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In the Middle east other than Israel and Iran the real muscle are not militaries they have NEVER been they are "militias" be it Taliban -Hezbollah -HAMAS ,etc.
Even the mighty Pakistan army on its own doesnt hold ground when the Taliban hits them which is why Pakistan prefers "peace" with Taliban (granted Pakistan "created" Taliban decades ago)
"Militias" are the real infantry the real ground troops who will topple Goverments and armies.
Saddam was a cruel vile pig so I am not sticking up for him but he kept Al Queda which is a subdivision of Taliban out of Iraq with his secret police.
After Saddam invaded Kuwait . Osama wanted to use his Taliban to remove Saddams army ofcourse we did it instead but both men HATED each other and Saddam wanted Osama dead as he was constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure Al Queda was not "sneaking" in his country they wanted him overthrown he wasnt a real Muslim as far as they were concerned they hated him.
Now due to us al Queda is there the whole thing is complicated as even "insurgent" is a label given to anyone that wants us out of Iraq be it Iraqi citizens ,etc.
If we leave it will belong to Persian Iran if we dont leave we will pour trillionS into an abyss of corruption and a 'military" that after 5 yrs will not face militias . So now what do we do.
It was reckless to have gone in but now we are there no one knows what to do. Not to mention Iran might be truly getting nuke ability but if we hit them they can EASILY hit EVERY base we have in Iraq with their missles.
Its a big complicated mess
When Bush said Iraq had Al Queda there and training camps that was a flagrant lie not an Intell mistake as everyone in Middle east knew they hated each other.
The training camps were simple military obstacle courses and they KNEW this when they told us they were terrorists training camps they had to have known this because even the most outdated sattelite could pick up the military training there
Now they are there and the place is a mess but what do we do no one knows.
Note: I was just an E4 in artillery in the army stationed in Afghanistan for 1 tour but learned about Middle East politics so keep in mind I wasnt an officer,CID or any Intell this is just my opinion and even than spent most of my time under ground in a bunker eating Gummi bears (some I collected as unusual shapes)
The war is good for those who are making money off of it. Those who have stock in the corporations that are contracted with the government seem to be happy that they’re getting a few extra bucks on their investment.
The war has taken our national economy down so badly that “everyone” will be affected by it. And NOT ONE life was worth this action by this administration! Shame on all of them for their actions that moved and kept our servicemen and women over there.
Politicians in BOTH parties are making money with war be it war related stocks - Pentagon contracts for family,friends even companies they own.
In Europe its considered Treason for a politician to make money from war here its not it is infact normal.
I used to be "Red/White and Blue" but changed its to bad things are the way they are BOTH parties are very similiar
There's a wave of young hopefuls and old fogies who believe it's all worth it because an actual strategic move worked. I may not be working in the government but I do feel I have a hand up on the competition because I am a translator and have access to information others do not. NOTE: I have zero access to confidential, top secret information. However, it didn't appear at times that you really need to, considering agencies in Britain simply leave it on public buses and Karl Rove leaks it to the press.
In short, anyone who feels this was a good idea, even if you believe the altruistic nonsense that we went to liberate a troubled people under a brutal dictator, then you missed the boat on the history of Saddam Hussein and the money and weopons we gave to him to kill just as many Iranians, Kurds in the north, and Shi'ites in the south.
Those who don't actually believe that foolishness (you know, since we don't liberate dozens of other countries because their dictators are just as brutal and we loved his antics in the early 1980's), then many have been fed that we liberate women. That obviously is a farce since Baghdad was far more advanced than any other middle eastern country (with the POSSIBLE exception of Lebanon) and even held more employment rights than U.S. women.
Now it's spreading democracy in the Middle East. This sounds plausible except to say that that would sound very odd considering in 1953 we ousted a democratic president of Iran in turn for Reza Shah who ruled with utter brutal dictatorial leadership for 25 years. Could they really be this bipolar in their desires in less than a century? At the very least, that removes altruism.
The only remaining saving grace is if they went for the oil fields. Not believing either of the previous three, I'll be honest. I hope to God they're smarter than that and that they actually went for the oil. That's the only way I'll say it wasn't the worst failure and miscalculation EVER. (And even that, on a humanitatian level, it's god-awful). Let's hope there is a sick, Machiavellian realist pulling those strings! (Otherwise, it's just downright EMBARASSING.)
