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Rand Paul is right — toppling Saddam hurt America
The Week ^ | April 29 2015 | Matt K. Lewis

Posted on 05/02/2015 4:02:29 PM PDT by WilliamIII

On Monday, presidential hopeful Rand Paul had this to say to a group of Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn: "All the way back to the Iraq War, I think it was a mistake to topple [Saddam] Hussein." The Kentucky senator continued:

Hussein was the bulwark against Iran. The Sunnis didn't like the Shiites, now Iraq is a vassal state for Iran. I'm worried [Iran] is twice as strong as it was before the Iraq War. [Rand Paul]

I'm no dove. But I must admit: Rand Paul has a point.

(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: 911truth; 911truther; 911truthers; agitprop; alreadyposted; astroturf; demagogue; diabn; ibtz
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To: PGR88

Way I see it the invasion of Iraq was the act of setting up a bug zapper. All the folderol about freedom, and draining the swamp was all well and good, but a simple glance at the logistics of fighting a war in Afghanistan dictates that it’s bloody stupid to make that a big focus. Hence you pick another location to draw off the jihadis where you get to pick the battlefield. Logistically Iraq was a piece of cake with plenty of ability to ship equipment and supplies and an already established forward post in Kuwait.

After 9/11 the jihadis were on the march. Sure we toppled the Taliban pretty quickly, but eventually they would have filtered into there and made a big mess. Instead we diverted them into Iraq which for the purposes of slaughtering them was pretty ideal.

The very act of basically planting a flag in the Arabian peninsula and saying, ‘come and get it’ meant we were able to slaughter the jihadis from all over in droves. Had we not done it in Iraq do you think they would have just gone home and played cards?

The mess there, as said by many others, is a product of the traditional Democrat means of losing a won war. You pull out prematurely, and abandon an ally and you will get a mess. This is not exactly rocket science.

Ok, and on the WMD issue, if someone is going to try and argue they weren’t there, the NYT (Yes, that bastion of conservatism</sarc>) basically came out with a story confirming the existence of WMD in Iraq and that W had covered it up to protect the troops. You can google that up. The story only came out last year or the year before.


81 posted on 05/02/2015 6:57:00 PM PDT by drbuzzard (All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others.)
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To: Rome2000

OK, let me explain the difference in history about Korea, Germany and Iraq.

Korea: There is no 1400 year religious in Korea. Ther eis no hatred of Christians, or other religions in Korea.

Germany: Germany is a basically Christian nation, and do not have any long term hatred of the United States.

Our brave young soldiers in both countries are not subject to killings by suicide bombers. We can keep our troops there till the cows come home, and American public has no problem with it.

Iraq is a Muslim country. That is a religion whose holy book proclaims destruction of non believers of prophet Mohammad. Non-Muslim soldiers are not welcome in middle-east. The sooner we learn this better off we will all be.


82 posted on 05/02/2015 6:59:58 PM PDT by entropy12 (Prediction: Walker will win Iowa primary, NH is wide open, SC looking good for Cruz)
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To: re_nortex

See, I don’t drive my car to the Israel beat because it is horribly biased. Nice folks and all but God’s chosen believe in Jesus as the Son of the living God.


83 posted on 05/02/2015 7:01:26 PM PDT by iowacornman (Speak out with courage!!)
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To: WilliamIII

Getting rid of Sadaam wasn’t the problem...failure to leave a handful of military there when we left was...


84 posted on 05/02/2015 7:01:28 PM PDT by terycarl (COMMON SENSE PREVAILS OVER ALL...)
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To: armydawg505

Do you really believe that we would attempt an invasion and occupation of Iran. Have you ever looked at a map and seen the topography of that country, plus the size of its population. Do you believe that the American people, in light of the last decade, are willing to take KIA’s in the tens of thousands. It would be outright madness. I hope you are just spewing barroom banter and really don’t believe it should be done.


85 posted on 05/02/2015 7:01:44 PM PDT by gusty
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To: WilliamIII

Of all the Bushes, W did the best impression of a patriotic American. Jeb is showing us the wheels and levers behind the curtain: a naked tool of the NWO and the Revolution. Jeb is even more honest about it than Hussein is.


86 posted on 05/02/2015 7:03:26 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: terycarl

Not having any plan on what to do after the invasion did not help either.


87 posted on 05/02/2015 7:03:45 PM PDT by gusty
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To: Rome2000

I am by no means a pacifist. Military careers are a long tradition in my family. If attacked, I believe in a brutal response. Japan attacked us in Pearl Harbor. Japan deserved a mighty military response.

