if you actually looked into it you would know as it is common knowledge that the toppling of the statue was an entirely staged event by the u.s. media and had nothing to do with local sentiment.

[EverClean]

I have to agree with Kwicky. The fastest way to peace in Iraq is for us and the Yanks to get out.

[jump79]

Civil war mass murder is already happening there. I think it was an 'accident' waiting to happen really, after more than a decade of dictatorship, sanctions and repression suffered by the iraqi people, there was bound to be violence involved when Saddam was kicked out.

There would have been a backlash between the minority ruling (Saddam and Co.) and the majority repressed eventually, but the way war/occupation was carried out by USA in such a haphazard, disorganized manner with no future plans for restoring peace, order and development in the country, what's happening now is pretty much uncontrollable... no action that anyone can take will improve or stop it altogether.

It's just a matter of time now when/if both factions will get so sick of fighting that they may eventually call for a ceasefire - it doesnt look very likely for the time being.