Posted on 04/30/2004 9:16:18 AM PDT by Check_Your_Premises
Their impatience is almost palpable.
Great 'moniker' ;^); and like your 'tag' as well.
As I remember, Saddam had three or four secret police organizations which were always spying and reporting on each other, as well as against all Iraqis.
Arabs seem only to understand the pressure of a boot placed firmly on their throats, so I suggest we accommodate that need and go about pumping oil!
Myself..have worked at the front end of the oil sector for 2 plus decades.
So ya...I fabbed the oil process facilites all thru the Persian Gulf and beyond.
Prior to Gulf War1..we were building Frac process modules for Iran..seems the Russians were slant drilling under the Iranian border..draining their field.
Then the war hit...ban on shipping in the Gulf.
Granted..the consortium we were part of..several U.S. oil giants..they encured the loss as the Iranian project was cancelled..3/4 's completed.
In a bizarre twist..the same consortium had previously enabled Russia with Frac technology and were part of the *Drain the crying Iranians oil play too ..go figure huh : )
I've forwarded just a few idents here as too how vulnerable fiscally we are to Islams terror...anyone googling Oil Security reports is gonna read the mind boggling numbers swelling now in everything from Insurance coverage to contract bidding.
All these big players are not going to eat these losses..they pass down to the consumer.
U.S. funding for military projects is being scapled bigtime by the cost of the war..which runs..to protect oil transfer.
We need Missile defence...Black projects,the Navy is unhappy with a 295 ship force..the Army needs 2-3 addition divisions.
The U.S. is taking this one on the chin here..back home..how many military families needed foodbanks and social help to survive while hubby is in harms way.
Its been hard..severe..and projects to be moreso in the future.
It would be good to see Firms like Halliburton,Brown and Root kick funds in for military vehicle armor upgrades...they should damnit!....Americans are dying and being maimed for life...so that they can spin the big corporate wheel.
To some degree I too am Pissed off at this war...dissed..cuz I know who's making big coin..and where the fiscal losses will eventually end up.
But..this stand in Iraq is critical...a critical window..should we fail..Islam will extort us into ruin.
Not to worry - his quick trial and execution are being planned even as this thread develops. June 30 is when the provisional government is established, then comes their dealing with Saddam. All during the summer when the Dem. and Rep. conventions are going on.
And I don't advocate simply pulling out of Iraq. Never once did I say that, although many inferred it. I do wonder if a safe and democratic Iraq is a "doable" thing in the current context. The current context being an election year, a large and vibrant fifth column, and a population that doesn't personally and acutely feel the threat from these people.
What is your opinion, is this country going to see that goal through? I fear our fickle electorate will begin to favor a shameful and cowardly withdrawl.
I guess what I imagine with the olive drab veto, is to keep our forces there on the ground, but withdraw them from direct contact. Let the Iraqis do what they do best... butcher eachother. Our forces would be deployed and available on the ground to perform the function that the Turkish military does, which is to overthrow any government that becomes to fundamentalist.
That might not work either. I am not sure what the answer is.
History will be President Bush's ultimate judge. He's more likely to get a favorable decision if he can get a decisive win. I'm sure he's focused on the fact that the amount of favorability will be determined by just how the victory is obtained.
Some days are and will be bleak. I too get upset when things don't appear to be going well. When even one of the coalition troops are killed, wounded, return with missing limbs. I too get upset with the Iraqi people for not being proactive in fighting for their freedom. But then I remember the threats that we continuously receive from the islamic fundamentalist who want nothing more than to see me and mine dead.
This war is not only about freeing the Iraqi people, it is much more. It is about keeping us free also. In my favorite internet file I keep an article from 2002 of a threat to the American citizens that we all must die because we support our military by paying taxes and that we must convert to Islam or else.
Do I think some mistakes (decisions) were made during Iraqi freedom? Yes, I do.
We did not start this war. I remember where I was when I first heard about the first plane hitting the first WTC tower. And every since I have learned more and more about the hatred some (a lot) have for America and desire our demise and it did not start with George W. Bush taking office.
Hang in there, when Iraq is said and done it still will not be over. It will be a long hard slog.
To the islamic fundamentalist:
Rabka uhalla, your god is not great
I agree with many here that the main impediment to this is Islam, which means (guess what?) not "peace" but SUBMISSION. Now, as a Christian who has studied Islam and actually read the "holy books" (including the Hadith, which most people never even know exists), I'm convinced that Islam itself poses a problem for democracy or ANY form of government because the Koran does not really validate political government. Nevertheless, the reality is that 2 billion Muslims almost all acknowledge some government and have for centuries. So from that standpoint, I don't know that Islam (in reality) is any more of an impediment than Shintoism was to the Japanese.
That is why, though, I don't think we can allow Iraq to become a theocratic regime! And while this is not talked about much, especially by Bush, it is a KEY reason we must work for some sort of democracy (no matter how flawed) there because it undercuts the power of the Imams and Mullahs!
Funny.
I begin to wonder if Saddam's brutality was less a function of his psychopathy, rather it might be the only practical way to govern the Iraqis?
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