I'm going to rant for a moment, then I'll take your questions...
Okay, let's deal with the politics first. Richard Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, says that the Mosul attack was the responsibility of "insurgents, the same insurgents who attacked on 9/11, the same type of insurgents who attacked in Beirut, the same insurgents who -- type of insurgents who attacked the Cole, Khobar Towers, and the list goes on."Um....hmmm....9/11, USS Cole, Khobar Towers=al Qaeda. Mosul=Iraqi. HOW ARE THEY CONNECTED?!?!?!
Once again, we see a Pentagon that is divorced from reality. Al Qaeda isn't in Iraq. They weren't in Iraq. The 9/11 commission said they didn't play ball with Saddam. Iraq does not equal into the war on terrorism.It's not that I'm against what we're doing, on the contrary, I think we are doing the right thing for the Iraqi people and I think that there is hope after January 30. But, for God's sake, now that the election is over, can Dick Myers, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condi Rice and George Bush PLEASE level with us.
The American people are happy to support an effort if their leaders are leveling with them. Polls showing support for the war have been declining, and don't just blame that on the news. If the leaders of our country treat this like Vietnam, the people will respond in kind. My support has wavered because I don't feel like we are fighting the war right, I don't think we are treating the troops right, and I feel that I am being lied to. Are we doing the right thing for Iraq? Yes. Are we fighting this war in the right way? HELL NO. We never had enough troops and we've never been honest with ourselves what this war meant and what the consequences of the war were and what it would take to fight this war.
Early estimates of 30,000 troops??? What in hell was Rummy smoking? We needed 300,000. Iraq has turned into a sick mix of Vietnam/Soviet Afghanistan/Arab-Israeli war battleground. We didn't do the job right in the beginning and so now we are faced with a situation that leaves us constantly with one hand behind our back. We disbanded the army and the Baath Party, the same group of people who laid down for us so we could rail Saddam and Co., and pissed them off. We allowed lawlessness to prevail because we were short on troops. We didn't have help from others in a significant way (a look at coalition troop numbers back this up) and we never had a good, coherent message for the Arab world. So, Dick Myers, please stick with reality and get your boss to do the same. Then maybe you'll have better support.
Once again, we see a Pentagon that is divorced from reality. Al Qaeda isn't in Iraq. They weren't in Iraq. The 9/11 commission said they didn't play ball with Saddam. Iraq does not equal into the war on terrorism.It's not that I'm against what we're doing, on the contrary, I think we are doing the right thing for the Iraqi people and I think that there is hope after January 30. But, for God's sake, now that the election is over, can Dick Myers, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condi Rice and George Bush PLEASE level with us.
The American people are happy to support an effort if their leaders are leveling with them. Polls showing support for the war have been declining, and don't just blame that on the news. If the leaders of our country treat this like Vietnam, the people will respond in kind. My support has wavered because I don't feel like we are fighting the war right, I don't think we are treating the troops right, and I feel that I am being lied to. Are we doing the right thing for Iraq? Yes. Are we fighting this war in the right way? HELL NO. We never had enough troops and we've never been honest with ourselves what this war meant and what the consequences of the war were and what it would take to fight this war.
Early estimates of 30,000 troops??? What in hell was Rummy smoking? We needed 300,000. Iraq has turned into a sick mix of Vietnam/Soviet Afghanistan/Arab-Israeli war battleground. We didn't do the job right in the beginning and so now we are faced with a situation that leaves us constantly with one hand behind our back. We disbanded the army and the Baath Party, the same group of people who laid down for us so we could rail Saddam and Co., and pissed them off. We allowed lawlessness to prevail because we were short on troops. We didn't have help from others in a significant way (a look at coalition troop numbers back this up) and we never had a good, coherent message for the Arab world. So, Dick Myers, please stick with reality and get your boss to do the same. Then maybe you'll have better support.
posted by Thad at 1:40 AM
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