Comments on: War Games In '99 Predicted Iraq Problems

Said Invasion Would Require 400,000 Troops — And Chaos Might Still Ensue

[radiob-2009]

bluestardad do you not beleive that nuking Afghanistan would have prevented this?

[bluestardad]

Saddam would have been our friend now and was given arms by America in the past. Prior to the first gulf war Saddam contacted the State Department and ask permission from the U. S. before he went into Kuwait to stop their slant drilling into his Oil Fields. Kuwait was starting drilling oil on their side of the border but slanted the drills under ground to reach the oil reserves under Iraqi soil. Saddam was told by the U. S. that America wanted no part in a Middle East war hearing that he took that as an American Green Light and subsequently he invaded Kuwait. This set a domino effect in motion that led us to where we are today with thousands of American deaths and billions of tax dollars spent, The Middle East and Iraq in Chaos and millions of Iraqi and Middle East civilian deaths. Now this leader that was our friend in the Middle East is going to be hanged.

[radiob-2009]

If you would read more than the newspapers,internet news organizations CBS,ABC,CNN and take the time to read AGAINST ALL ENEMIES and THE PRICE OF LOYALTY you would realize that Bush called a cabinet meeting 11 days into his first term and asked for a battle plan for Iraq.Also after 9/11 he told terrorist czar Richard Clarke in front of four of Clarkes collegues to find a way to pin this on Saddam.I do not know why Bush was/is so obsessed with Iraq.I know he wussed out in Afghanistan by not nuking the Taliban/Al Queda camps had he done so we would not be in Iraq or facing the problems in Iran,N.Korea,Afghanistan and Pakistan.No terrorist would be standing up be they dictator or elected or a rogue element.Hamas,Heabollah would be silent or at least restrained more than they are now.The final conclusion is that the man Bush who is supposed to be so tough is a wussy.

[clownsleft]

Sorry for ignorance but is what rharrin1 said about bin Laden family assisting Bush companies true? I was never aware of the connection and interested in the 911 Saudi family flights.

[exusmcsgt]

This is more confirmation of Rumsfeld's tendency to see the world according to Rumsfeld as opposed to reality. He believes he knows better than dozens of Generals and strategists.

This same defect was revealed in Afghanistan when the decision was made to buy war lords for use in Tora Bora instead of sending coalition forces after Bin Laden. Everyone knows how well that strategy worked......

[rharrin1]

I have been saying this all along. OIL OIL OIL
Check bush it's oil all oil his company did not do good the bin laden family dumped money into it to keep it from bankruptcy the port deal it's all over oil

[heetseeker]

mcdazz

I guess what I am thinking is that there are two types of investigation... the ones that took place before next Tuesday and the ones that will take place after next Tuesday... if you get my drift?

My only hope is that any new investigation is focused on uncovering the truth in a balanced non-partisan way... the investigation must be fully bi-partisan, open & transparent... we cannot afford to play politics, whilst our young men & women are being slaughtered on foreign fields...

If we truly want to honour our fallen (which is the constant refrain of this administration)... let them know why they died so that their loved ones may have peace...

I would not want to pre-judge the outcomes of any new investigation... but based an the drip-drip of new revelations coming out about pre-war preparation and planning... it will surely uncover failures at the highest levels of Government, destroy reputations & discredit ideologies...

Iraq has become a poisonous sore... and a cancer at the heart of our nation... for this, sun-light is the best disinfectant..

[clownsleft]

Nicely said, Heatseeker.

Unfortunately, the ethics of the corrupt and arrogant currently in power, especially when combined with the apathy of the sheep (so well protected by the Jaineys out there) and the oversight failures of our Constitutional safeguards (Congress, the press, etc.) make any investigation just as ineffectual as those that have already been conducted.

"Proud to be an American" is no longer as easy as it used to be. Our children will nnever know the pride and trust that we all once had, as the shameful, embarrassing and criminal actions of this administration may never be overcome.

The situation in Iraq is a direct result of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of the clown posse making decisions and thinking they know what's best.

