Posted on 02/18/2016 4:36:43 PM PST by kristinn
But today f you earn money not having insurance can be thousands in penalties.
The CIA knew about potentials of terrorists flying into buildings but since it had not happened yet anywhere we were left wide open for 9-11.
Passengers did not get the finality of the terrorist or I think each plane would have been brought down early by passengers.
He’s right, I grew up some in Brooklyn an Italian surrounded by aggressive Jews. Even had my outdoor lit Christmas tree set on fire one year.
My father knew who did it and went over to give the guys house a new look.
They are NOT shy people on the east coast.
I do believe TRUMP handlers have readers covering our remarks..he commented he like Free Republic to one of our faithful posters...so trusting they will jump on your good advice..
Best Wishes
Carole
Haircutter
God Bless and Stay strong and positive.
Carole
Haircutter
My Dad spends his time driving me crazy. Keeps him young I guess. We even have the same Oncologist, the only Father / Son Team in the place.
My late B-I-L had to deal with Esophageal Cancer. He had to go through Chemo, Radiation and heinous Surgery and he lasted another five years before it finally got him. He and I became best Buds during that time which is why I have no worries. It is what it is, living Life. I went through the whole thing with him and I can say he was a braver Man that I could ever hope to be. He had a great attitude even though it really sucked to be him. My affliction pales in comparison. I am a very lucky person. Had a severe Lung Infection last year that my Dr. said could have been it, but we got through that and I regained a major portion of the weight I lost over that four Month Period. Take it from me, if you want to go on a Diet, that isn't the way to do it. Take good care. I appreciate the kind words. Sorry for my usual carrying on, you know, too much information. It's a curse but most people find me mildly amusing although I have no idea why. I guess I work cheap.
It bothers me that both many Freepers, and Mr. Trump alike, either are forgetting why we went into Iraq, or have very selective memory. It also bothers me that so many people do not see below the surface. No, I’m not talking about “blood for oil”, although oil certainly was a factor.
We need to go back to 2002 - 2003...
After 911, US policy toward terrorism became rather simple, in one sense. Basically, that policy was that any established government that was found to be blatantly supporting terrorism must either stop, or they would be taken out. Countries with WMD or with a history of WMD or intent of obtaining WMD, who had supported terrorism, were of particular concern. There were several of them too: Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Pakistan headed the list. Several lesser countries supported terrorists too, or at least did not seem to have sufficient incentive to suppress them. The problem was, though, that even the US would have a difficult time going after all those actors. Pakistan and Iran would be particularly tough. While Gaddafi and his chemical weapons were a concern, post Reagan’s bombing of Libya, Gaddafi had been mostly behaving (outside of his own country, anyway), and Libya was not geopolitically particularly important. Still, an example needed to be made, one strong enough that other countries would “get the message”, even if only for a few years. It had to be made clear in an unmistakable way, to people who understand only force, that state supported terrorism had become utterly unacceptable to the US.
Iraq made the most sense. As has been noted many times, Saddam WAS paying families of suicide bombers. He openly threatened the US. He and his sons were not just tough dictators, they were insanely brutal masochists. Saddam had used WMD on his own people, and, every major intelligence agency believed he still had significant WMD capability, with interest in nukes. He had recently invaded Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia. Other Muslim countries might beef at us for invading Iraq, but none would get involved. Saddam had tried to have George H. W. Bush assassinated. And so on.
On the practical side of things, Iraq had been significantly weakened in the 1st Gulf War. The society was used to a somewhat secular gov’t, so occupation should be “easier” than, say, occupation of Iran. Unlike Iran, it was unlikely that masses of children and such would be sent against our troops, to be slaughtered. Iraq has LOTS of oil, and control of it could be important.
However, outweighing all of the above, Iraq is strategically important. With Iraq and Afghanistan “in hand”, Iran, a much more dangerous player in the long run, would be in a pincer. As a side bonus, the same would effectively be true of Syria.
In terms of sending a strong signal, and establishing our strategic goals, the US invasion of Iraq worked. Granted, we blew the occupation, and needed the “surge” to regain control, but even then, at the end of Bush’s term, we were in pretty good shape. Then Obama came in & wrecked the whole thing. I suppose the Bush people should have forseen that the next US President might be an idiot. Perhaps the counter would have been to set up a new strongman in Iraq, and not dismantle the Iraqi army: Put them back in place with a strong message that if they get out of line, we eliminate all leaders responsible.
In my opinion, Bush II made a mistake in overemphasizing WMD and trying to sell the “democratizing” of Iraq. The American people at the time could have understood that an example needed to be made, and they already understood that Saddam was a deserving recipient. They also would have understood the longer range strategic significance of Iraq, and the danger from IRAN. Bush initially DID make it clear that the fight against Radical Islam would be a long one, and like no war we’d ever fought, but, unfortunately, he dropped that topic very quickly, and celebrated “victory” too soon.
That day on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln... Dubya told us what we wanted to hear, not what we needed to know...
