Posted on 08/01/2007 8:24:44 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback
As the summer grinds on, the war of words over the real war in Iraq is growing hotter every day. Critics of the war are saying that the American people are fed up and want the troops to come home; that the Iraqi government needs to step up and take responsibility for the growing violence; that the war is straining our military—and our soldiers—to the breaking point.
Meanwhile, the war’s defenders are claiming that if the troops leave now, the enemy will have won. Instead of fighting terrorists in Iraq, we’ll be fighting them here in our homeland. Leaving now could lead to a wider war in the Middle East, with a resurgent Iran—led by a madman—wreaking havoc throughout the region.
But what I’m not hearing talked about at all is the fate of the Iraqi people.
One thing is for certain. If the U.S. pulls its troops out now, there will be a bloodbath. Many thousands of Iraqis will perish. I don’t know of any credible critic or supporter of the war who denies that fact. The lives of thousands—maybe hundreds of thousands—are at stake.
And what about the political future of the Iraqi people? What about their human rights? Several months ago, the debate over Iraq reached new levels of absurdity when the U.N.’s Kofi Annan claimed that the Iraqi people were better off before the war when Saddam Hussein was in power, defying U.N. sanctions, a threat to the Middle East and imposing unspeakable brutality on his people.
Many thousands were tortured, beaten, even burned. Chemical attacks by his regime killed 30,000 Iraqis and anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 Kurds. To intimidate Saddam’s opponents, allegations of prostitution were used to justify barbaric beheadings. And most gruesome are the accounts of children tortured. The list of human rights violations goes on and on.
Having spent nine years in the Soviet gulag, Natan Sharansky knows a thing or two about living under tyranny. Writing in the Washington Post recently, Sharansky offered a more realistic before-and-after assessment of Iraq. “The truth,” writes Sharansky, “is that in totalitarian regimes, there are no human rights. Period. The media do not criticize the government. Parliaments do not check executive power. Courts do not uphold due process. And human rights groups don’t file reports . . . life under totalitarianism is slavery with no possibility of escape.”
There is no doubting that life in Iraq for the average Iraqi is extraordinarily tough right now. But what do the Iraqis themselves think about life in Iraq now as compared to life under Saddam Hussein? Sharansky points to a recent poll: “by nearly 2 to 1 . . . the Iraqis said they preferred life under their new government to life under the old tyranny.”
Why? They want freedom. As the president said recently in Prague, freedom is a universal, God given ideal that all of humanity desires -- not the least of whom are the Iraqi people.
As Sharansky noted, “People of goodwill can certainly disagree over how to handle Iraq, but human rights should be part of any responsible calculus.” We don’t hear this even being discussed today in our shrill political debate.
There are links to further information at the source document.
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Well, just remember what happened in Cambodia when the U.S. refused to fight-to-win a war in Nam, and deserted those people.....how many millions???
> We can win it, we will win it. Make yourself heard just like you did on immigration.
Moreover, we MUST win it. Civilization as we know it is at stake: and already we have paid a heavy, heavy price by way of loss of rights and freedoms as a result of enemy action.
Life under the Mullahs will be most unpleasant. Their world view does not include Liberty and Freedom. They fight dirty and they fight for keeps.
This is an enemy that will not leave us alone if only we would stop fighting him: he will take the fight back into our home neighborhoods: like he did on 9/11. And on 7/7.
Surrender is no option: this enemy does not observe the Geneva Convention.
Consequently, this enemy must be crushed like a bug.
*DieHard*
Well, here’s an op-ed I wrote about it.
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Says it all about the gutless, self-serving socialist Dems. And they want to do it all over again in Iraq....they do not care. POWER AND CONTROL AT ANY PRICE. And in these cases, measured in millions of lives. They do not care. They are fanatics.
Every time you catch a terrorist dead or alive ,make is nation pay by bombing the hell out of it . This will soon stop this insanity and build this nation up .
Turn the clintons loose on them, they have already shown they will bomb a nation for 30 days straight , even if it meant killing Serbian Christians and turning it over to the muslims .Let Janet Rino lead them in !
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The once Free South Vietnamese are still suffering from a Fall of Saigon a post-WATERGATE Congress brought on with its cutting off all our military and medical funding to them, under the leadership of one Sen. TED KENNEDY.
Sadly producing afterwards:
Pictures of a vietnamese Re-Education (SLAVE LABOR) Camp
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308949/posts
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1806248/posts
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What price is there for the still Free (that’s US) to pay now, in a new time of war with our own Freedom at stake right here at home..?
First, news flashing across our TV Screens of 12 million suddenly missing Iraqi purple voting fingers ...just for starters..?
4-SURE, 4-SURE.
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MEL’s -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1085111/posts
http://www.Freerepublic.com/~aloharonnie/
http://www.Freerepublic.com/~anita1/
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I am 100% for our troops . I am also 100% for them to be able to fight back and stop dying unnecessarily. Give them the best equipment, untie their hands and stop paying the enemy for loss’s that entices them to lie.
That's what the surge is all about. Find the clue bag, son.
