Replies

I wasn't talking about Iraq, I was talking about all of the money we are throwing around

However, you mentioned nation building, so I asked you about Iraq.

I was talking about all of the money we are throwing around

I agree. . .we should stop all aid to Islamic nations.

(In hindsight) the intelligence we had was shoddy and poorly misinterpreted

Perhaps. We know Iraq had WMD - we just don't know where they are now. There is information out that indicates some (if not all) were moved to Syria. We probably haven't gone in after them because, as bad as Syria is, they aren't as nutty as Saddam was, and they are less likely to actually use them. I believe we should have gone after Saddam in the first Gulf War, but we didn't. Personally, I'm glad that crazy man is gone.

Al Qaeda wasn't in Iraq until after the fact.

There is evidence that, while Al Queda wasn't publically welcomed in Iraq as they were in Afghanistan, Saddam did offer 'aid and comfort' to some members of their leadership. At the very least, we knew Saddam was supporting the Palestinian terrorists (he did so very publically).

We weren't finished in Afghanistan.

No, we weren't. But there may have been intelligence reasons not to wait. A lot has been made public (probably things that shouldn't have been), but there is still a lot of classified info we are not privy to.

We didn't have as many troops going in as we needed.

That was a military decision. We can disagree with their decisions, but since I'm not in the military, I am not privy to the discussions that went on. I presume that you are now supportive of the 'surge', and would even be in favor of deploying troops out of Europe, etc and sending them to Iraq?

I believe we should have gone after Saddam in the first Gulf War, but we didn't.

I agree completly, not just because he was nutty, but his sons were a thousand times worse.

At the very least, we knew Saddam was supporting the Palestinian terrorists (he did so very publically).

So are the Saudis, but it's okay because President Bush says they are our friends. We can just ignore them paying off the families of people who go and blow up innocent Israelis.

I presume that you are now supportive of the 'surge',

Actually I'm against the surge, not because of any "nation building" or the like, but because it implies a temporary buildup and then removal of troops. That signals to our enemies that they just need to keep some pressure on and wait until the surge is over. It's compounded by the fact that because of how Bush and his staff (even though they blame the generals, ultimate responsibility lies on their shoulders) are basically going to help the Democrats walk right into office.

So not only will there be a point where the surge is over and those temporary troops are pulled out of Iraq, but the conditions are set for us to pull almost all troops out.

That's a victory for our enemies.

Rather than a surge, I'd like to just see a buildup, and say "we are adding 50,000 or 100,000 troops to Iraq, until the job is done, period, end of story"

Unfortunately, because President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld refused to increase the military substantially, we face a point where we have a lot of troops on their second and third tours, and these are people that are going to be burned out, and they won't re-enlist when the time comes and/or their experiences will deter others. As much as I'm a part of the "shut up and do your duty" contingent, I can understand some who are getting burned out.

I will add something else about Iraq: We aren't willing to take the steps necessary to fix it. That is, dividing it up into three autonomous nations.

We really do have people in the White House that think some of these groups can set aside centuries of hostility towards one another, all the while having those tensions stirred up by outsiders.

It should come as no surprise that the most stable part of Iraq is where the Kurds are, and it should not be surprising that their area consists of basically Kurdish people. It also shouldn't be surprising that they are our biggest allies in Iraq.

When we pull out, not if, but when, because it will happen, then I predict areas south of the Kurds will turn into a full-blown Yugoslavia-style problem, compounded by the Iranians, Sunnis, Shiites, and Saudis, with Al Qaeda in the mix.