On 2003-03-28 20:41:00, JDavid wrote: "I was against it starting, but now I see no turning back. I think the coalition is sloppy as shit currently, but pulling it together. Sloppy on all fronts... the air bombing (not the missles from the ships int he Gulf), the close combat, the humanitarian stuff, the supply lines and the public relations, all off to a rough start. |
I'm
still against the war. I
still think that just about all we're accomplishing is to unite the Arab world against us like never before, and that's
saying something! The next most important accomplishment, from the POV of those lunatics who concieved and fostered the Program and who now occupy the halls of power, is the total suspension of what was left of our Constitution after 100 years of New Deal Socialism.
Check out the (intentionally) misnamed
PATRIOT II. Once again, that sardonic and frightened little voice in my head is chiding "We're all in the program now!" and I'm
sure I liked it better when I was just a little paranoid and the rest of the world was more-or-less OK.
I don't think the military is doing a sloppy job at all. I think they're doing a very good job. I just wish the joint chiefs had maybe lived up to their titles, smoked a little ganga and had a little pow-wow about maybe the proper procedure for responding to an unlawful and wreckless order from the Commander in Thief.
But there they are, halfway around the world, doing what they're trained to do and, on a personal level, for all the right reasons. I think the soldiers believe in what they're doing. For that reason, I can't hold anything against them. And I want them home safe with as little blood as possible on their hands and as few nightmares as possible to haunt them.
I don't think the soldiers have gone in nearly as clueless as most Americans are wrt the outcome or the realistic definition of "surgical strikes". I don't think they had any illusions about zero casualties or a "clean" war. I do think that, if I had to be a POW, I'd rather be an Iraqi in American hands than the other way around. I also hold no illusions about the effects of war on soldiers. I know that some of our guys will snap and turn animal. But not many.
I think they will be as dissilusioned as any Viet Nam vet about the promised outcome; liberty and democracy for all. Remember that most of the WTC hijackers were Saudi nationals. `Scuse me, but aren't these supposed to be the beneficieries of all of our selfless altruism in the Mideast? Or was that the people who live in Israel? Oh? Just some of the people? Just the ones who kiss our buts and never are heard to criticize those select few?
We're making the same damned mistake again. And, again, they've made certain promises to the Kurds and Shias (what ever did those dastardly Shias do to the Shiit devils who used to live south of Bagdhad? Did they eat them??) They didn't have my authorization to make these promises in my name. But they've gone and done it. Now hundreds or thousands or perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands of Iraqi nationals have condemned themselves to death and misery if we abandon them again like we did last time they acted on our lofty promises. It would be unconscionable to do that to them again. So we're obliged, for better or for worse, to finish what we've started.
I am glad that there is so much talk about US Imperialism surfacing. Maybe this will cause the US to voluntarily ban itself from profit-generating involvement afterwards and restrict itself to only giving aid (no receiving). I want to see Dick Cheney's Haliburton company NOT be the ones to repair the oil wells, for example. |
That was a little slight of mind. They already have the contract to put out the fires. We still don't know how much money or time or any other details of that contract. And the same people will be pulling down the big bucks under different corporate names regardless. Hell, we still don't know who was on Cheney's energy commission. And, the way things stand, we probably won't until America is liberated from our illigitimate, tyranical government. The USFG will never voluntarily relinquish the power we give it. We'll have to take it back ourselves or wait around come under the rule of some other tyranny. I just hope it's done in a somewhat civil manner by Americans. Any other option is practically unthinkable.
I hope Afghanistan is doing ok. I think while it is still "bad" in Afghanistan, it is a whole lot better than I was expecting it would be at this point. In relation to Afghanistan, I suspect Iraq will do even better after the war. |
Hey, quit bogartin' and pass some along. Why do you think things are OK in Afghanistan and why do you think things will be better in Iraq?
I hope Iraq is the end of Bush's middle east rampage, unless of course he wants to take action against Israel's 69 UN Resolution violations. I'm all for that. Did you know that the U.S. has vetoed 32 times in the UN to take action against Israel's violations? |
I'm right with you on that! I've held pretty much all along that the place to start is to quit giving Arabs
good reasons to hate us. Maybe then we can deal with the stupid reasons without committing mass murder.
Even though lots of progress will be made in both Afghanistan and Iraq, someone will rise to power and screw it all up again. So that's why I just say to hell with these wars. They're only temporary relief.
David " |
Exactly.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
-- Aristotle