Well, ain't that just wondrfful. After nearly five years, 4000 young Americans dead, 200,000 Iraqis dead, a trillion dollars wasted and a nation torn apart, there is a reduction in the violence and death. I guess that's little enough to pay for this wonderous result in a nation that should never have been invaded and in the feeble justifications of an invader and conqueror who did so without cause or reason.
As for the reduction (What's a reduction anyway, are those still dying less dead than those who died before the reduction?) it will not last because it is not in the interest of the current Iraqi government to have it last. For those of you who are not historiccally challanged you will remember that whenever an ivader sets up a puppet government for the purpose of justifying an unjustified invasion, that government lasts only for so long as the invading troops remain in the country (Vichey, Quisling, Philipines, Ethopia). The moment those troops leave the government falls and its members are subject to the vile repercussions always visited upon those who collaborated. The current government of Iraq knows that it is only a puppet of the United States and that if the violence is reduced significantly the United States will follow the wishes of its citizens and bring its troops home. The moment that happens the government falls, its leaders are tried and executed and the civil war that was only held in check by Saddam Hussein, will break out again. The inevitable end result will be the creation of a fundamentalist Islamic Republic in Iraq similar to that of Iran and the soon to be the governments of Pakistan and Malaysia. The only result of America's invasion will be this Islamic Republic and the graves of American youth. The puppet government it created will be interred with the mutilated bodies of its leaders. And these leaders know this and they know that the only way to hold off the inevitable is to keep American troops on Iraqi soil. Hence they will do all in their power to see that the vioence continues. It won't work and the United States will be faced with yet another Islamic Republic with whom it will ever be able to come to any sort of accomodation and the world will be far worse off.
Baghdad Comes Alive
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Posted By: leodelaney @ 11/18/2007 8:59:30 PM
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Posted By: TicTock @ 11/18/2007 9:28:29 PM
I gotta disagree. I'm not crazy how we entered this war either, but if things do stablize in Iraq, we all benefit. Let's face it, the middle-east is a hell-hole when it comes to human rights. It's time the men over there stop treating everyone around them like dogs and learn how to respect not just other men, but women and children as well.
People talk about how ridiculous it is for us to try and "Americanize" Iraq. Is it? What's so great about what's been going on in the middle-east over the last 100 years? I'll take our way of life over thiers any day-
Posted By: leodelaney @ 11/18/2007 11:37:33 PM
I believe your last comment sums up the problems America has with the world and the world has with America. You are perfectly free to take our way of life over theirs and it is obvious you do. But you are not free to tell them they must take your way of life over theirs and if they don't you will send in thousands of uniformed assassins to see to it that they do. America may not like Monarchies, Dictatorships, Oligarchies, Islamic Republics and forms of governmet other than Democracy that exist around the world today, but we have not been given a mandate by anybody to change them. This was true in the past and the West did not heed it, but that was a day when "might makes right." As we have proven in Afghanistan and Iraq, and will prove in any other country we invade, that is no longer the case. The rising political force in the world is the Islamic Republic and we must accomodate to it. Sticking our head behind our tail and threatening these new nations with destruction is hardly the way to deal with them. They will never be friends, but they do not have to be enemies, howevr that will never be until we learn to bring our troops home where they will really defend us, sit ourselves down in our own land and shut up.
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Posted By: MaHardin @ 11/19/2007 1:13:44 AM
My son, a WV National Guardsman, is one of those you refer to as "uniformed assissins." He is one of the many brave young men who are willing to put their lives on the line for the safe and priviledged life you have lived. You seem to have forgotten, or perhaps you were asleep during American history class, that freedon is not free. It has bought countless times with the lives of patriots like my father who served in WWII, my husband who served in Vietnam, my son who has served one tour of duty in Iraq and is looking at another one shortly. The safe, priviledged life you have led, purchased by the likes of my son, has allowed you to become you a self-centered, short-sighted, ignorant fool. Do you really think that the Islamic extremist, who are responsible for the murders of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, would allow you to continue to live in peace? Get your head out of the sand. Maybe you need to spend a year in Iraq doing what those brave young men and women do everyday. I'll guarantee that you'd come home with a major attitude adjustment.
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Posted By: anthraxpuppy @ 11/20/2007 12:32:01 AM
MaHardin, It is you who have been privileged by having your "uniformed assasins roving the planet, seeking out booty for you. The middle east has been there since the beginning of time. Your privileged life at the rest of the worlds expense is about to end with the collapse of the dollar. Then we''ll see if you and yours are any superior to them over there. I doubt it.
