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Hindsight is 20/20. I don't think there is much of an argument against the Iraq War being a mistake. But if memory serves me right, there was a lot of popular support for the war when it began. I'm curious what people's thinking at the time was that would render such a war beneficial in some way.
Yes there was. There were many arguments that the situation in Iraq was similar to Nazi Germany, in that there was a dictator murdering his people. The common thought I remember was that not going in would be very similar the United States waiting to enter WW2, which resulted in so much death of German Jews.
The critics said it would end up like Vietnam. In Vietnam, I believe the U.S. won every major battle. However, cultural and appearance differences combined with propaganda made the Americans appear more like formerly oppressive French than people defending the nation of South Korea.
The supporters thought it would be like Japan after WW2. The western soldiers would rescue the nation of Iraq and the average citizens would gain the ability to vote and the problems would solve themselves after that.
(I voted for Bush, but never joined the military).
I believed all the hoopla from so many sources that Iraq had WMDs.
Due to 911, I thought it would be reasonable that. in a country filled with a lot of Muslims, there might be a few radicals in place who would be willing to snatch biological agents to pass on to a terrorist organization to use in the US.
I also didn't believe we'd be nation building. I thought it would be destroying the existing government, get rid of the WMD's and allow whatever opposition group was in place, even if it were the radicals, to fill the vacuum.
In hindsight, it was a bad decision, but you have to remember that Saddam admitted that he tried to have everyone think he had WMDs for fear of invasion from not only us but from his neighbors as well.
Looking at it now, even if they had WMDs, I believe it would have been better not to invade and just deal with any WMDs being passed on to terrorist groups as they came up.
It has affected how I view what is going on there now. I'm very much of a "hands off" person due to what occurred.
BTW, I never supported the invasion of Afghanistan.
Yes there was. There were many arguments that the situation in Iraq was similar to Nazi Germany, in that there was a dictator murdering his people. The common thought I remember was that not going in would be very similar the United States waiting to enter WW2, which resulted in so much death of German Jews.
The critics said it would end up like Vietnam. In Vietnam, I believe the U.S. won every major battle. However, cultural and appearance differences combined with propaganda made the Americans appear more like formerly oppressive French than people defending the nation of South Korea.
The supporters thought it would be like Japan after WW2. The western soldiers would rescue the nation of Iraq and the average citizens would gain the ability to vote and the problems would solve themselves after that.
(I voted for Bush, but never joined the military).
It has been reported that from a military standpoint, the US won most major battles in VN. It did not however win the war. South VN fell.
The escalating loss of US lives and costs eventually made sustaining the war politically a non-starter.
Today, VN remains a one party Communist state and has one of the fastest growing economies in SE Asia.
Hindsight is 20/20. I don't think there is much of an argument against the Iraq War being a mistake. But if memory serves me right, there was a lot of popular support for the war when it began. I'm curious what people's thinking at the time was that would render such a war beneficial in some way.
The lies that Bush, Cheney, Powell etc told us is why i supported it.
The lies that Bush, Cheney, Powell etc told us is why i supported it.
The evidence suggests that they weren't lies. It was faulty intelligence. Intel isn't ever 100% accurate. If it were...it wouldn't be intel...it would just be common knowledge. If you sincerely think that Bush, Cheney, Powell, and Rumsfeld sat together in a room and said to themselves, "Hey...what can we make up to go to war," then you've swallowed the liberal hogwash harder than most.
Not many people still support the justification for going to war in Iraq, but it was a mixture of faulty intelligence and a bloodlust post 9/11...That was their rationale...That was my rationale...and that is probably the concensus.
I didn't support it ... not even for a day. Foresight was 20/20 in this case. I read the news closely and insiders all said the reasons being advanced for why it was necessary was a crock. So nope, didn't support it, but I did deploy to fight it.
It has been reported that from a military standpoint, the US won most major battles in VN. It did not however win the war. South VN fell.
The escalating loss of US lives and costs eventually made sustaining the war politically a non-starter.
Today, VN remains a one party Communist state and has one of the fastest growing economies in SE Asia.
I bet it also had something to do with Buddhists igniting themselves on fire to protest the war/conflict, and that the U.S. didn't have a clear objective other than to kill North Korean military from what I understand. I didn't live back then though, so maybe I'm wrong.
The evidence suggests that they weren't lies. It was faulty intelligence. Intel isn't ever 100% accurate. If it were...it wouldn't be intel...it would just be common knowledge. If you sincerely think that Bush, Cheney, Powell, and Rumsfeld sat together in a room and said to themselves, "Hey...what can we make up to go to war," then you've swallowed the liberal hogwash harder than most.
Not many people still support the justification for going to war in Iraq, but it was a mixture of faulty intelligence and a bloodlust post 9/11...That was their rationale...That was my rationale...and that is probably the concensus.
The intelligence was faulty because it was purposefully distorted.
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