Fast Forward to July, 2017. (Speculation) President Trump’s orders to “bomb the **** out of ISIS have left 90% of ISIS either dispersed from Syria and Iraq, or charred corpses. The Kurds are largely in control in the north of Syria and Iraq, and Assad has control of most large cities in Syria, but large swaths of the two countries are controlled by an assortment of various tribes and other rebel factions. The power vacuum is obvious. Russian bombs have fallen on a Saudi-led expeditionary force, and the Saudis have pulled back. Tehran holds almost total sway in Baghdad. ISIS (or supporters) have successfully attacked targets in Libya, Indonesia, Germany, Philippines, and elsewhere, causing over 500 deaths.
Hopefully, back in 2016, someone asked the question: Now what?
Well, maybe so. Maybe someone will see that long treatise I just posted on Iraq. :-)
I realize that Trump is a fighter, and that’s a great deal of the basis for his support. But, the further he goes, the “smarter” the punches need to be. And he has to be very careful with words like “mandate”, because that’s the sort of thing that could send conservatives fleeing in droves.
What word would I like to see Mr. Trump, or any other candidate, use more?
Freedom.
Or maybe his grown daughters have set him straight. “Come on, Dad, this playboy routine is getting old and it’s embarrassing for us. And what will your grand-kids think of you?â€
Ha. Come to think of it, I also sowed a few wild oats in my day ...(and darn glad I did.) I now have an established life and have been married to the one for 30 years, but it can get a little ho hum at the end ....fun to think about how crazy you once were ...and how much energy you had. Also helps to know that you were once young, virile, good looking, etc, at at time when everything starts to sag and droop, lol. Gets you through old age! (after a lot of asking for God’s forgiveness, of course.).
class act move right there...we know he is a good father.
He doesn’t get much sleep. I don’t know how he does it.
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His chauffeur said Trump is up at 4:00-5:oo in the morning waiting for him to bring him about 6 different news papers. Sometimes hanging out the door waiting for them. Read them and then on with his day and the chauffeur hopes he get to go to the white house with him...
He said Trump is friendly to him: Though the candidate and business executive is often on calls in the car, the two chat sometimes on a wide variety of topics, including sports, current events and what’s going on with Trump.
“He’s a great boss,†Diaz said, calling him a “down to earth guyâ€
They eat together regularly. Asked whether Trump buys, a smiling Diaz said: “Once in a while.â€
Diaz, who said he will “absolutely†vote for Trump, said the most interesting thing about the campaign so far is that his boss is No. 1 in the polls, “all the polls.â€
http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-republican-candidate-2016-elections-apprentice-363426
He has a habit of making an outlandish statement to get a headline and then spends endless time trying to explain it, justify it, reframe it to try and get himself out of a corner he’s backed himself into.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don’t see it that way, Trump says things that seem outlandish, but ring true to many of us. Trump also doesn’t have all the information, not being read into ALL the information that we have on wars etc... but we can see the direction Trump would like to see things go and he can negotiate from there.
#441 [Part of me feels these questioners are actors. They just don’t seem real.]
#444 [Who is this establishment stooge grilling Trump ... Fancy suit, etc .... Looks like he just stepped off some campaign staff ....]
#450 [Uh-oh, a question from a Bush-bot party hack.]
#451 [Orange Tie Guy (who is such a big shot he was in Trumps office)]
#455
[Trump explaining this expertly. Orange tie guy just nodding like a plant would.]
#461 [ Orange Tie Guy = Pony Tail Guy?]
#571
CNN, and they repeated the exchange w/Orange Tie Guy (who met with Trump in his office
[ ] kinda AIMED at Orange Tie Guy
____
CNN Busted Attempting “Pre-Scripted Ambush” of Donald Trump During Live Town Hall Event...
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/02/19/cnn-busted-attempting-pre-scripted-ambush-of-donald-trump-during-live-town-hall-event/
So what is the motive here? What is the connection between CNN and the ‘non-random’ participant, Dr Oran Smith from the Palmetto Family Council ?
[ ]
Do you remember the recent faith and freedom conference at the controversial Bob Jones University? Well, THAT’s Oran Smith’s group. Which included special attendances by candidates Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Ben Carson:
[ ]
Dr. Oran Smith is anything but an “ordinary south Carolinian voter, who has yet to make up his mind”. It is absurd in the extreme to contemplate such a proposition. It’s a complete line of ridiculous propaganda even beyond the scope of CNN’s customary narrative advancement.
[ ]
Now, you might find it all just circumstantial, until you recognize in the previous five candidate sessions there was nothing even remotely similar that took place. There were certainly no preparatory notes or quotes at the ready for Anderson Cooper to use in reference to random “ordinary citizen” audience questions.
CNN Caught Using A Plant In Attempt To Take Down Trump (Vanity)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3399114/posts
Very solid explanation. I would add one small point.
Bush was not merely trying to “sell” the idea of democracy, or liberation from ME dictatorships. Bush truly believed that this was the highest and most principled path to take. He believed in the concept of the USA as a courageous leader - not only maintaining peace in the world, but being an example and helper to these backward countries.
Bush was not just seeking power, he had a noble vision. It seems it was shared by the vast majority of Americans (and still is), and by other nations as well. Whether or not it’s a realistic vision is still up for debate. But it requires leadership and unity, which as you rightly point out, left the scene when Obama came in. Thanks.
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