You've embraced the democrat position with both arms. Have you bothered to look past the New York Times propaganda? Are you so comfortable with it that you prefer defending it to finding out what the facts really are?
Do you know how many provinces have been handed over to the Iraqis? What gains have been made? Yes, GAINS, something you will never see the Times print, but if you take a couple minutes to read what the people who are actually fighting this war have to say, you'll find there's plenty. Have you been to the Dept. of Defense website? Here's some links to get you started;
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/9010Quarterly-Report-20061216.pdf
http://www.defenselink.mil/home/dodupdate/iraq-update/Handovers/index.html
http://www.defenselink.mil/
As for your suggestion that we "destroyed" Iraq in the beginning, WTH are you talking about? Desert Storm? We kicked them out of Kuwait, left Saddam in power and his business partners at the UN in charge to look the other way while he defied every condition of the cease fire and planted hundreds of thousands of his people in the sand.
We don't have to "force someone at gunpoint to like us", which of course is your very trollish spin for the liberal "force democracy at gunpoint" that we've heard hundreds of times ad naseum.
The only Iraqis that don't want us there are the butchers from Saddam's regime and the terrorists who want to make it their playground when we leave.
Have you forgotten that over 80% of Iraqis stained their thumbs purple under threat of death for doing so by those who were dead serious and fully capable of killing? Do you remember what they were voting for? Did you ever know? I'll give you a hint: DEMOCRACY!
That took GUTS by a people who want FREEDOM and you want us to cut 'em all down? "Wipe 'em all off the map?"
How many times? 5, 10, 2 dozen, 100 times?
There would never be an end to the nightmare if we "declared war on the citizens" as you sugggest, nor should there be, for we would have lost our soul as a nation.
You desperately need to do some DD on the facts before making the claims and suggestions you have. They're inaccurate, repulsive, and should be displayed in a different forum, if at all IMO.
I was referring to our current conflict, and when I said we destroyed Iraq, I was referring to their government. Sorry, I should have made that more clear.
That took GUTS by a people who want FREEDOM and you want us to cut 'em all down? "Wipe 'em all off the map?"
Well, not cut em down on purpose. If they want freedom so bad, they can do it themselves.
You desperately need to do some DD on the facts before making the claims and suggestions you have. They're inaccurate, repulsive, and should be displayed in a different forum, if at all IMO.
Your right, I really don't care about the Iraqi people. I really don't care whether they live under a democracy or a communist dictator. Each nation is responsible for it's own government, not me, you, Bill Clinton, or George Bush.
As I said, I supported this war at the start. Putting aside the WMD and Al-Queda evidence, Saddam needed to be removed simply for his repeated violation of UN resolutions. But their chosen form of government is none of our business, just as ours is none of theirs.
Your brand of "compassionate conservatism" scares me. You really are quit emotional, aren't you?