The part about anyone who supports or harbors terrorists........I think we've done a good job there. Our intelligence capabilities were severely diminished under Clinton and Bush #1 so it's going to take a while to get the intel we need to find every place. But you see Saudi, Britain, France, germany, Italy....every week some country is raiding suspected terrorist hideouts.....I don't know any country that is openly harboring, sponsoring terrorist organizations as the Taliban and Afghanistan was. If there are, we will find them and hit them. Red, thousands of these Iraqi troops have been killed and they keep lining up to serve. How many of these guys have to die for you to be convinced? I mean people who have been over there see these Iraqi's, laying their lives on the line to help save their country.......to me, like Rumsfeld says all the time, I think it's a slap in the face to our troops and the Iraqi's who are dying in the line of duty for people over here who know nothing about the sacrifices being made by everyone to downplay these things. Politicians, lawyers...anyone working toward a "free" Iraq are being killed and they keep showing up....people keep voting........... When the truth is right in people's faces and they won't face the facts, I have to question their motives in the firstplace. Like people who want us home now no matter what happens in Iraq when we leave, people who question the Iraqi's want of freedom and respect for our sacrifice with no information of their own to prove that........when there is so much info towards the contrary???? I mean is it racism that keeps someone from admitting the truth...hatred......?
I know that there are Iraqis that are serving, and I especially cut the Kurds a lot of slack because they are the only Iraqis that are actually cooperating with us in their area. But they are a minority. The Shiites and Sunnis are going to remain enemies for a long time, I think. And both are hostile to us. Perhaps we can get the Iraqi army to the point that they can prevent Iran or Syria from overrunning them. And we can stop the anti-American attacks by simply going home. But if we have to stay until all fighting is stopped, we may be there forever. There is a civil war going on in Iraq. Surely we can leave that part to them. We still have troops in Korea after 60 years. Vietnam, Lebanon, Somalia, Bosnia . . . Other people's civil wars are not our fight.
I gave you quite a bit of evidence of why we are winning the insurgency. Most of Iraq is secure. The Sunni Triangle in and around Bagdad has been the big problem area since the war began, but most of the terrorist attacks have been limited to that area. Yes, there is violence there. It is called war. In every war the number of attacks ebbs and flows. That has been true in every war. We are not imposing a Democracy on Iraq. Everything they have done in the last couple of years has been their decision - not ours. They wrote their own constitution - we did not write it for them. They elected their own leaders. We did not have anything to do with it. Progress is being made. I am sorry if you don't see it. All we can do is home Democracy takes root there. But as you said, we cannot impose it. The Iraqis have their future in their own hands. Only time will tell. But one thing we cannot do is become so cynical that we fail to give them the opportunity. If Iraq sustains a democracy, then it could become an example for other Mid Eastern Arab states to copy. There has been some evidence that this has already begun happening in Egypt. But again, only time will tell.
I am yet to be convinced that we have diminished Al Quida's threat to the mainland U.S. much at all. They only attacked us here twice, the WTC bombing and 9/11. Those attacks were very spread out and in the intermediary they attacked U.S. interests abroad. Seems to me like they are operating within normal parameters. Here's to hoping I am wrong.
I don't know that the US government can protect the homeland completely, ever. But measures we have taken have helped us be more secure and taking the fight to them has not allowed their network the time to sit, plot, plan, move freely and execute attacks like they once could. Now it may take them longer to act which in turn may give us and our allies time to find out more about their plots. But completely promise nothing will ever happen here again can never be done. But we have to do everything we can to stop it.
I don't think the intent is to stay until all the fighting is stopped........just to make sure the Iraqi troops can at a minimum, stop insurgents from using force to take the government over. That's all. Once the commanders on the ground give the word, we're out of there. And we will have troops in Iraq for a long time..........not 150,000 but some. The Iraqi governmental officials realize they need us there. And if we don't succeed, all of the soldiers killed will be in vain.
By the way, I'd like to congradulate everyone on Free Speech for a fine, personal attack-free, on-topic post. Nice job.
