Hi Hawkmoon; Re: "Or maybe we go there because that's where the hornet's are coming from to begin with?"
Iraq wasn't involved with 9/11.
Re: "Maybe we go there to attempt to destroy the nest, or at least make them spend more resources protecting it instead of swarming and creating new ones?"
There was no significant Al Qaeda presence in Saddam controlled Iraq before we created an opening for them. There was no nest, now there is one. Al Qaeda was our problem, not the suicide bombers in Israel. Now our problem is Al Qaeda and Iraq, and to a lesser extent Afghanistan again.
Re: "And wasn't it you who posted the comments about how many Arabs (baathists and other fighters) we're killing, but is going unreported?"
Yes, but as you yourself well know, 50 a week is FAR LESS than the demographic growth in the Iraqi population. Furthermore, similar kill rates in Palestine has not pacified them. And for that matter, the vast majority of those 50 probably have nothing to do with Al Qaeda. Most are people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A large minority are people with the Iraqi resistance, not Al Qaeda. Before Bush's war, the Iraqi resistance did not exist, they're a new enemy that Bush created, and Bush continues to grow, as your own posts admit:
Hawkmoon, June 13, 2003
You really expect a lot in only two months, don't ya now? ... Pretty soon the word will get out. Don't bother going to Iraq. You won't come back. #reply-19031358
Unlike what Bilow would have us believe, I opine that operations outside of Baghdad will consist of "mopping up" pockets of resistance. #reply-19031587
Hawkmoon, June 26, 2003
It will be a big mistake if we continue to avoid commencing the electoral process, even if some of the local leaders are not particular "democratic". Make THEM solve the problems of their people rather than assuming responsibility for such solutions ourselves. #reply-19064355
You talk now about what other duty should those 150,000 US troops in Iraq be doing, other than occupying Iraq, but this is what you were saying last year:
Hawkmoon, June 29, 2003
US forces should be focused upon maintaining integrity of the borders, the infrastructure, US and Foreign contractors, and providing necessary muscle when things get too unruly. Turning US forces into policemen is a dilution of fighting strength, and makes US personnel easy targets for guerilla fighters. We must not permit ourselves to assume responsibility for rebuilding Iraq by ourselves. This is a local responsibility which we should willing to facilitate, oversee, guide, but not control. #reply-19071136
So what's going on here Hawkmoon, were you lying when you said, back in June, that having the US military policing Iraq would be a "big mistake"? Or are you lying now, after the course that you wrote against has been taken, and the result is more combat deaths than we lost in the original war, but still you say that the war is not a mistake?
It seems to me that you're in hope mode, something that you've said that no military man should ever be in. (see #reply-19071136 ) Here it is January and still no help from other Arab nations, not a single soldier. Repeated reports in the news about newly trained Iraqi policemen conniving with the resistance. Want reminders of your opinion on that from last year?
So what kind of disaster would Bush have to pull in order to lose your confidence?
-- Carl
P.S. Also, I'm still waiting for you to provide evidence that US forces violated the Geneva Convention by summarily executing Germans after the end of WW2. If you've forgotten about this, go here: #reply-19591408 |