The decisions should have been left to those who know what they are doing - the Generals - not those who have no idea of what they are doing.

[heetseeker]

Iraq and "debacle" will forever be mentioned in the same breath... I have commented in the past that the war is a classic demonstration of the arrogance of power...

Arrogance never considers consequence or implications...

As more and more information begins to trickle out about the ineptitude, incompetence and corruption surrounding the Iraqi war I am wondering whether our legislature should not undertake a thorough investigation into the rationale for going to war (who knew what, when etc) .... Clearly, we now know that the administration was far better advised and informed than first thought...

The nation needs this for its healing... & goodness knows that the nearly 3,000 US troops and the orphans, widows & widowers that have been created in the wake of this war... deserve to know the truth...

So grave are the charges being levelled against this administration and so grevious the implications of its actions... that if indeed such an investigation uncovered gross misconduct in the prosecution of this war, then I GWB should be impeached... there can be no other option...

Such an action would serve as a warning to any other administration that would so carelessly commit the nations resources to war...

[alphaa10-2009]

More compelling evidence Bush has a singular gift for deluding himself and others, and that Rumsfeld is an egomaniac on auto-pilot. Because Rumsfeld knew of this exercise and its somber conclusions, it is entirely reasonable that he informed Bush of its negative conclusions about Iraq.

But it is impossible to suppose Bush did not know after US Army Gen. Erik Shinseki testified in public session of Congress about the military risks of Iraq and the need for massive troop levels.

Yet, as early as 2001, Bush was intent on invading Iraq-- damning the torpedoes of caution and reason. And in return for his sage and courageous warnings about Iraq, Gen. Shinseki got only pointed humiliation and browbeating from Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, railroading him into retirement, as if to set an example to others who might stand in the way of the Bush regime.

All Bush wanted was a convincing pastiche of fear and an utterly contrived rationale of clear and present danger to US national security. Bush characteristically blamed others-- Tenet for supposed "intelligence failures" and Shinseki (via Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz) for false counsel-- rather than acknowledge it was he, alone, who fudged the facts about Iraq, and ignored his own generals and reasoned Pentagon warnings.

See link to original story about Gen. Shinseki-- http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/consequences/2003/0228pentagoncontra.htm

[alphaa10-2009]

More compelling evidence Bush has a singular gift for deluding himself and others, and that Rumsfeld is an egomaniac on auto-pilot. Because Rumsfeld knew of this exercise and its somber conclusions, it is entirely reasonable that he informed Bush of its negative conclusions about Iraq.

But it is impossible to suppose Bush did not know after US Army Gen. Erik Shinseki testified in public session of Congress about the military risks of Iraq and the need for massive troop levels.

Yet, as early as 2001, Bush was intent on invading Iraq-- damning the torpedoes of caution and reason. And in return for his sage and courageous warnings about Iraq, Gen. Shinseki got only pointed humiliation and browbeating from Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, railroading him into retirement, as if to set an example to others who might stand in the way of the Bush regime.

All Bush wanted was a convincing pastiche of fear and an utterly contrived rationale of clear and present danger to US national security. Bush characteristically blamed others-- Tenet for supposed "intelligence failures" and Shinseki (via Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz) for false counsel-- rather than acknowledge it was he, alone, who fudged the facts about Iraq, and ignored his own generals and reasoned Pentagon warnings.

[juliehg-2009]

Duh!!

Goooooood Moooooorning Iraaaaak!!!

[tnichlsn]

kstrisha - your "idiots" comment is being too kind, they are sending our kids to slaughter in Iraq, I can think of stronger words to describe them but then my comment would get 'reported'!

[kstrisha]

Quote: "But the Desert Crossing war game in 1999 suggests we would have ended up with a failed state even with 400,000 troops on the ground."

=======

Our country is controlled by idiots...

[jhindson1]

So they knew the probable outcome all along. . . . .

Reckless disregard for the research and lack of due dilligence.

The Generals were right all along, and were silenced by Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld on the urging from the top of the cabal -- Cheney and Bush