I didn't get to see it last night, but apparently everyone else did because all the way in to work, and for the first few hours at work I hear a lot of people blasting the president...

A lot of people are up in arms about the deployment of 21,500 troops to Iraq. They showed 82nd airborne getting on planes today. Don't know if they're heading to IRaq, or on a training mission, but- that's what I saw. I can't repeat everything I heard because it was laced pretty well in profanity, and on the radio, dripping with, "But what about me, I'm from New Orleans".

I wish I had seen it, but, my son wanted to watch Disney, so- instead of hearing him cry, I let him watch American Dragon Jake Long, Phil of the Future, etc...

I guess I'm surprised no one's talking about it here...

Was it that bad?

 

There was a state of the union address?

 

Neither did anyone else, the State of the Union will be January 23rd.

The text of the speech can be read here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0070110-7.html

Grim

 

If you didn't see it, don't take what they said to be the exactly what was said.

I saw it. I didn't necessarly hear what some apparently did. I, unlike thoes I see on the news, believe that the efforts of our millitary will come to fruition. I believe that this Monday morning quarter backing gets us no where. I think that a majority of the people commenting on Iraq are so, so far from being qualified to do so. I believe that, even though our president might look funny, he is the right man for the job right now. I don't think he made the decision to send in more troops (call it a surge, call it reenforcements) without intense dicussions on the alternatives.

I guess I'm in the minority, but I think all this opposition, and all the protest are nothing more than political posturing. It's an attemp to appear compationate. It appears to be working. I support our troops, I support thier mission, and I support our country. I think this is the right thing to do.

I find it interesting that there is all this opposition to sending reenforcements, yet in the state that I live, people are demanding that the new govenor find a way to fit 1000 police officers into the budget to address the escelating crime problem. He is going to do it, along with giving every special interest their "fair share". He's going to have to raise taxes to do it, but we don't talk about that.

If we lose this in Iraq, I put the blame on thoes who have made it popular to be a nay sayer.

 

Hi wit,

I was a nay sayer before it was popular.
So, since I'm gonna get blamed for a loss I gotta ask you buddy, how long?

When would you finally say, "Enough."?

If Bush goes on untettered right up until Jan 7th 2009 with 150-170 thousand troops still in Iraq, are you still on board?

What if McCain wins in '08 and maintains (or increases) troop levels through his term in 2012.

Maybe he's re-elected and it's status quo through 2016.

Maybe it's just forever?

Just tell me how long.
Just consider the Iraqis may never stand up. May never settle a thousand year feud.

Consider this.
If we ever leave then we cannot win.
So if we ever leave we will lose.
So someday, you are gonna blame me.

The day the last American troop leaves Iraq (whatever day that is)
CNN will be there with a camera filming one lone guy with a towel on his head waving an AK-47 screaming "I won. I won! I have defeated the imperialist capitalist dogs!"
"I am now the leader of the (fill-in-the-blank) movement."

Let's not get angry with each other just because we're on opposite sides of the fence.

But, I promise that if we do win, I'll blame you.

 

Not to flame, but I'll blame the Clinton Admiin, cutting our military personal and military funding back was a strong defensive move on our part.

No this war hadnt started yet, but we still had enemies, always have and always will. These guys didnt just wake up one morning and decide they didnt like us.

 

While I won't say Clinton couldn't have stopped it, he didn't start it...


Bush v1.0 and Cheney XP did that... Drastic military cuts began June 1991 - September 1992. Clinton took office with a greatly reduced military in January 1993.

 

Thats funny right there.




I could be mistaken but I didnt think it started till the Clinton... I thought Bush V1.0 started this war and pushed to move more in back then for Desert Storm, Clinton ended it, and started cutting back, then Bush 2.0 resumed Bush 1.0's war...... I dont feel like researching and I'm likely wrong anyway. In that case, if I am wrong, I blame Bush v1.0.

 

If you aren't one of the ones who made it popular, then I'm not blaming you.

I don't think that this can go on indefinitely, though I also don't believe in time tables. I'd like to believe that, based on what the soldiers, and people reporting things other than what the mass media is reporting, that the situation can be considered manageable. I know, that's not winning but I don't think that win is an appropriate term in this situation. We lose if we don't follow through and make this a manageable situation.

At what point did we "win" WWII? Did we "lose" Veitnam?

I don't think that we can ever "leave" Iraq. I think that by engaging, we have made a commitment to the region to have a presence. I think that having Iraq as an alley would be a huge benefit to the entire world.

Nay sayers have been bashing Bush since before we went into Iraq. I don't think that this can go on for ever, but I don't think the time to give up has come yet.

Raoul, I might disagree with you on some political stuff, but I know that you're a good guy. That's a lot more important to me than anything.

 

The main problem in Iraq isn't whether or not they hate the west. The main problem in Iraq is that the Sunni and Shia hate each other and are killing each other in large numbers. Islam is a religion that spawns an inordinately large number of violent sociopaths.

Grim

 

Bgihersh is correct Bush v1.0 started the downsizing and cutting the military budget, but he kept everything in line. Clinton just refused to fund the military without cutting the size, resulting in a hollow force.

 

I'm glad we pulled out of Europe after V.E. day... wait, we didn't... we hung around to get everyone back on their feet. We didn't lend any help in Afganistan after the Soviets were beaten, and look what happened there.

.02

 

My concern is this: What if the Iraqis do not step up and do their part? The talk is about sending a surge and allowing the Iraqis to take over control. What if they don't? What if they do not want to? What if they themselves in a way are trying to sabotage our efforts, as well? Ther is a chitload of politics involved---not just here, but over there, as well; The Sunnis, the Shiites, the Kurds, etc---and none of them trust each other.

Tim C.