Every time you catch a terrorist dead or alive ,make is nation pay by bombing the hell out of it . This will soon stop this insanity and build this nation up .
So...after September 11th, we should have "bombed the hell" out of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, instead of Afghanistan, right? Oh wait, except that Al Qaeda hates the governments of Saudi and Egypt. Oh well, I guess we could have bombed Germany (Atta's group was based out of Hamburg) and the cities in the U.S. where these guys lived...or at least the Wal-Mart they passed through in Scarborough, Maine on their way to the airport.
Hey, shouldn't we be bombing the UK (home of Richard "Shoe Bomber" Reid), Marin County California (home of Taliban Johnny Walker Lindh) and Chicago, home of Jose Padilla?
This guy can’t even spell amnesty...he has the stench of middle school on him. I hereby request a sniff.
The troops themselves have seen with their own eyes what the enemy is capable of.
If you support our Troops, then you will naturally support victory.
The Democrats don’t care - because they are bigots, plain and simple.
The Democrats of the 1830’s supported slavery. They didn’t care about the suffering of the black man. They were bigots who considered the black man less than human, and needing a “strong master” to keep him in line.
In the 1850’s and 1860’s, the Democrats took this great country into a civil war that cost 600,000 lives - and they fought on the side that wanted the right to enslave others. Bigotry!
In the 1870’s to 1960’s - the Democrats were bigots who started up the KKK to provide an insurgency that oppressed the blacks to keep them down and in their place. The 1870’s Civil Rights act, passed by Republicans, was vetoed when the Democrats regained their majority.
In the 1960’s, there were more Republicans supporting the Civil Rights Acts than Democrats. But the Democrats were bigots who supported programs that tore at the fabric of family values, and encouraged welfare, and destroyed the black families. The bigotry of soft expectations was whispered, and the Democrat told the black man - you can’t succeed unless we do things to help you.
In the 1970’s - Ted Kennedy and the other bigots decided that the South Vietnamese people were less worthy of freedom and should be turned over to communist masters to control - and we cut and ran away, violating our agreement to our ally. Bigotry of the worst sort - but the Democrats didn’t believe that “those” people deserved to live free.
Now - in 2007 - the mantra from the Democrats resembles what has been heard for almost 200 years - the Iraqi people don’t deserve freedoms, they need a strong master, like Saddam, to take care of them, keep them in line, etc. They don’t deserve the protection and help of our country ...and the Democrats are prepared to turn over the country to terrorists who will kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people. All because the Democrats are BIGOTS of the worst sort.
“Those who would deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it.”
Abraham Lincoln.
The bigots who call themselves Democrats will not retain their freedoms for long.
Mike
We have done everything possible to give them the gift of democracy, but the rest is up to them.
I will put aside for the moment the ludicrous idea that the Iraqi people, who have given their sons lives to this cause and who are now helping us clean Al Qaida and the Baathists from their country as part of the surge, do not deserve your consideration. Just for the sake of discussion, I'll pretend your death-loving, inhuman assessment is true.
You also apparently don't give a rat's patoot what happens to the American soldier or the country he defends, either. And please, don't waste your time coming back to me with some offended screech about how much you support the troops, or how I shouldn't question your love of country, etc.
You see, anyone who has any knowledge of the post-Vietnam era (for a start, try reading the article) knows that even if the Iraqi people somehow deserved to be ruled by terrorists, we still have no business allowing ourselves to be defeated there. It would be a great harm to our country and specifically our military.
Anyone who knows how essential the harbor Al Qaida received from Sudan and Afghanistan was to their previous operations has no interest in any strategy that might leave them holding a nation.
Anyone who has the tiniest grasp of how a victory or loss in Iraq will be viewed across the world has no interest in anything bu victory there.
Anyone who supports the troops wants them to win, far more than they want any particular result for the Iraqi people. Find the clue bag.
Ping!
Great analysis.
Agree 100% with the article. If we withdraw from Iraq before we crush the terrorists there, it is not only that it will be huge disaster for the Iraqi people but also it will be a disaster beyond belief to our national security and that of the whole world.
Why don’t you just come out and say what you really want to say . I won’t report you or go talk about with sneaky private messenger's .From the rumors here it seems some of the clicks here have chased off enough Freeper allies .
That's not our problem. It will be an Iraqi bloodbath. We've expended enough blood and treasure to try to help rebuild Iraq; at some point, you have to say "No longer our problem."
Iraq is probably a good idea it’s puts us closer to the enemy and allows us a base in the center of Middle East .
The two most holy islamic sites on earth are both in Saudi Arabia,Mecca and medina , maybe you think this is a coincidence ? There lots of proof if you just look for it . United Arab Immigrants also was about to have the contracts of all our ports with the Dubai deal ,until websites like this one and talk radio put a stop to it . If I’m wrong about this than prove it, but until you do than stop attacking me . Not saying I’m right, just saying a lot of evidence points to the Saudis .
I support my troops and try to protect them from as much danger as possible. I spend my low income to send them packages and write letters .I get very upset when I see them die from these cultist or be persecuted by their own . I saw enough of this from the traitors of Nam . I despise Honoi jane and kerry .
