Boy! I hardly know where to start here, I see so much flawed thinking.
Firstly, static, your comments fail to accurately reflect the war we are fighting. The Iraq War was won in just two weeks under Tommy Franks. The civilized world is currently involved in a much broader War on Terror and Iraq is just one of the fronts.
Like it or not, support it or not, Americans are going to have to fight this war because our enemy has declared war on us. Bill Clinton ignored OBL's fatwah and 9/11 was the result. If we don't fight our enemy, it will grow bolder and stronger and continue to attack U.S. interests abroad and here.
In response to your points.
1)
We don'thave the stomach to win a war anymore.
I think we do. Our Commander in Chief has the will to win and our military has the will to win and so do most Americans. I suggest you go to the WH website and read the speech Bush gave Friday at the Reagan Presidential Library.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051021-2.html
static: "I am simply saying stop the hand wringing over civilians. They are the enemy too. When the nation is crushed into submission, they will then be willing to consider alternatives. They certainly would be so decimated that they would lack the ability to detonate car bombs in our faces!"
Again, this statement shows a lack of understanding as to what is going on in Iraq. Fourteen of eighteen provinces are basically peaceful. Most of the trouble is in the Sunni Triangle and it's caused by former Bathists and foreign fighters. If the jihadists weren't attacking America there, they would be somewhere else doing the same. To my way of thinking, we are going to fight them somewhere-- it might as well be Iraq.
Your comments ignore the fact that Iraq has formed a government and a higher percentage of their population voted than we do in our elections. Last week's election was relatively violence free and the polling places were protected by Iraqi security forces, not American. The Iraqis are making progress.
The tone of this entire post smacks of racism, predjudice and the American superiority complex that makes so many resent us. To advocate indiscriminate killing of civilians if they are in the way is totally irresponsible. Like the battle against Communism, this one is as much about winning the hearts and minds of the region as a military victory. That will never happen if we are indiscriminately killing civilians. We've never conducted a war like that and won't this one.
Ponder this. 2,000 American heroes have given the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq for our continued freedom. Of these 2,000 mothers, we have ONE Cindy Sheehan. We shouldn't let the media distort our perception of support for this war.
2)
Iraq does not deserve freedom. Freedom must be earned.
While America mourns the deaths of 2,000 soldiers, Iraqis have paid a much higher price. No accurate casualty figures exist, but estimates range to 30,000 since the actual war ended. Our military released no body count during the two-week war, I suspect because it would have been so great that it likely might have turned world opinion against us.
Since the fall of Saddam mass graves containing 300,000 Iraqi citizens have been uncovered. I doubt most Americans can envision living under such an authoritarian rule and also doubt that too many would be much braver than the Iraqis if their neighborhood were filled with spies and a mere rumor of being unloyal could result the the rape, maiming, imprisonment or murder of your family.
The Iraqis also fought an 8-year war with Iran under Saddam. Most Iraqis had no interest in fighting this war, but had no choice. They were also surrogate fighters for the U.S. Since we viewed Iran as an enemy. Our government supplied financial aid and intelligence to Saddam and he was encouraged to fight on. An estimated 1.7 million were killed in this war. It was one of the ugliest wars I've witnessed.
No body counts are available on the Gulf War, but they were significant as well.
To say the Iraqis have made no sacrifices, is to be out of touch with history.
3)
Iraq does not want freedom.
This statement seems to ignore that the Iraqis have elected a parliament and voted on a constitution. And a higher percentage of Iraqis vote than Americans despite death threats if they do.
I don't pretend to fully understand the Muslim culture, but since 9/11, I have at least made an effort to read and understand the mindset of those who harbor so much hate for us.
Another force that most Americans fail to understand is the political dynamics of tribalism in that region. Many predicted a civil war among the tribes after Saddam's fall. That didn't happen. Instead clerics urged calm and embraced democracy and the Iraqis are responding.
The evolving democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq won't be mirror images of ours, but they will be democracies and hopefully an incubator for freedom and peace in the region. Islam does not regard women as equals to men, yet the governments of both Afghanistan and Iraq have given them the right to vote. Something that America didn't do for 160 years.
Democracies seldom commit atrocities and start wars while despot dictatorships are safe havens for terrorists and use them as surrogate fighters against U.S. interests. Our Commander in Chief understands this and has the vision and backbone to stay the course.
I hope he never succumbs to the line of thinking portayed in this post.
3 reasons why the war in Iraq will fail
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