Discussion: The Iraq War

[Marx]

BOMB ATTACKS KILL 41 IN BAGHDAD
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/07/07/iraq.violence/index.html?hpt=T2

 

[Kelly]

That government is not going to be able to hold it together, no way.

 

[Marx]

I don't see how either...

 

[Kelly]

Biden the other day saying that this is going to be a win for Obama....aside from being an extreme hypocrite in those statements, he's WRONG....what would have been a win would have been to not have gone into Iraq in the first place, put heavy sanctions on them of NO AID OF ANY KIND. And move on from there....but going into Iraq was the worst decision ever.

 

[Marx]

PRESIDENT OBAMA COMMENTS ON IRAQ WAR
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/02/obama.iraq.drawdown/index.html?hpt=T1

 

[Matt]

This is going to bite Obama in the ass. Americans do not like to lose wars and there is no way that the Iraqi government will be able to get their **** together in 12-15 months. As soon as we pull out (End of 2011 will see full withdrawl according to Obama), we'll see a coup that leads to full on civil war in Iraq. Obama will then have a choice, keep the troops out and allow the Iraqi government to fall (pissing off moderates and galvanizing conservatives) or send troops back in to Iraq (pissing off his base). And its all going to happen during an election year. Obama's opposition to Iraq was the one thing he stood for and it, (combined with the media kissing his ass non-stop) won him the Democratic primary which led to his presidency. Ironically, his handling of Iraq could very well be the thing that both dooms his re-election and taints his legacy.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Iraq = This Generation's Vietnam?

 

[Marx]

Iraq = This Generation's Vietnam?

While I still do not think Vietnam is a good comparison, if any war was to be compared with Vietnam, it would be Afghanistan. Not Iraq.

 

[Marx]

Has anyone else seen this?

 

[Schlosser85]

The saddest part of Gina's story, to me, is that as soon as she's making progress, they're thinking about sending her back to Iraq all over again.

 

[Marx]

UPDATE: IRAQI FORCES TAKE CONTROL OF SECURITY AS US WITHDRAWS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/30/iraq-cities-us-forces-handover

 

[Matt Mortem]

I just watched a documentary called "No End In Sight" last night. I did not know the depth of how badly we ****ed Iraq until now. It's astonishing

 

[Kelly]

I just watched a documentary called "No End In Sight" last night. I did not know the depth of how badly we ****ed Iraq until now. It's astonishing

Yes, Iraq is in bad shape....their infrastructure is destroyed. I really think we could have very easily go in and killed Hussein (which most Iraqis I've know and have heard are happy he is gone...) without totally destroying their infrastructure. I heard an Iraqi man speak this Summer at an AP Institute at Rice University, he says that as a Christian, the persecution is extremely hard....and it wasn't as bad as it is now when Hussein was in power.....BUT, he would never want to go back to that regime. He said that the main thing that needs to happen before any rebuilding of the infrastructure is to get control of Iraq's borders and keep insurgents (especially from Iran and Syria) from coming in....they are the ones that are keeping the infrastructure from being rebuilt.

 

[Matt Mortem]

Yes, Iraq is in bad shape....their infrastructure is destroyed. I really think we could have very easily go in and killed Hussein (which most Iraqis I've know and have heard are happy he is gone...) without totally destroying their infrastructure. I heard an Iraqi man speak this Summer at an AP Institute at Rice University, he says that as a Christian, the persecution is extremely hard....and it wasn't as bad as it is now when Hussein was in power.....BUT, he would never want to go back to that regime. He said that the main thing that needs to happen before any rebuilding of the infrastructure is to get control of Iraq's borders and keep insurgents (especially from Iran and Syria) from coming in....they are the ones that are keeping the infrastructure from being rebuilt.

I agree completely. I cannot comprehend why the hell we had to decimate the entire country. We found no WMD's and now all the Iraqi's are left with is a country that resembles some post-apocalyptic hell-hole.

 

[Kelly]

Well, not finding WMD's doesn't mean they never existed, just means we didn't find them. BUT, IMO, that is neither here nor there....we could have taken care of Hussein in a cleaner and quicker way......sad that we missed him by minutes in Desert Storm....

 

[Matt Mortem]

Well, not finding WMD's doesn't mean they never existed, just means we didn't find them. BUT, IMO, that is neither here nor there....we could have taken care of Hussein in a cleaner and quicker way......sad that we missed him by minutes in Desert Storm....

You're right about the WMD's. Whether they had them or not, the real tragedy is the destruction of Iraq. We could have removed Hussein and searched the country without annihilating it. I think one of our biggest mistakes was dissolving the Iraqi military. All of those soldiers were suddenly unemployed thereby creating the insurgency. We pissed off an army that may have otherwise proved helpful. The guy in charge of post-war reconstruction (his name was Bremer I think) had no military or wartime reconstruction experience and he didn't consult with the military leaders when he made the choice to dissolve the B'athists and the Iraqi army. Poor choice and lack of communication destroyed an entire country. Such a shame.

 

[Marx]

Bush's foreign policy was 'bomb now, ask questions later'. It shouldn't surprise anyone that Iraq was nearly bombed back to the stone age.

 

[8wid]

Bush's foreign policy was 'bomb now, ask questions later'. It shouldn't surprise anyone that Iraq was nearly bombed back to the stone age.

Uh hum... more like the late Bronze Age... After all it sits on top of Babylon...

Plus who else thinks that the U.S. should issue an official apology for invading the country after the war if totally over?

 

[Matt Mortem]

Plus who else thinks that the U.S. should issue an official apology for invading the country after the war if totally over?

I do. I know it'll never happen, but it's a good hope.

 

[BlackLantern]

and when the US pulls back its combat presence, the Iraqis will have their own civil war

 

[Kelly]

IMO, they will have to....

They have to desire a free country enough to fight for it....on their own.

 

[Marx]

I think a civil war is inevitable in Iraq.

 

[BlackLantern]

sad, but true

 

[Matt Mortem]

Unfortunately a civil war will just want us to go back in and insert our "democratic values" all over again

 

[BlackLantern]

which won't happen....I could honestly see that whole region getting into it in the next decade or so