On the Iraq War…

Why are we talking about pulling out before the job is done? What did the American people think was going to happen? Did they expect a Grenada? I suppose the politicians and public are so deluded to think that democracy can brought to Iraq in the span of a reality show. I am tired of the negativity and more importantly I am tired of America’s short attention span. I maintain that if we had this kind of attitude during World War II we would have called it quits before the first troops hit the beaches on D-day. Thank god that that generation had the spine and balls to see that ugly war through and defeat the fascists before they had a strangle hold on the world. The Americans in charge of our political system today are weak, spineless, lazy, and decadent. They are more concerned about which way the political wind is blowing than doing what is right. It’s a wonder we have held it together for this long.

Did I support the war initially? NO. I did not think Saddam was a threat. I thought it would be best to concentrate on Afghanistan. Do I think that the Bush administration deliberately lied to America to go to war? NO. If you are so deluded to think that a president of the United States of America would intentionally lie to America and sacrifice the lives of men and women of this country for oil or some other far fetched idea you need some serious psychological help. Please seek help immediately. Please spare me the evidence Mr. Wilson supposedly brought back from his “trip”. Consider for a minute that Mr. Wilson could have been told what he wanted to hear. Do you really think that a bureaucrat could get real intelligence? Consider that many other countries had intelligence that Saddam had WMDs. Consider for a minute that Saddam was in violation of a number of United Nations resolutions. Consider for a minute that he had to appear as though he had WMDs to look credible in a region where power is everything. Fine, the intelligence today looks suspect, but would we have found that out if we had not gone into Iraq? I postulate that we would not have.

Well here we are. Iraq is not stable yet and we have all these factions going at each other. Killing each other in mosques, nonetheless (and we Americans get yelled at if we bomb the mosques when our enemies hide in them – yet Moslems are free to kill other Moslems in them – even during worship). DO I SUPPORT A PULL OUT? NO. WE STARTED IT AND WE MUST SHOW THAT WE ARE WILLING TO SEE IT THROUGH. What the majority of the spineless Americans calling for a pull out do not understand is that power talks. Being spineless wins no one over in the Mid East. I just do not understand what America was expecting. I was under no delusions when America went in that it would be easy. Before you enter such a situation, you damn well better know the history of the region and factions involved. I guess that kind of knowledge was not very sought out by the Bush administration or more likely ignored before deciding to get into nation building.

That said, we must see this through. We must support the fledgling democracy in Iraq to our fullest capability. To bow out now because we have lost too many soldiers and spent too much money is showing the real enemy (Islamic extremism) that America is weak and will bow if enough pressure is applied.

Are we helping the Iraqis? YES. I recently had reason to speak to a person who has been going to Iraq to help the Iraqis rebuild the agriculture machine that Saddam had run into the ground. She presented a picture of hope. She told me that a group had traveled from southern Iraq to be part of a training she was helping facilitate. Along the way they encountered a checkpoint at which point they were told they could not proceed any further because of danger. They waited and then finally got through and made the training late. But they were so excited at the opportunity of this training that they immediately engaged and did not want it to stop. She has seen hope. Yes, there are problems. The main stream media does its best by telling us morning, noon, and night of the death toll. What they do not tell us is that schools are being built and kids are going to school; people are learning about opportunities and trying to make a difference; progress is being made. I have heard firsthand accounts of engineers returning from Iraq and stating that yes, they are getting there. Will it be accomplished by the time the last person is voted off that ridiculous reality show? Probably not, but what did you really expect?