that's actually the funniest thing you've ever written. How many hours did you spend thinking that one up? Pretty good. ANd congrats for ruining another thread with your petty hatred for someone.
i can't believe you are so stupid that you don't know we are talking about EAST indians. geez. what a moron.
Lighten up Francis, and go look up the word sarcasm in your Hindi-English dictionary. And, while you're at it, go find yourself a woman other than Rosie Palms and her five sisters. Thank you! Come again!
Does this New Yorker soap opera ever end? I think the problem is that he expects the government and interagencies to run like the military or even a monopolistic corporation. He'd probably shoot himself if he were forced to a desk job at some government agency. Thanks for posting the entire speech. Much different than what I was expecting after reading some news articles of Bush criticism. The MSM conveniently forgot about his criticism of them and managed to prove his point.
1) so in summary, the media needs to stop chasing after stories and sensationalizing stories. 2) the administration had no clear vision and were too optimistic when they hastily planned the invasion. 3) Congress did nto fully commit economically and politically. 4) we cant withdraw bc of the catostrophic consequences. 5) the military is strained and can not continue to sustain the current deployment levels. 6) we must get past partisan politics and come up with a plan that everyone can get behind. i fully agree w/ ltg sanchez on all points. like ive said before... 2, 4, 6) administration needs to admit their mistakes in fully explain the consequences of a withdraw to the american public in order to gain support for a real plan that will achieve victory in iraq. 3, 5) this war is going to cost money so congress needs to cut spending in non-essential areas and even increase taxes in order to support the military. also congress should look into a draft or recruiting illegal aliens willing to serve in exchange for citizenship. i think a draft would be the fairest method. i dont know how many illegal aliens would join but those caught but INS should be given the choice of deportation or serving in the military. everyone (right/left, conservative/liberal, black/white/brown/yellow/purple...) needs to pitch in if we have a chance at winning this war.
Why do we have to achieve "victory"? We withdrew in Vietnam. It seems to me both we and Vietnam are better off because of that.
Vietnam is mostly an ethnically homogeneous state. Pulling out didn't carry the known consequence of the viet cong indiscriminately purging South Vietnamese. All sides acknowledge that it's going to be a very nasty civil war when it happens. It'd be morally irresponsible to just pick up and leave. I don't know what victory means, but we should at least achieve credible stability in security and infrastructure. That'd mean restoring power to urban areas of Iraq for at least 10 hours a day, a larger access to clean water, and forming law enforcement and military structure that can hold peace for at least a year without us. That's by no means a victory to anyone involved, but it would give us and them enough leeway and face for us to gradually pull out all of our forces. Until that happens, we break, we buy.
because iraq and the greater middle east form a vital cog (OIL) in the world economy. most people can agree that US withdraw means civil war. civil war is a very conservative guess at what will happen after the US leaves. but far worse things could occur... yes vietnam and iraq closely parallel each other. but failure in iraq would have far greater consequences.
So you are saying to secure oil supply from Iraq, it is worth thousands of dead American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis' lives? Remember we weren't in Iraq for thousands of years and we have been doing fine. Why do you think we need to be there until their oil runs out?