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Posted By: Shankardada2 @ 11/19/2007 1:07:40 AM
Leo, I'm sure you and your ilk pray every night for our utter and complete defeat in Iraq so that your moral relativism and isolationism may triumph. What if we followed your bizzare notion of "let them be" with Japan and Germany, South Korea and Taiwan? America reshaped all of those nations quite successfully in our own image. Our "puppet governments" in those countries have stood the test of time. I think all of their populations would agree that what we did was a good thing, judging by the fact that they are now our staunchest allies. The "Islamist Kingdom" is no more inevitable than fascism, totalitaranism, or communism. And either way, we now have a duty to make Iraq right. We must not abandon that country to Islamists, however long it takes - we STILL have troops in Korea, Germany and Japan, in case you forgot...
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Posted By: hondapro08 @ 11/18/2007 9:16:34 PM
but iraq is mostly a shiite country, wny would the majority population throw out their own kind. shias have had a long history of being kept out of power.so i dont think the government will be toppled when we leave.. whenver that its....
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Posted By: leodelaney @ 11/18/2007 11:26:19 PM
In France they were all Frenchmen; in Norway they were all Norwegians etc. Whether they are Shiits, Sunnis or Baptists those who collaborated with a foreign invader in Iraq will not be tolerated when that invader leaves and the government that is representative of that invader will fall. Remember the United States is not a "liberator", it is a "conqueror" and the servants of the conqueror are fair game for the conquered.
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Posted By: sandradea @ 11/19/2007 9:03:04 PM
irratical you fit your name perfictly. THE SURGE IS WORKING say that ten times till you finally get it.
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Posted By: Conservative_Commander @ 11/19/2007 6:11:55 PM
'Irratical', you need help. It appears you???re suffering from BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome). Perhaps you can get therapy. But I am proud that I served my country on active duty for 20 years to ensure that misguided souls like you have the right to speak their minds.
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Posted By: codeker @ 11/18/2007 10:31:26 PM
That's my problem with conservatism today. You guys aren't for less government - you're for more government. More government control of sexuality, more government control of marriage, etc. That, to me, is far more tyrannical than anything the Democrats cook up. The government simply has no business taking a stand on gay marriage. It should be a non-issue. Gay marriages simply don't harm anyone. It's a choice, and any true conservative that believes in less government would have nothing against it.
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Posted By: Shankardada2 @ 11/19/2007 5:26:23 PM
Codeker, you have hit on two conflicting threads "Conservative" philosophy. There is a thread which espouses that the government should regulate sexuality and force Christianity on our children in public schools. There is a completely different thread that just believes government should let free enterprise flourish, and that government's role should be limited to national security, policing actions, and infrastructure development. Vacilating between these two poles, is the Republican party. Democrats have similar internal inconsistencies. For instance: Democrats have a thread of belief that people should be left to their own devices, e.g. be allowed to use drugs and have sex as they see fit. There is another thread of belief that government should be responsible for the well being of these free-spirited drug abusers and provide them with free, unlimited health care. How inconsistent is that?
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Posted By: jcurtis13 @ 11/18/2007 11:02:06 PM
I was trying to point out the flawed logic of your assertion that if I believe in the war then I must join the military. Conservatives are for less government, many REPUBLICANS aren't. It's easier to get elected with huge government giveaways and handouts than to stand for a principle. As for gay marriage not hurting anyone, how do you know? There is a reason it takes a man and a woman to have a child. A child needs a mother and needs a father. It's been that way since the beginning of time. Even if you are an evolutionist, you would see the folly of this practice. When morals and values decline, more laws are needed. It all starts with the acidity of our culture.
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Posted By: disenfranchised @ 11/19/2007 2:48:30 AM
blah, blah, blah. what u read in this stupid article is something that these people were enjoing and involved in for many years before u yankees came in and destroyed it. sure sadam was a dictator but so is musharraf, but ofcourse his a "good dictator". under sadam women had a right to vote which is something your dumb ally saudi arabie denies to it's women. to a fote note: saudi rape wictim (woman) was sentenced to a jail time and 200 lashes for being in the car with strange man. those are your friend and one wonders , cuz as long as u americans clling to such allies there always will be troubles.
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Posted By: Shankardada2 @ 11/19/2007 5:09:01 PM
Um... Sorry to break it to the commentator "disenfranchised," but women in Iraq did NOT have the right to vote under Saddam. Neither did men. Obviously the reasons for our engagement in Iraq were false. This is not to say the state reasons were conscientious lies, but that hindsight has proven them false. Life in Iraq is worse today than under Saddam. That, however, is exactly why we cannot abandon the mess that we created, especially when our efforts are beginning to bear fruit. Bush has made enormous errors in the prosecution of this war, much like Abraham Lincoln did in the Civil War, when most of the early engagements went in favor of the the underequipped and outmanned Confederacy. Lincoln, like Bush, almost lost his reelection bid. Both were campaigns run during the low points of their respective wars. Lincoln, like Bush, remained resilient in the face of countless naysayers predicting doom and gloom. Lincoln, like Bush, changed strategies several times before finding the winning one. This is not the Civil War though, so the comparisons end there (no need for other commentators to point out the numerous differences). Would we have been better off leaving Saddam to reign in his pit? Obviously the answer is yes. But that is no reason to abandon the country now.