Wars in middle-east on the other hand are a sure losing proposition in the long term. It is a predominantly Muslim region. It can not be democratized or pacified by external forces. Only way those countries will become peaceful is internally by Muslims themselves.

So what can we call those people who want us to start wars in the middle-east? The term neocon suits them perfectly.


88 posted on 05/02/2015 7:09:30 PM PDT by entropy12 (Prediction: Walker will win Iowa primary, NH is wide open, SC looking good for Cruz)
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To: iowacornman

Theology matters. The large dispensational branch of US Christendom sees them as destined to be believers in Christ in the future. Certain straightforward readings of the New Testament corroborate this.


89 posted on 05/02/2015 7:11:13 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: iowacornman
. GWB destroyed the chances for a conservative to be elected El Presidente perhaps forever.

Oh brother, yes, there were WMD's there and they had used them on the Kurds...poison gas is an official wmd........in all probability, they were very active in seeking nuclear weapons and I'd guess their facilities were quickly moved to Jordan as the invasion became imminent.Saudi arabia is, in theory, allied with us....I do think that they are directly to blame for much of what is going on in the middle east today.

The entire answer to solving the middle east situation is to take out Iran...and if we don't hurry up and do it, Israel will....they cannot coexist with a nuclear Iran.

90 posted on 05/02/2015 7:13:19 PM PDT by terycarl (COMMON SENSE PREVAILS OVER ALL...)
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To: iowacornman

Thank you, for having a brain!

Many here have lost them to propaganda. Critical thought is not allowed.


91 posted on 05/02/2015 7:14:19 PM PDT by foundedonpurpose (o)
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To: SWAMPSNIPER
Agree. Saddam, his sons, and crew were evil and sadistic, ruling by fear, and not to be trusted. But, this culture is not ready for democracy. They definitely need more civilized leadership...but still with an iron hand.

Rand Paul is confused. He makes sense in many ways, but not this. There would still be enormous problems if Saddam remained, different, but still dangerous.

In my opinion, Obama is at fault for creating the vacuum that exists. I think he has as much blood on his hands as Saddam, and probably more at this point.

92 posted on 05/02/2015 7:20:30 PM PDT by Swede Girl
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To: PGR88; All
The benefit was lost when the rat party decided to make Iraq a ping pong ball in their political power play. It worked for them with Viet Nam, and again with Iraq. Power gained by sacrificing a country and now an entire region.

The problem intensified as the MSM took sides, reporting the democrat talking points as fact, first allowing the election of Reid/Pelosi, then the nightmare of the bamster.

These people will keep the world on fire with their Alinsky tactics, and those here that sucker for the Rand Paul version of "Bush's fault" should be tarred and feathered.

93 posted on 05/02/2015 7:20:49 PM PDT by Lakeshark
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To: Bogey78O
Biggest mistake Bush made was bowing to anti-war pressure and not popping Iran in the nose.

And treating Musharraf as an ally rather than an enemy to be occupied and de-nuked. And not killing Al Sadr. And putting Paul "Pussy" Bremer in charge. And....it's a very long list.

94 posted on 05/02/2015 7:25:38 PM PDT by montag813 (Pray for Israel)
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To: terycarl
in all probability, they were very active in seeking nuclear weapons

Nope. Israel took care of that.

95 posted on 05/02/2015 7:26:50 PM PDT by montag813 (Pray for Israel)
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To: svcw
Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Your father said dumb stuff too?????

96 posted on 05/02/2015 7:27:10 PM PDT by terycarl (COMMON SENSE PREVAILS OVER ALL...)
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To: WilliamIII

I disagree.


97 posted on 05/02/2015 7:32:50 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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To: montag813

All under that same umbrella.


98 posted on 05/02/2015 7:33:41 PM PDT by Bogey78O (We had a good run. Coulda been great still.)
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To: right way right
Electing Obama hurt the nation.

Yes, it did.

However, the "nation building" fiasco after the defeat of Saddam's army, and the neglect of national finances lead to economic conditions that made the first election of Barack Hussein Obama possible. Without Bush II's blunders, Obama would not have been elected.

99 posted on 05/02/2015 7:45:44 PM PDT by The_Media_never_lie (The media must be defeated any way it can be done.)
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To: iowacornman

RE: There were no WMD and Iraq had zero to do with the World Trade Center.

There WERE WMD’s.

See here:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?_r=0

And here:

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/10/ny_times_admits_saddam_had_wmds.html

and here:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/10/14/new-york-times-bombshell-chemical-weapons-were-found-in-iraq-but-the-public-never-knew-until-now/

and here:

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matthew-balan/2014/10/16/nbc-ignores-ny-times-scoop-chemical-weapons-iraq


100 posted on 05/02/2015 7:49:11 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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