Good call, considering that Private Pyle likes to go to battle stations over the deficit, he's going to have to call in reinforcements on this one.
Eh, not worth it. This place is just a libtard circle jerk. Insults to those who served, ignoring first-hand accounts... not worth it. You guys have fun wanking each other off.
treeman is cycling down after his recent ragegasm. Now he'll have some time to clean the spittle off his monitor.
Don't let the liberal pile-on crew get you down. The reason they attempt their pile-ons is precisely because they cannot defend themselves with fact, logic and reason. So when you see the pile-on, you know that you've already won.
treeman be humble. Don't fool yourself into thinking that because you were there that you understand the entire geopolitical climate of the two wars. I was in Afghanistan more specifically Marjah. I was a small part of a much bigger war and my rank and need to know does not put me in a position to be considered an "expert" on the policy of Bush and Obama on the two wars. We were both a small part of the war. To act as if you have superior knowledge relative to everyone here because of your limited experience in Iraq is quite condescending.
Bigtexxx is absolutely right. You win the internets treeman, good job guys, blowjobs for everybody! Why is it OK to subsidize people who refuse to fight for themselves with American lives overseas, but not OK to subsidize the poor and starving at home?
This isn't surprising news given all of the foreign policy disasters in recent years no one is really worried about the US under the current regime, they are considered weak which only emboldens groups like this. They knew they'd get away with it because our current military objective is to tuck tail as quickly as possible and run away from the region and everyone knows it. Hopefully the economy rebounds because even without that it seems this president will have left quite a mess for future presidents to clean up.
Yeah, that "need to know" will get you every time. I've fought that battle many times some successfully, some less than successfully.
From my limited experience groups like this are more emboldened and have better recruitment numbers when there is more US intervention.
Christ dude. Were you conscious from 2000-2008? Do you remember the state of the U.S. economy and foreign policy as Bush left office? Though I disagree with you about Bergdahl, your position isn't insane. Don't get in the clown car.
This wouldn't have happened before we pulled out troops because the uprising would have been crushed, we left them an opening and they seized it. As a result of their success, their recruitment numbers will get a boom. Perceived oppression is really good for recruitment, but success is better.
I wasn't making a statement about the US economy, it was and still is in the toilet, but foreign policy is markedly worse today than then. Anyone should be able to see that. Bush was seen as a hawk or cowboy, which isn't the best thing, but it's pretty clear that after getting slapped around by Putin a few times and other foreign policy disasters of the past several years, Obama is viewed as weak, which is worse. I'm not really taking sides here as neither is right.
If only we had kept fighting in Iraq for another ten years this would have never happened. Signed, Seargent treeman (still looking for WMD's)
The previous Admin. had 5 years to placate Iraq. They could've undertaken the surge much sooner but instead they chose to invade the country with half of the force that they used to kick them out of Kuwait 10 years earlier and also with no real plan for what to do with the country. If you are criticizing the current Admin. for snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory you should consider why we went there without a plan for victory in the first place. Also as you note AQI went over to Syria and or underground to wait out the surge. If you think victory was in our grasp that would've required invading Syria or else staying indefinitely in Iraq. Heck you served in Iraq how much longer would you have been willing to stay?
Obama is viewed as weak through the specticles of the right wing. Invading Iraq resulted in a loss of respect by many nations. If not starting more pointless wars results in us being viewed as "weak" then so be it. The cost if war is not worth it.
No, he's viewed as weak by pretty much everyone not wearing blinders. There is no doubt that Bush was viewed poorly for different reasons, but that is not really relevant to how Obama is viewed. One was seen as a dumb cowboy, one is seen as a naive pushover. Both are viewed negatively. For better or worse, the impression right now is that Team America: World Police is off duty right now so you can get away with pretty much anything.
So then how long should US troops have been Iraq? For that matter if you are so concerned about the US appearing weak where and how many troops should we be deploying now?
