Quote:

If they'd had a plan, one that worked, nobody would give a shit



It wasn't possible to have a plan that included a rushed unilateral invasion that could have worked. That was the BRILLIANCE of Bush I. He waited and built a binding coalition.

All we are going for NOW is a brief cessation to violence - a window to feign enough peace. And, happy as I am to see any glimmer of hope, it's not ANYWHERE NEAR what was promised. What was promised CANNOT BE DELIVERED which is why I opposed it in the first place.

There is no great example of democracy emerging from the Iraqi desert as promised/predicted. For democracy to work, you have to respect the rights of others to disagree and for the majority not to use its advantage to reign as tyrrants over the minority.

That may NEVER happen in Iraq. Look at Palestine. They have the same ethnicity and are all Sunni and STILL they kill each other. Here, besides tribal rivalries within groups, you have 3 main groups who have been killing each other for centuries. How are you going to police that? That's not ending anytime soon.

And, Turkey & Syria haven't even really gotten involved yet ... wait until that disaster ...


Today we are weaker than we can afford to be and facing an even greater enemy [IRAN]. We are not safer than we were when Saddam was locked down with no-fly zones. Iran is beginning to build nuclear bombs, and we have neither the military capability nor the moral high ground to rally friends and impede them effectively. Let alone whatever madness is going on in North Korea - I don't follow that nearly as closely, so for all I know that could be worse ...


I'm not for premature troop withdrawl. We made this mess, and we have to see it out. But, no one has any idea how long we may be stuck at this troop strength in Iraq. And, it's impacting our reservists. It's impacting our ability to recruit. And, no politician is going to survive a "draft".

We are looking like the Romans at the end of their run with foreigners filling out our empty legions. I've met 3 Filipino kids from Union City who joined the armed forces; gambling their lives as a path to US citizenship. No Americans I know are willing to send their kid to Iraq.

If it's so important and critical, why aren't those fucking Bush twins over there?


REALITY: We were lied to by this government that Saddam had weapons he did not have, and thus we wasted time, precious resources and lives of brave and valued citizens in chasing this "windmill". Iran has the very weapons we most feared Saddam might develop and our military is stretched to breaking.

The lies about Iraq are impacting the believability of the truth about Iran.

And, our "frenemies" in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and so on, have become more wealthy and powerful and STILL fund the radicals we are trying to stop.

And, troops in Iraq means that our main objective in Afghanistan is being hampered. The Taliban is slowly coming back in Afghanistan and in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Both they and Al Qaeda are finding a friend in the new Pakistan.

Sorry for the rant. But, this is not good. Not good at all.
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Amo i Gemelli!! wink