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Yes, but that was 6 years ago. More important is why are we still there now?
I would say so the Iraqis could get the SH%T straight and be able to run their own country. Hey I would love nothing more than to get the hell out of that place.
It seems that we will remain in Iraq for at least 2 years +. Where is the outrage from the Left?
I don't think so. I read a few recent accounts on Iraq (elections and internal struggles) and we may be faced with an official invitation to leave sooner. What can/should we do if the official and democratically elected government of Iraq tells us to leave?
Agree with much of your statement mac but I am not sure we need to be the world policemen any more. More often than not that just irritates the region where we intrude upon (as well as most of the world) and causes unintentional blowback for us down the road. Time to mind our own business. Again.
I hear what you're saying...and it SOUNDS appealing. Just can't get past my own paranoia, I guess. I'm a believer in the "power vacuum" theory, and as you know, vacuums are 'abhorred by nature', and they WILL be filled....by someone.
Given THAT, I guess I fear us 'pulling back'. As an old Navy man yourself, you know it's a LONG way from SE Asia to San Diego....and a long way, too, from Norfolk to the Persian Gulf. I'd like to keep an "eye" on these places....not because I'm 'nosy', but because if WE withdraw from those areas, somebody ELSE will show up....soon...and they'll be GLAD to step in. Bottom line? I'd be glad to have EVERYBODY 'pull out'...but that's not going to happen.
As far as our 'meddling' in internal affairs? "Making" people get along with their neighbors, even in their own countries? No, that's not our job. (Darfur comes to mind...HEARTBREAKING, mind-boggling, revolting...but there's absolutely NO possibility we could 'intervene' there at all, without having EVERYONE turn against US...so we wait, we watch, but we don't intervene)
Perhaps my phrase of "world policeman" should have been "world highway patrol officer"...or "world hall monitor". SOMEBODY is going to do it, and I prefer it be us.
I don't think so. I read a few recent accounts on Iraq (elections and internal struggles) and we may be faced with an official invitation to leave sooner. What can/should we do if the official and democratically elected government of Iraq tells us to leave?
I agree with you, but apparently not everyone does. Some may want to put pressure on the Iraqi government to extend our stay there until... until what actually?
I realize it would be pointless to ask any of the war's supporters to try and justify all the Iraqi dead since the invasion but I wonder how those in favor of the war in Iraq can justify all these Americans coming home in caskets.
Is it because you think:
1) The cause is just
2) The war was a mistake, but we have to "finish the job"
3) ___________ (other)
Just wondering
(For the record, I think even one dead American is one too many. Therefore I have never tried to reconcile any of these deaths as justified. I believe they are all in vain.)
You are correct, even one dead American Soldier is a waste of our young blood.
Like General Patton said, "The object isn't to die for one's country, it is to make the other poor bastard die for his..."
To date, we have had more people killed in our major cities from Crime than the total lost in both the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters.
Then there is the other little ignored fact by the left, we haven't been attacked since 9/11. Where before that period, we were getting Americans killed en mass about every six months, again, more people than lost in our military. GWB, regardless if you like it or not, took the battle off our streets and put it in those that wish to harm us.
Now we are going to be running backwards with the new president, we will see if GWB's course was the correct one or not.
As for justifing our young coming home in caskets, they gave their life so stupid people could post such drivel because they have no knowledge of what America's hero's have done for them. I would concur with Patton, make war so terrible on those that harm us, that the enemy will lose the will to fight.
I suppose most of those that don't aggree will be really upset when the terrorist get a nuke and vaporize a major U.S. City. Which isn't too far away the way we are now heading on this new "Course".
To date, we have had more people killed in our major cities from Crime than the total lost in both the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters.
What a pitiful argument. Pitiful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by starlite9
Then there is the other little ignored fact by the left, we haven't been attacked since 9/11. Where before that period, we were getting Americans killed en mass about every six months, again, more people than lost in our military. GWB, regardless if you like it or not, took the battle off our streets and put it in those that wish to harm us.
Oh did he? So the people of Iraq wanted to do us harm? Funny, I bet if you asked them, they'd think just the opposite, that it was the U.S. that wanted to do them harm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by starlite9
As for justifing our young coming home in caskets, they gave their life so stupid people could post such drivel because they have no knowledge of what America's hero's have done for them.
You think these kids died so you can post on an internet forum? I'd suggest you flush out your headgear
I would concur with Patton, make war so terrible on those that harm us, that the enemy will lose the will to fight.
.
This is the whole "bottom line", and what many of us today don't want to think about. In our naivete, we somehow envision a 'good' war, fought by 'nice' people, who do so without causing anyone to 'feel bad'. Sounds silly, but I'm convinced many of us think this way.
It's an illusion. Someone once wrote "the purpose of the military is to break things, destroy things, and kill people"..or words to that effect. It's not 'noble', it's not 'colorful', it SHOULD be a very LAST resort, to go to war. If you DO go, though, you MUST go to WIN. Nothing else is acceptable.
The military is to "blow things up" and make it so discouraging for the 'enemy' that he gives up, just as you (and Patton) say. The military is NOT designed to "win hearts and minds"..nor is its primary purpose to "make friends". It's purpose is to destroy the enemy's morale, by force.
It would be wel for us to remember this, and to NEVER go into a war without knowing what our objective is, and if we DO go, to WIN. Later on, once we 'win', we can send in the proper people to 'win hearts and minds'. In the process, we MAY even make some friends. But that's not why we go to war initially. We go to war to kill people.
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