Comments on: Iraq Year Five

By: j house

j house — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 06:35:07 +0000

For all of you doubters, had the US not taken down Saddam after 9/11, most can agree he and his sons weren’t going anywhere for at least a decade..he was tan, fit and his mafia family had an iron grip on the country and was reaping tens of billions, even under sanctions.(fast forward and think oil at $50+, not $25)
In that ten year period, he could have easily built a capability to enrich that 1.3 tons of HEU he had stored at the Al Tawaitha facility to bomb grade fuel, not to mention the few hundred tons of yellowcake also stored there. It is also possible Saddam may have eventually moved sooner rather than later to counter Iran’s growing nuclear/BM threat.
And yes, he’d been host to Abu Nidal, AMZ and other sordid characters known to kill Americans through the years..reason enough to take him down, if you take Bush at his word, post 9/11 state of the union address (i.e., Saddam in the ‘against us’ column)
There is no question Saddam was a future threat to the region and US interests there, and the President made the call, right or wrong.
I believe the early success the US had in Afghanistan led the President to believe the sum of this war would be similar.The ‘occupation’ and ‘transition’ phases were obviously poorly planned and executed..something the media actually got right.

By: Glen

Glen — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 18:44:48 +0000

Way to provide evidence to support your statements in your ad hominem attack ‘Tom’. I don’t agree with the war, but at least the supporters of it take the time to do their research and provide a compelling argument.

By: Indyfan

Indyfan — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 15:14:55 +0000

Radar is absolutely right on the facts. The reasons something had to be done about Saddam:
The sanctions against Iraq were about to be dropped at the UN. The support for them had been lost. The rest of the world saw Saddam as a nuisance, and not a threat, plus they were making billions (France and Russian gov’ts, even some US companies) on illegal use of the oil for food program.
Once the sanctions were dropped, Saddam had every intention of restarting his WMD program. This was demonstrated by the discovery of nuclear centrifuge and other equipment buried in his chief nuclear scientist’s yard. He had already defied the UN Security Council by building missiles capable of reaching Israel and beyond the 500 mile limit imposed by the sanctions. And he did this while he was supposed to be honoring the cease fire he signed in 1992. He has been breaking international law since day one of the cease fire. It had become so commonplace, people just looked away and sighed (hence the nuisance statement above.) How long do you give someone to comply? I think 12 yrs was plenty.
So:
1)The UN was not going to reapprove the sanctions against Iraq.
2) Saddam was manipulating inspections (which we still do not know why he moved equipment around during inspections, giving the appearance he was hiding stuff from the inspectors. I think he was just playing a bluff and it eventually backfired.)
3) He was firing at coalition acft enforcing the no fly zones (He offered $10 million to anyone who shot down a UN recon plane)
4) Oil for Food was not working, and neither was diplomacy.
These are a few of the reasons something had to be done.
Personally, I think we should have waited awhile and concentrated on Afghanistan a little longer. But I am not the President, Congress, or Seante. But we are in Iraq now, we are doing something that can result in a Middle East that is prosperous AND friendly to the West, and we can make the lives of millions better if we just let the Commanders on the ground decide timelines and benchmarks, not those in the Congress and senate, most of whom have little or no military experience.
I know some will argue that Iraqi deaths have increased since US involvement. I’m not talking about the here and now. I am talking about generations of Iraqis who will be able to live together and prosper, should success in Iraq be achieved.
Sorry for the long diatribe. If anything, let’s give this counterinsurgency strategy a chance to work. Prior to US invasion of Iraq Al Queda said that if the US attacks Iraq, they will do everything in their power to incite a civil war (split the country in two was their words). Do we want to give an enemy who has shown their willingness AND ability to attack our homeland and inflict mass casualties that leverage?
If you agree, write your Congressman and tell them that you voted for a new direction, and that direction needs to be given a chance, not arbitrary withdrawal.

By: Bill Webb

Bill Webb — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 06:29:36 +0000

“Radar” and “Indyfan” sound more like my kind of people. Armchair quarterbacks out — professionals in. Send our people some Thanks and more CARE packages.

By: k911b30

k911b30 — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 03:29:52 +0000

how many of you that voted for the last go around vote for your reps in the house and sente said “We the voters wont you the elected to end the war in iraq” that is all that I hear from the people in the house and sente are saying.
If your are like me send a letter off to your reps and tell them that is not what you voted for

By: Tom

Tom — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 00:52:25 +0000

The bottom line is this, This President will not be able to do anything that will make the situation in Iraq better, simply because he set this whole thing in motion. Had he listened to his Generals at the time, I do believe things would not be this bad. Now the only thing he can do is blame everybody else for the mistakes made by him and his adminstration. The American people are tired of all the lies, that was evident with the last election. I perdict it be a while before a republican is elected president.

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 22:24:34 +0000

Unfortunately there remain those who continue to fall prey to the continuous barrage of propaganda of those blinded with hate for Bush. When they have little to none of the facts of the present day situation. Canada has received threat from Al Quida to stop the flow of oil from there to the states. I don’t know how much closer to home the attacks have to come before these people wake up to the realities of the times.
The terrorists are intent in their drive to destroy this country and what it stands for. To change how we live and survive. That pipe line has already been damaged once and would be a simple matter to repeat the damage. The last hole in the pipe was only 6 feet in diameter.. wonder what the next one will be?

By: Grady Heiss

Grady Heiss — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 10:58:20 +0000

I supoort the troops and their mission. I support the President. Generally, in this information age we have too much “incomplete” information about the big picture. We don’t know all the intel on our enemies. Trust is tough to give when you think you have all the information and in reality you don’t. I trust our President and our very capable military leadership to bring the fight to our enemies. Are you prepared for IED’s on our highways? If we fail as a nation, to keep the fighting in their backyards, this could be our future. Watching the liberal Congress viscerate our military and attack our President makes me buy more guns and ammo. Are you prepared for the worst case senario? Ironically, most libs hate guns as well. Our enemies will have an easy time with half our population. Stay safe and learn to trust. God Bless us all…

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 21:46:27 +0000

As I understand it, The United States has some really powerful weapons. If we would ignore the dirty politics and employ some of these weapons, then I think this war could end much faster.

By: AbleFable

AbleFable — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:42:11 +0000

4yrs in review… The unjustified attack of a sovereign nation. An illegal war with changing rational. A complicit media. Premature declaration of victory. Loss of moral high ground. Loss of all credibility and international standing. Bankruptcy of two nations. Erosion of our own rights and freedoms. Uncounted innocents. Ill-equipped soldiers. Un-accountable private armies. Record profits for oil companies and arms dealers. An imperial president. ZERO accountability. Too many questions, too many sheeple. Hey, this war went so well, let