If you don't like that opinion, too bad.
Then post 16 is for you, too. Put down your copy of "Zapp Branigan's Big Book of War" and give it a read.
[Silverback is laughing too hard to respond to this portion of your post.]
If I’m wrong about this than prove it, but until you do than stop attacking me
Cry to somebody else, newbie. This is Free Republic, and around here we stand up for our ideas instead of whining about people who question them.
So...you're saying we should bomb England, Germany, Chicago and Marin County? Yes or no?
I support my troops and try to protect them from as much danger as possible...I despise Honoi jane and kerry .
If you care so much, why do you want them to lose a war? If you want to protect them so much, why do you buy into (and disseminate on this site) propaganda that is helping the enemy and prolonging the war? If you hate Hanoi Kerry and Hanoi Jane so much, why are you trying to create another Vietnam?
The American who supports the American fighting man wants him to win. You don't. That means you're either lying or you know so little about military matters that you should just stay out of adult conversations. You don't like that assessment, too bad. I saw what Vietnam did to America and her military, and I won't stand for it a second time.
Hi n00b. You gave it the old DNC cesspool try, but we don’t buy the feigned righteous indignation. You contradicted yourself in your posts. BIG sign of a troll. But then, deceit usually reveals itself because it’s usually the tool of arrogance: “I voted for the repubs all my life , but after this last two elections it won’t happen again. ... I will watch and see who if anyone is worthy.” Even James Car vile could do better than this. Back to school for faking n00b. No soup for you.
**As the summer grinds on, the war of words over the real war in Iraq is growing hotter every day.**
Is the truth slowly starting to seep out.
Oh! Dear me, what will the dims do now?
If we allow our deposing of Saddam to result in tens of thousands of the liberated Iraqis to be slaughtered because we did not do the job of pacifying the nation we liberated from one tyrant, we will not get a chance to do the same liberating in the future because the indigenous populace will fear our coming and leaving as badly as they fear the demons ruling them.
I may not be good with grammar,but neither were some of our famous scientist and writers including Einstein .Not that I’m one myself,just saying .
Deny, deny, deny.
No, it's your writing skills that are part of the ecvidence that you're a troll.
I must have touched on the truth and you can’t handle it .
Not even close. You want to lose the war or bomb innnocent people, and you so far have refused to answer questions about your strategy. If I have trouble "handling" anything, it's listening to twits like you parrot Al Qaida/DNC talking points and claim you're doing it to protect the troops.
Now I will ignore you until you grow up and realize that your not the only one who has opinions .
I never said you weren't allowed to have an opinion, I just said your opinions are moronic. Victory through losing, fighting terror through indiscriminate bombing...truly, you are a master of strategy.
Are you sure you aren't going to tell me whether we should be bombing Britain, Germany, Egypt, Chicago and Marin County? Surely a strategist of your caliber can handle that, right?
What I say can be backed up with facts.And Viet Nam cost a lot of pain for me personally because of the anti-war hippy commys which you were probably one of.
You may get me banned and any others who you don’t like , but your wrong and have done enough to run people off already .
Nice try at misdirection and diversion: “What I say can be backed up with facts.And Viet Nam cost a lot of pain for me personally because of the anti-war hippy commys which you were probably one of.” N00b, learn to research your targets before you spittle out foolishness. Your divide and discourage tactics aren’t gonna fly at FR. Stick around, you’ll likely enjoy the punishment. But take the target off your butt and stiffen up, son/daughter.
Sure, just as long as they don't have to work too hard for it, and we keep on fighting and dying for them.
You forget yourself, sir. The reason the surge is working is because the Iraqis have stepped up. A report I read from Ramadi said that the Marines there hols their Iraqi colleagues in high regard.
Stop buying the MSM propaganda. You're supposed to be smarter than this.
Keep in mind that it's highly likely that more Iraqis have died for Iraq than Frenchmen died liberating France...and I'm not bashing the French here.
I want them to win in Iraq but we need a Patton not a political correct military tying hands and prosecuting my troops .
You post like that more oftena nd you’ll get kudos.
Petraeus is not a politically correct general. Catch up to the real world.
Petraeus is not a politically correct general. Catch up to the real world. How the heck do you people look at yourselves in the mirror after posting "our troops have their hands tied" while Anbar is cleared, Ramadi is quiet and we're killing the enemy by the thousands in the provinces around Baghdad?
Were you posting that to anyone in particular?
#35 Future Snake Eater
Thats good news .I hope they keep building it up , but they also have a lot of AWOLs and enemy within who tip off terrorist. Most Christians and Jews who lived there are leaving in droves for some reason .
True i don’t know a lot about this new guy.I’m sure most of the generals who have seen war want to protect their troops .
We have a lot of that here at home. I don't see us being able to fix it any time soon.
Yeah, many IA have died, but it's not b/c they're fighting so hard. In general, it's b/c they're not fighting enough and they're not practicing what we've trained them to do.
Oh well, what do I know anyway? I've only been here for 14 months.
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