More phony soldiers want out -- The Real Iraq We Knew By 12 former Army captains Tuesday, October 16, 2007; 12:00 AM Today marks five years since the authorization of military force in Iraq, setting Operation Iraqi Freedom in motion. Five years on, the Iraq war is as undermanned and under-resourced as it was from the start. And, five years on, Iraq is in shambles. As Army captains who served in Baghdad and beyond, we've seen the corruption and the sectarian division. We understand what it's like to be stretched too thin. And we know when it's time to get out. What does Iraq look like on the ground? It's certainly far from being a modern, self-sustaining country. Many roads, bridges, schools and hospitals are in deplorable condition. Fewer people have access to drinking water or sewage systems than before the war. And Baghdad is averaging less than eight hours of electricity a day. Iraq's institutional infrastructure, too, is sorely wanting. Even if the Iraqis wanted to work together and accept the national identity foisted upon them in 1920s, the ministries do not have enough trained administrators or technicians to coordinate themselves. At the local level, most communities are still controlled by the same autocratic sheiks that ruled under Saddam. There is no reliable postal system. No effective banking system. No registration system to monitor the population and its needs. The inability to govern is exacerbated at all levels by widespread corruption. Transparency International ranks Iraq as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. And, indeed, many of us witnessed the exploitation of U.S. tax dollars by Iraqi officials and military officers. Sabotage and graft have had a particularly deleterious impact on Iraq's oil industry, which still fails to produce the revenue that Pentagon war planners hoped would pay for Iraq's reconstruction. Yet holding people accountable has proved difficult. The first commissioner of a panel charged with preventing and investigating corruption resigned last month, citing pressure from the government and threats on his life. Against this backdrop, the U.S. military has been trying in vain to hold the country together. Even with "the surge," we simply do not have enough soldiers and marines to meet the professed goals of clearing areas from insurgent control, holding them securely and building sustainable institutions. Though temporary reinforcing operations in places like Fallujah, An Najaf, Tal Afar, and now Baghdad may brief well on PowerPoint presentations, in practice they just push insurgents to another spot on the map and often strengthen the insurgents' cause by harassing locals to a point of swayed allegiances. Millions of Iraqis correctly recognize these actions for what they are and vote with their feet -- moving within Iraq or leaving the country entirely. Still, our colonels and generals keep holding on to flawed concepts. U.S. forces, responsible for too many objectives and too much "battle space," are vulnerable targets. The sad inevitability of a protracted draw-down is further escalation of attacks -- on U.S. troops, civilian leaders and advisory teams. They would also no doubt get caught in the crossfire of the imminent Iraqi civil war. Iraqi security forces would not be able to salvage the situation. Even if all the Iraqi military and police were properly trained, equipped and truly committed, their 346,000 personnel would be too few. As it is, Iraqi soldiers quit at will. The police are effectively controlled by militias. And, again, corruption is debilitating. U.S. tax dollars enrich self-serving generals and support the very elements that will battle each other after we're gone. This is Operation Iraqi Freedom and the reality we experienced. This is what we tried to communicate up the chain of command. This is either what did not get passed on to our civilian leadership or what our civilian leaders chose to ignore. While our generals pursue a strategy dependent on peace breaking out, the Iraqis prepare for their war -- and our servicemen and women, and their families, continue to suffer. There is one way we might be able to succeed in Iraq. To continue an operation of this intensity and duration, we would have to abandon our volunteer military for compulsory service. Short of that, our best option is to leave Iraq immediately. A scaled withdrawal will not prevent a civil war, and it will spend more blood and treasure on a losing proposition. America, it has been five years. It's time to make a choice. This column was written by 12 former Army captains: Jason Blindauer served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Elizabeth Bostwick served in Salah Ad Din and An Najaf in 2004. Jeffrey Bouldin served in Al Anbar, Baghdad and Ninevah in 2006. Jason Bugajski served in Diyala in 2004. Anton Kemps served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Kristy (Luken) McCormick served in Ninevah in 2003. Luis Carlos Montalván served in Anbar, Baghdad and Nineveh in 2003 and 2005. William Murphy served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Josh Rizzo served in Baghdad in 2006. William "Jamie" Ruehl served in Nineveh in 2004. Gregg Tharp served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Gary Williams served in Baghdad in 2003. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101500841_pf.html
Youre right we dont need their oil but we do need oil from the middle east. if we dont purchase from them then itll be from venezuela or russia.... either way we have to have oil. but more importantly, we have to prevent ww3 from erupting. yes we did fine for 100's of years by not going into iraq but now we are there and we cant really leave. the blame falls squarely on the current administration. if we leave, itll be ok in the short run but the long term consequences are greater.
