GZ ,,, on this occasion you contradicted yourself.
Using chemical weapons against Kurdish civilian populations was hardly "keeping the peace" ... even if it did keep militants at bay for a while.
My thinking is that a "Balkanisation" of the ME will prove be the only sustainable solution.
cheers
Chemical Weapons Against Kurds
As early as April 1987, the Iraqis usedchemical weapons to remove Kurds from their villages in northern Iraq during the Anfal campaign. It is estimated that chemical weapons were used on approximately 40 Kurdish villages, with the largest of these attacks occurring on March 16, 1988 against the Kurdish town of Halabja.
Beginning in the morning on March 16, 1988 and continuing all night, the Iraqis rained down volley after volley of bombs filled with a deadly mixture of mustard gas and nerve agents on Halabja. Immediate effects of the chemicals included blindness, vomiting, blisters, convulsions, and asphyxiation. Approximately 5,000 women, men, and children died within days of the attacks. Long-term effects included permanent blindness, cancer, and birth defects. An estimated 10,000 lived, but live daily with the disfigurement and sicknesses from the chemical weapons. http://history1900s.about.com/od/saddamhussein/a/husseincrimes.htm
