Comments on: Iraq: Four Years Later

Polls: War Has Been Longer, Bloodier Than Americans Expected; Most Favor Troop Pullout

[j-whitman]

But, then expecting things that make sense from this administration is out of the question.... Bush thinks it's a grand idea to give Sunni's our air space, shipyards & sea ports.

[j-whitman]

Downtown,,, Now that would make sense,, Saddam was Sunni, Ossama & al Queda are Sunni,, Sunni's gave us 9/11 & over 96% of our casualties in this 'War of Roses' --- And the UAE also refuses to recognize Isreal.

[downtowner97]

Now if the president wants to go to war with Saudi Arabia, I'll sell my house and enlist.

[j-whitman]

Iceman,,,
, No, I was talking about the elephants,,, We've been actively fighting terrorism for 27 years,, Yes, even in the Clinton administration.... Of course the GOP says little about that... It was this administration that had to divert to Iraq & increased terrorism.

[downtowner97]

Why has it been so easy for people to equate war with freedom? So many people think you go fight someplace, and automatically, you're freer.

We fought Japan and Germany, and in the end, we, Japan and Germany were all freer. If Germany and Japan had sunk several of our ships and we had attacked Russia 6 months later, there wouldn't BE an America right now. Why have we so horribly confused the enemy now?

Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Everybody but Cheney knows that.

[xgi123]

The elephant thing was good too!

[iceman_1960]

"Iceman,,,, That was informative, thanks."
Posted by j-whitman

You're welcome.

(I assume you meant the Snopes.com report that blew that "Clinton didn't do enough to prevent 9/11" urban legend out of the water, not that post about the accurate weights of elephants.)

[j-whitman]

Iceman,,,, Condi is really out to lunch, For the 1st 4 years everything was rosey & we where winning,, according to her.

[j-whitman]

hp4me,,, I missed 60 minutes... You say some don't respect thier sacrifice ??
-- I would look real hard at the GOP on the subject of supporting our troops.... It's killing them,,,
, They need thier training restored... They need equipment repared... They need armor.... They need more people to volunteer... They need a winning strategy.... They want to be reassured when they come home wounded thier country will actually take care of them instead of the Bullshiit your Righties give them. --- They need something other than GOP rhetoric.

[downtowner97]

I've read this entire set of comments up to this point, and I'm happy to see that this article has inspired so much critical thought. Here's something I'd like to make you all think about:

During Clinton's administration, there was a bloody, horrible civil war raging in Kosovo. Clinton sent General Wesley Clark and our troops there and ended that war and brought the evil men responsible to justice. One pilot was shot down and the entire operation was halted to get that one man back. Every one of our troops came home alive, and the mission was accomplished.

This great strategic success occurred while Clinton was fighting impeachment at the hands of Newt Gingrich who was, himself, cheating on his wife at the time. Conservatives thought nothing of attacking Clinton while we were at war.

Now we're in another war, and conservatives say expressing dissent while we're at war is like treason. The stain on the dress will be forgotten, but the stain on our country's record for going into an illegal war against a sovereign nation will haunt us forever.

[iceman_1960]

"I wonder if Condi Rice regrets not paying more attention to the paper on her desk that said "Bin Laden would attack America & airplanes would be used" Posted by j-whitman

Speaking of Condi Rice, she had some real encouraging news not too long ago (it was August 7, 2005):

Rice claims Iraq insurgency %u2018losing steam%u2019
Democrats say current violence hampers troop withdrawal plans

msnbc.com
WASHINGTON [8/7/2005] - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the insurgency in Iraq is losing its power as a political force, even as Democratic congressmen warned Sunday that violence jeopardizes plans for withdrawing some troops.

Rice, in an article appearing on Time magazine%u2019s Web site, argued against viewing the war solely through the rising death toll. More than 1,820 American troops have died in Iraq, at least 30 of them in the last week.

%u201CIt%u2019s a lot easier to see the violence and suicide bombing than to see the rather quiet political progress that%u2019s going on in parallel,%u201D Rice said.

%u201CIf you think about how to defeat an insurgency, you defeat it not just militarily but politically,%u201D she said, adding that she believes the insurgents are %u201Closing steam%u201D politically.

[j-whitman]

Iceman,,,, That was informative, thanks.

[kstrisha]

Clinton "didntinhale"

and

Bush "didntsnort"

[iceman_1960]

"The 600 lb elephant in this blog room is that..."

I hate to nitpick, but an elephant weighs almost 300 pounds AT BIRTH. An Asian elephant weighs between 6,500 pounds and 11,000 pounds as an adult. His adult African counterpart tips (or crushes) the scales at between 15,000 pounds and 22,000 pounds.

It's not the ideal pet for a small apartment.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled partisan rants.

[kstrisha]

Clinton hasn't been in office in years, and anybody trying to blame this administration's problems on Clinton is an absoloute idiot.

-

Own your mistakes...

[j-whitman]

Steven Hadley, our National Security Advisor, said today Iraq is just rosey... Just what our country needs a National Security Advisor that's totally out to lunch.

[j-whitman]

I wonder if Condi Rice regrets not paying more attention to the paper on her desk that said "Bin Laden would attack America & airplanes would be used"

[iceman_1960]

"The 600 lb elephant in this blog room is that Clinton could have stopped 911 in the 90's but was to worried about how it would play on the evening news." - didntinhale

A Republican elephant at best.

This is an old canard that belongs in the same circular file as "Hillary strangled Vince Foster with her bare hands, then shot his dead body to make it look like a suicide."

The well respected "Urban Legends Debunker" website Snopes.com (which is no friend of the Clintons) decalred this allegation FALSE after a detailed examination:

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/clinton.htm

[kstrisha]

Poll

Americans should:

A.) Drop Bush and Cheney off in Australia (like so many scoundrels before) since they love them so much--their P. M. said so.

B.) Ban them to Houston with Barbie and Bush Sr., since that is where many of the "under privilaged" N. E. folks ended up--it must be a swell place...

C.) Send them to Iraq to fight since they "skipped" Vietnam.

[j-whitman]

Whatithink,,,, I think what you think.... Flags, Bells & Whistles sould have been sounding across the nation during the runnup for the war.