I agree with this. Iraq is a launching point for this whole thing. That is what Bush has in mind. What scares Iran and these fanatics the most is the thought of us moving in there and starting a democracy for the moderates in Iran, Eqypt, Saudi Arabia etc to see. That are scared that their people will see it and want it for them and will help us defeat them just like was already happening in Iraq before we ever got there. If we would bolt and run as most liberals think we should, it will fall to tyranny and then the 2,000 US dead and 50,000 Iraqi dead will be for nothing. But a democracy built on Islam is what scares these people the most. Iraq will end up like Bahrain over the next 10 years and they can't stand that.....that's why Syria and the Iranians are sending these jack legs in there to keep the fighting up.....hoping enough 60's rejects will start crap over here till we pull out. If you don't think Iraq or any middle eastern country can have Islam and still be peaceful and Western-like, look up Bahrain. That's what it is. Just like Reagan said, human beings yearn to be free. It'll happen for these people but we have to back them and they have to know that we won't leave because if we do, it'll fall back to tyranny and they'll be doomed for supporting us. It's not complicated.
What we can do though is give the moderates, the educated the chance to see a free Iraq built on Islamic principles thriving........that will be enough to bring down the hardline regimes in Iran and Syria over time. Iran has enough young, moderate, educated people to rise up some day. But it will never happen without our support. Same with Saudi Arabia........
you might be right there, thats why younger kids have to be exposed to freedom and capitalism and democracy and all that to break the chain. like iranian kids growing up in crazy muslim houses could intercept free iraqi radio stations and see all the wonders of their rich neighboring country, and how much better it is and want to break out. the move from craziness to rationality has to start somewhere. freedom could spread like a virus, the more you see of it, the more you want to break out of the crazy muslim repression and suicide killings. the big problem here is the tendency of humans to believe something nutty because they were taught it as children. faith needs to be ridiculed.
You going to make me go all over this again? I have posted this all in threads before. I say we need to be ready for wars in Korea, Iran, and Pakistan and not have our entire army bogged down patrolling ragheads who hate us in Iraq. The wars will happen, we don't have to go looking for them. And when they do, we hit them hard, defeat them, and then leave. Like in Serbia, Panama, Grenada, etc. Not hang around trying to be peacekeepers and nation builders like in Vietnam, Somalia, and Lebanon. Bullchit. You can't show me ONE SINGLE POST where I've advocated "peace". I'm very pro-military and support having a larger military force. I just don't want to see it squandered by politicians whose policies are failures. What I advocate is SMART war, which Iraq is surely not. I've endorsed our smart wars like the Cold War, Panama, Grenada, Bosnia, and Serbia. I've not endorsed STUPID wars like Vietnam, Somalia, Lebanon and Iraq. You have shown you have no stomach for reality. You live in a computer-game world where America is the hero and must slay the evil villians. It just ain't that simple. Sometimes you win the war by by re-thinking the strategy and coming at the enemy from another direction. Above all one must recognize who is the enemy and who is not. Tilting at windmills is poor use of the best military force on the planet.
Where have you been? How many times has that been rehashed on this forum? Start here: guerilla warfare, unrecognizable enemy, administration lies to cover up blunders...I also remember about a year ago that we had lost about the same number of troops that we had after approximately the same time in Nam. Not sure how that compares now, however. And, of course, there's the 'mission' that I stated earlier. That's a big one.
so your strategy is to not fight in iraq in order to be ready for other fights? dont you understand that it only emboldens our enemies when we do not finish what we started? besides, what is the value of being "ready" if we wont fight, and you advocate cowardly solutions when things get difficult just like we knew they would. correct. the direction you advocate is retreat. and then being "ready". i bet our enemies are really worried. we are not about to go to war with korea or these other countries, so whether we are ready is of no consequence anyways.
What fantasy! I thought we were fighting a war on terror. Now we are on a crusade to bring democracy to 250 million people who don't want it? At what cost in dollars, lives, and credibility? We are not the worlds policeman. We could impoverish ourselves very quickly attempting such an impossible endeavor as to turn the Middle east into Indiana. Name me one people that we have invaded and forced into democracy? It just doesn't work that way. Who cares if the Arabs are democratic? We just don't want them to harbor terrorists. Afghanistan and Serbia have already taught them that we can use airpower and special forces to take down nations without occupying the place. The Iraq debacle has taught our enemies that we are not going to be invading and occupying anybody soon. This is why Iran and Korea are so beligerent. They know America is not capable of invading anybody right now and will be politically shy of it for years to come. Bush has needlessly re-exposed the weaknesses or our military system in dealing with a guerrilla insurgency. It is extremely naive to imagine that all of these third-world people yearn for democracy and American values. They don't. And there ain't enough money, time, or military power in the world to shove it down their throats. All we need to shove down their throats is the message that if they harbor terrorists we are going to bomb them into rubble. We don't need to go and claim the rubble for democracy. It costs too much.
or that some americans are cowards and want to pull out if things arent perfect. so toughen up man, lets support this war and assert that we are not wimps. especially not if cowards oppose anything that results in americns getting killed. directly your fault. stop it. not if we stay the course.
Where have you been? Our enemies are already emboldened and we have only created many new unneeded enemies to deal with. You are chanting the Vietnam mantra. The dominoes didn't fall after Vietnam at all, in fact the reverse happened and the Soviets imploded. Blindly following a failed strategy is a recipe for disaster. What will happen when we leave Iraq that we can't handle? Nothing.
i told you already, communism is destined to fail, it is a flawed system. we dont need to stop it. it stops itself. but militant islam, it is irrational and based on magic so people keep believing it. it is not the same as communism. islamic terrorists have been killing people forever and will continue unless somebody does something.
