Obama: soldier's lives "wasted"

With all due respect, there is a difference between honor and resolve. I have never questioned Bush's honor. I question his judgement and competence. Anyone who resolutely stands by a bad decision in the face of all evidence and the will of the people is a poor leader, indeed.

All politicians lie and change their positions. Whatever is your point?

Certainly it does. Bush was very selective in what intel he relied on. He was the boss of the intelligence sevices, his appointees were in charge, and Clinton had been gone for 3 years. If Bush re-appointed a Clinton appointee, then they ain't Clinton's men anymore. I didn't think you could offer any evidence.

Oh, I think I know my history pretty well. Yes, Arab countries are our allies. You know, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, the UAE, and Qatar all of which have American bases and most have American troops stationed there. Do you remember The 1991 Gulf War from your history? Ten Arab countries joined the US-led coalition including Afghanistan and Syria!

Of course it is political. All wars are political.

Another generalization that you can't back up with evidence. One of the blunders committed by the administration is failing to recognize that Al Qaida is a small radical Arab faction hiding among them but the entire muslim world is not our enemy.

 

I agree and I believe this will be the legacy of the Iraq war. An iron boot is what has kept the Shia/Sunni civil war under wrap all this time. Every country in the Arab world is run by a strongman. Most of them are secular rulers and friendly to us like King Faisal and "President" Mubarak. Saddam himself was once such a strongman. He was an important counterbalance to Iranian ambitions in the Gulf which is why we supported him in the Iraq/Iran War.

When he foolishly attacked one of our close allies in Kuwait, he screwed up and became an enemy, but he never actually threatened the United States. As ruthless a dictator as he was, he governed Iraq better than we have done. The people may have hated him, but they didn't overthrow him or create the kind of insurgency that they have created for us.

When we leave, be it next year or in 50 years, another strongman will take power, only it will be a ayatolla instead of a secular ruler like Saddam, where the women wore western dress and Iraq was the most westernized of the Arab states.

It is ironic that we ended up enemies with Iraq, the most modern Arab country and allies with Saudi Arabia, the most backward Arab country. If Saddam hadn't been a certifiable kook, things would have been much different.

 

What was the first positive?

Having been warned, Sadr and his militia have gone underground to protect them selves from the highly-publicised "surge". When the surge is over, as has been proven by previous surges, they will reappear and the killings will go back up.