Does anyone here want to survive?

Washington Times ^ | 1-16-07 | Wes Pruden

[PigRigger]

Alot of people DON'T think anything is at stake in the Middle East though.

So true....most people I know believe the cost of victory is, or will be, to high....yet they never think about the cost of defeat...which, when looked upon realistically....will be much higher...

Honestly, I am slowly losing faith in our nations ability to sacrifice for those generations who are to follow us...our military has done their job magnificently....we, the people, have left a lot to be desired....

[Alberta's Child]

Bush has never been able to explain to the American people why Iraq fits into the war on terror.

That's a scathing indictment of this administration, when you consider that we are now 4 years, 3,000+ lives, and hundreds of billions of dollars into this thing.

I suspect Bush has never able to explain this because there are too many glaring holes in any explanation that is offered for it.

[Alberta's Child]

If he were in Washington now we could show him lots of boneless wonders, as Bill Kristol observes in the Weekly Standard. "Today, Boneless Wonders sit on the benches of both parties in Congress. More are to be found on the Democratic side of the aisle than the Republican. But the herd of Boneless Wonders is a bipartisan ."

The problem in Washington isn't that there are "Boneless Wonders," but that an @sshole like Bill Kristol is typical of the folks who think they've actually got a backbone.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I judge people by their actions...not their words.

Based on that, GWB is found to be a poor excuse for a Conservative and a sub-par Republican at that.

[Ikemeister]

You wrote:

"our leaders are the worst of the worst generation in American history."

Amen to that. It's because we have a system that promotes politicians on their ability to raise money and nothing else.

[sergeantdave]

Okay, I know a bit of Vietnamese, some Russian and a smattering of English, even a tiny bit of high school Latin, but this one has me stumped -

He was "sui generis"

It sounds like French or something you'd use to clean insects off the windshield.

Someone help me out please.

[Eagles6]

"I suspect Bush has never able to explain this because there are too many glaring holes in any explanation that is offered for it."

I know that the msm here and in Canada are firmly in the enemy camp, but the fact that you are here on FR likely means that you have access to truthful dialogue and facts. Have you missed Oil for Food, saddam training terrorists, al-queda in Iraq, the wmd and programs found, wmd transported to syria, any of the documents translated by jveritas and others here?

[NathanR]

The best policy is worthless, if you can't communicate and implement that policy.

[colorado tanker]

IMHO, Iraq was justified primarily because it was the worst of the worst islamo-fascist countries, Syria, Iraq and Iran. We aren't fighting terror, which is a tactic, but the groups that use it and their state sponsors. I guess he has decided he can't have that debate.

What I would like an explanation of is why it took him three years to figure out we didn't have enough troops in Iraq to deal with an insurgency and we needed to secure Baghdad. And why he hasn't increased the size of the Army and Marine Corps before now. I saw today the two year total deployment limit on National Guard and Reserve units is being lifted. The troops are magnificent, but can't take much more of this tempo of deployments. And the tactics. We know "catch and release" doesn't work and have known since Vietnam that search and destroy doesn't work unless you follow it up with a hold phase.

Rant over.

[Zeroisanumber]

The best policy is worthless, if you can't communicate and implement that policy.

Moot point given that the current administration seems unable to do either.

[Eagles6]

I think that you will find a lot more if you look through his speeches, many of which are not carried by the msm.

He is walking a fine line, trying to keep our islamic "allies", especially a nuclear pakistan, in our camp without alienating the growing governments in iraq and afghanistan. Trying to drag a whole culture into the 21st century without literally destroying them, as we did with Japan, is a daunting task.

[NathanR]

I know. Sad isn't it.

[Jim Noble]

Trying to drag a whole culture into the 21st century without literally destroying them, as we did with Japan, is a daunting task.

It's a fool's errand.

It could only be attempted by liberals who believe so many false things about human nature that it's a wonder they don't choke.

[GingisK]

Does anyone here want to survive?

I was thinking that maybe I'd like to reincarnate on some planet really far from here.

[FortWorthPatriot]

Per Wiki:

"Sui generis is a (post) Latin expression, literally meaning of its own kind/genus or unique in its characteristics. The expression was effectively created by scholastic philosophy to indicate an idea, an entity or a reality that cannot be included in a wider concept. In the structure "genus ¨ species" a species that heads its own genus is sui generis."

(I didn't know what it meant, either :))

[colorado tanker]

He is walking a fine line, trying to keep our islamic "allies", especially a nuclear pakistan, in our camp without alienating the growing governments in iraq and afghanistan. Trying to drag a whole culture into the 21st century without literally destroying them, as we did with Japan, is a daunting task.

I agree. But with this level of public support, he won't be able to sustain the Iraq operation much longer. People are screaming about 20,000 more troops, which might not be enough IMHO, which wouldn't have been a problem, one, two or three years ago.

[Alberta's Child]

Nobody has ever been able to explain to me how a silly "war on terror" means anything if this is what it has brought us to date:

1. The establishment of an Islamic state -- and a Marxist one at that -- in the Middle East.

2. A "9/11 commission" whose sole purpose was covering up the incompetence and outright malfeasance of this country's government (on both sides of the political aisle) in protecting its own citizenry over the last 10-15 years.

3. (Related to #2) A deplorable slap on the wrist for former national security advisor Sandy Berger, who committed egregious Federal crimes for the sole purpose of covering up the incompetence and malfeasance of himself and his former employers.

4. An open-borders policy that allows nearly unfettered immigration from countries all over the world -- including about 100,000 visitors/immigrants from Islamic countries in the Middle East that have been havens for terrorists for years.

Please wake me up when this starts to make any sense to you.

What I would like an explanation of is why it took him three years to figure out we didn't have enough troops in Iraq to deal with an insurgency and we needed to secure Baghdad.

I gave you the explanation above. Iraq is not -- and never has been -- part of any stupid "war on terror" at all. It was a silly, utopian nation-building effort carried out by big-government globalists in the U.S. government.

Rant over.

[himno hero]

the formula requires the man and the circumstances.

hockey... gretsky....the great one... had to quit hockey prematurely after Edmonton as was no longer a star without his team to work with and work for. the circumstances are the other component.

[doorgunner69]

Lady Astor: "Winston, if I were your wife I'd put poison in your coffee."
Winston Churchill: "Nancy, if I were your husband I'd drink it."

[Alberta's Child]

See #57.