There's a wave of young hopefuls and old fogies who believe it's all worth it because an actual strategic move worked. I may not be working in the government but I do feel I have a hand up on the competition because I am a translator and have access to information others do not. NOTE: I have zero access to confidential, top secret information. However, it didn't appear at times that you really need to, considering agencies in Britain simply leave it on public buses and Karl Rove leaks it to the press.
In short, anyone who feels this was a good idea, even if you believe the altruistic nonsense that we went to liberate a troubled people under a brutal dictator, then you missed the boat on the history of Saddam Hussein and the money and weopons we gave to him to kill just as many Iranians, Kurds in the north, and Shi'ites in the south.
Those who don't actually believe that foolishness (you know, since we don't liberate dozens of other countries because their dictators are just as brutal and we loved his antics in the early 1980's), then many have been fed that we liberate women. That obviously is a farce since Baghdad was far more advanced than any other middle eastern country (with the POSSIBLE exception of Lebanon) and even held more employment rights than U.S. women.
Now it's spreading democracy in the Middle East. This sounds plausible except to say that that would sound very odd considering in 1953 we ousted a democratic president of Iran in turn for Reza Shah who ruled with utter brutal dictatorial leadership for 25 years. Could they really be this bipolar in their desires in less than a century? At the very least, that removes altruism.
The only remaining saving grace is if they went for the oil fields. Not believing either of the previous three, I'll be honest. I hope to God they're smarter than that and that they actually went for the oil. That's the only way I'll say it wasn't the worst failure and miscalculation EVER. (And even that, on a humanitatian level, it's god-awful). Let's hope there is a sick, Machiavellian realist pulling those strings! (Otherwise, it's just downright EMBARASSING.)
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Great post do you speak Pushtun? Or another . Whats funny about Iraq is that no one truly knows why we went . You speak to officers,CID who were there and no one actually knows .
I was never there but guys I spoke to in Afghanstan who were there said even the USA Ambassador in Iraq doesnt truly know why we went he just spews out what he is told.
Its a shame at this point the soldiers are "pulling back" the "old timers" dont believe in it and wont go the extra mile the new recruits are taking their quo from the "old timers".
its funny because I was at gym few days ago and was talking to a Marine who got back from there we ofcourse with pride showed the other our military ID card as both have VA health though we are fine now and dont need it and some elderly man who never served started going off that we were cowards because we didnt subscribe to it,etc,etc guy just went off.
I told him jokingly as I have good sense of humor to go listen to Rush Limbaugh and he than replied that Rush was more of a patriot a man than either one of us would ever be .
I have to say it took me back a bit it was just weird . I have met people who havent served who are some of the most war mongering people I have ever seen here in South Florida and those of us who have gone over seas if we just mention how complicated it is and we feel perhaps we went told the truth by Bush they go off on you .
Great post do you speak Pushtun? Or another . Whats funny about Iraq is that no one truly knows why we went . You speak to officers,CID who were there and no one actually knows .
I was never there but guys I spoke to in Afghanstan who were there said even the USA Ambassador in Iraq doesnt truly know why we went he just spews out what he is told.
Its a shame at this point the soldiers are "pulling back" the "old timers" dont believe in it and wont go the extra mile the new recruits are taking their quo from the "old timers".
its funny because I was at gym few days ago and was talking to a Marine who got back from there we ofcourse with pride showed the other our military ID card as both have VA health though we are fine now and dont need it and some elderly man who never served started going off that we were cowards because we didnt subscribe to it,etc,etc guy just went off.
I told him jokingly as I have good sense of humor to go listen to Rush Limbaugh and he than replied that Rush was more of a patriot a man than either one of us would ever be .
I have to say it took me back a bit it was just weird . I have met people who havent served who are some of the most war mongering people I have ever seen here in South Florida and those of us who have gone over seas if we just mention how complicated it is and we feel perhaps we went told the truth by Bush they go off on you .
I dont know its just weird lol
I speak a mixture of 4 Arabic dialects (Lebanese, Egyptian, Jordanian, Palestinian, though they're all relatively similar... they know what I'm saying though I choose to speak a more Lebanese dialect in conversation, and vice versa) and Hebrew (though I don't translate any Hebrew at all).
Sorry to hear the way you were treated. Some Americans just never had the experience of thinking for themselves or being outside the box their parents put them in. Ah well, what can ya do? Thanks for your service! Glad you didn't get stuck in the current $hit hole.
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