Do you guys agree or disagree with Bush's proposal and why?

Please keep this clean, do not thread jack, and do not use deroggatory comments.

Speak your mind (cleanly haha)!

 

I VOTED MORE TROOPS!

 

blah.

sure, let's send more guys AGAIN. If it didnt work the last couple of times, why is it going to work this time?

 

I have friends in the marines. Let's support them by getting them out of there!

 

The arguement is that if we send more troops, we will arise to a faster resolution. The result is the troops coming home. Bush just wants to get this over with to pull the troops back once Iraq is a stable democracy. Not sure how long that will take though. Who knows what the future has in store for us.

We can all agree on this though: SUPPORT OUR TROOPs.

 

We started in Viet Nam with advisors. We finally got out with 50,000 dead and many MIAs. I just have a bad feeling about our ability to interject a political system on a society that does not want it. I hope we can get out of there soon one way or another.

 

I think its garbage.

 

^^^awesome input!

 

Our military currently in place are not adequately equipped, and haven't been since the beginning of this monomaniacal disaster. What in Hell does anyone expect an additional 20,000 troops to fight with, clubs and rocks?

The civilian population in that part of the world is more heavily armed than most armies we have faced in our history, and better equipped for one-on-one guerrilla warfare.

Patrolling the same streets and breaking down the same doors without clearing and controlling the operational area is pointless. We aren't policemen looking for badguys, and we need to stop acting like it. Either allow the military to do a proper job, or get them out of there. Right now they (and we) are just a target for ALL other factions. Does that make you feel safer?

One of the primary indicators of of psychosis is repeatedly doing the same thing while expecting a different outcome.

Sadly, our CIC has yet to succeed in any job he has attempted, as a student, in the military, as a businessman, or now.

Currently he keeps repeating that we will be in Iraq "until we win the war on terrorism," but so far he has not offered even one hint at how we will be able to recognize we have won. Without defined goals we can never reach those goals. With an inability to define what he wants to accomplish in concrete terms, he has no direction. WE have no direction.

With his repeated adult history of impulsive starts, lack of plans and eventual failure, how can people expect him to magically succeed in THIS endeavor?

We need to support our troops by saving their lives, and only putting them in danger if they legitimately need to be, in defense of THIS country, it's people, and it's constitution. The Iraqi government can't even get it's own people to follow orders and defend their country - why should we put our troops in there to do the jobs the Iraqi people refuse to do for themselves?

There IS no plan. Until there is an actual, definable, recognizable goal to reach, there can be no plan. What does it mean to "win" this "war?"

Being ex-military (Viet Nam) I lean very strongly toward supporting our military folks, and supporting their CIC in legitimate actions. Here, I believe, the CIC started an ill advised action by having the US military invade another country, depose it's leader, and occupy it. He appears to have had no thoughts in his head beyond that. ("Mission Accomplished," he said, "the US has prevailed in the Battle of Iraq and a "new era" has begun.")



Since then our troops have been breaking down doors and acting as targets, with over 3000 killed and tens of thousands seriously injured or maimed. Why? To protect our country? Or is it really to protect an ego that had and has no idea how to extricate us from the mess he got us into.

Now that I've had my say here, politely, I'll let others - with more or less real world experience - have theirs, too. I'm hoping this doesn't devolve into a name calling argument, but simply remain various folks airing their thoughts honestly and without hostility. That won't be easy.

How did I vote above? 20,000 more foreign troops without goals or direction other than survival will not change a 1300 year old religious war.

Apologies to those who disagree.

Tom

 

I totally agree with everything Tomas said! I am praying for the safety and quick return home for all our BRAVE men and women in our military serving in IRAQ!!!

 

Well, I didn't watch the speech or even knew he was going to make a speech. I read this article on MSNBC.com to find out what was said and pulled this quote out. 3000 of our troops dead and $400,000,000,000 in cost of the war. That's 3000 mothers without their children because of greedy individual wanted to fight an imaginary war and $400 billion that could have went to improve education, homeless shelters, research to find cures for fatal diseases, help those in Africa(we all know what's going on with Darfur), and a plethora of other things. Now he wants to send 21,500 more troops to their possible graves.

And for anyone that doesn't know in the No Child Left Behind Act signed in 2002, there is something in there that allows all private records of children in public high schools and secondary schools free to military as long as that school is getting money from the government. Parents/Guardians can opt out, but have to every year. Protect your kids from getting recruited, so they dont have to go to Iraq!!!(if a new thread needs to be started to discuss this, some1 start it)

I totally agree with everything Tomas said.

 

Many wonderful points. I say bring them home, we have a country to protect, we have people to care for, and we need time to heal...as a country.

Nobody wrote in stone that Iraq EVER wanted a Democracy...who are we to shove it down their throats? It won't last....period.

Hopefully soon, we can have our military back home, with us.....the ones who they joined the arm forces to protect,


Nuff said.

 

Excuse me, but I had to toss in a somewhat related item from my blog (from over a year ago...)

http://www.tijil.org/blog/?p=14

Tossing in 20,000 more troops will be reaching very close to the bottom of the barrel, and if anything else at all comes unglued we will just NOT have enough folks to meet the need, even using up all our reservists...

Tom

 

Well written Tomas.

Hopefully we do not see a draft and our troops make it home soon. Let's all continue to show support the troops because they're not fighting for us for no reason.

 

so so true... we need to fix our own domestic problems... THAT should be our #1 priority!!!

 

Now THAT is truly supporting the troops!

 

Several recent press reports have suggested the US is planning 14 permanent bases in Iraq— a country that is only twice the size of the state of Idaho. Why is the US building permanent bases in Iraq? We aill nt be leaving for many, MANY years.

 

All wonderful points!

 

see the solution is simple take all the smart ppl off the message boards and put them in washington where there is obviously a shortage.... Tomas for Pres?!?!!?

 

It is said that "war is hell".

Well, to me war is religion, and religion is war. Mankind will continue to be led by madmen whose idea of peace is bandwagon patriotism and genocide until religion is eradicated.