Comments on: White House Will Fight For War Powers

Bush Will Stand His Ground If Democrats Try To Revoke 2002 Authorization

[randalds]

The White House does not have "War Powers". The Constitution clearly states that the Congress has the power to declare war. Yes the president is the commander in chief, but it is Congress that tells him what he or she is commander in chief of. He or she is not a King or Dictator, as much as this administrations wishes it were otherwise. They are our servants and through Congress we pass on our orders to the Executive branch. If they know what's good for them they'll obey our orders or face the consequences. This presidency has lost it's way. It thinks it's our ruler, but in MY country the people rule the leaders, not the other way around and it's time we reminded these as*sholes of that truth! It's our government, not Bush and Cheney's and it's time for these as*sholes to go away before they murder more innocent people.

[clemenhagen1]

Ego, pride, and partisan blinders have fueled a false argument in the "surge" debate and thus served to shield us from the truth. I consider myself patriotic but I will not question anyones loyalty; this "patriotic pissing match" has blocked logical debate. According to Cheney a troop withdrawal would signal a cowardly retreat and validate al Qaeda's strategy. I could not disagree more. We are not fighting "al Qaeda" in Iraq; the "enemy" consists of multiple factions who hate each other as much as they despise U.S. occupation forces. Is the argument that a Sunni controlled Iraq would become an al Qaeda haven really logical? Were Iraqi Sunnis supporters of al Qaeda BEFORE the war? The evidence clearly suggests no. None of the major factions in Iraq will tolerate an al Qaeda presence: the Shiites and Kurds would kill them and the Sunnis aren't naturally aligned with them either. The Sunni insurgency currently relies on Saudi Arabia (our supposed allies) for their support. Quite simply, al Qaeda would not be welcome in Iraq if the U.S. decided to redeploy. Strategic redeployment would allow us to station our troops close enough to respond but far enough removed from the conflict that our troops would not serve as targets for the myriad factions. In short: I consider the "validate al Qaeda strategy" to be complete and utter fiction. The term al Qaeda simply confuses us about the real truth of the war and the anomalous loyalties and alliances in this complex region.