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Posted By: Irratical @ 11/19/2007 2:27:00 PM
Republicans have used the war as one of their divisive wedge issues from Day One, and reading the posts of this board it???s clear they want to keep spinning it in terms of Patriots vs. Traitors, i.e., Republicans vs. Democrats. Remember that Bush endorsed Rumsfeld???s conduct of the war right up to the 2006 election and then had him replaced the very next day. Why the sudden turn around? Because to have done so sooner would have been to admit mistakes leading up to the election. And the Republicans say they support the troops. Tell that to the families of troops who died pursing a strategy that the Bush administration knew had failed but was too politically calculating to change.
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Posted By: davenp35 @ 11/19/2007 1:44:42 PM
Even the NYT is now admitting we won in Iraq. I guess the Dems should start appologizing for their deliberate attempts to get us to lose in Iraq.
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Posted By: davenp35 @ 11/19/2007 1:43:56 PM
Even the NYT is now admitting we won in Iraq. I guess the Dems should start appologizing for their deliberate attempts to get us to lose in Iraq.
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Posted By: DodgerFan @ 11/19/2007 1:28:50 PM
It looks like the battle for Baghdad has been won, although we will have to wait and see what happens after the surge gets reduced. Although I think this war was unnecessary, I think it is totally cool that we were able to win without using the draft. Those that love the war have the opportunity to enlist and fight, those that don't have the right to stay right here at home. So both sides win. What more can we ask?
The war lovers can go after Iran next. All I ask is that they do it without the draft. And please try to keep the cost below $10 trillion.
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Posted By: Irratical @ 11/19/2007 1:07:06 PM
Four and half years ago victory in Iraq meant the creation of a stable, pro-American democracy flourishing in the heart of the Middle East, at peace with it's neighbors. Now victory means finding just 20 decapitated corpses each day instead of 40. All the rightwing 'patriots' posting on this board understand it's not so much the fate of the Iraqi people that's at stake in this conflict -- it's the long term political prospects of the Republican party here at home. This is why they trumpet any reduction in violence as a complete vindication of George Bush. Trouble is, most Americans remember how this war was sold to them in the beginning, and now after years of chaos, thousands of dead soldiers, and half a trillion dollars, they see this stupendously mismamanged and unnecessary war for it was and still is: a lost Republican cause.
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Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 11/18/2007 10:34:11 PM
dancing in the streets when the WTC fell is justifing the means-not in my sons life time! liberal is as GOP as the counterfit contracts the Rep Pres and VP delt out like candy to there bestest friends who don't have kids to kill!
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Posted By: tool @ 11/19/2007 12:45:13 PM
I can see why your name is PINKPANTHER. You really are pink!!
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Posted By: D OKC @ 11/19/2007 12:10:24 PM
The liberal media must hate this report. They havee been telling us for four years that this war is lost. Well, guess what? it isn't, we are winning the "hearts and minds" of the iraqi people, in general. They are turning on Al Quaida, turning them in, and killing them, all by themselves. If this keeps up, the media will look extremely foolish for their mantra "we have lost the war, bring our boys home" To all you troops that have gone over there to fight for our right to be free of terror, God Bless each and every one of you, please ignore our nearly traitorious media, you are winning, most reasonable people understand this and why it is happening, it is due to the fact that any sane Iraqi person would, after their fear has been conquered, kill these mostly foreign radical bastards, Al Quaida. Finally, most knowlegable Americans are behind you all the way. Finish this war, then come home., . Again God Bless you all, Troops. Your sacrifices will never be forgotten by patriotic Americans. You are all heroes. D OKC
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Posted By: guitfreak @ 11/19/2007 11:04:46 AM
Hey Newsweek and all other MSM- I thought according to you guys the war was already lost. What happened? Still trying to work out that "Ice Age is Coming" prediction? Hee Haw!
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Posted By: anti-liberal @ 11/19/2007 10:55:41 AM
you are so full of crap that things only get worse in bagdad.Since the troop surge thing have gotten better.I'm so sick of you liberal pukes bashing mr. bush and the USA.You are doing so much damage to this country.
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Posted By: t9900 @ 11/19/2007 10:17:40 AM
Wow, there are inteliigent people finally commenting on Newsweek. And I don't mean you non-Americans that hate us or the ignorant fools who don't care about our troops. I mean the people who support our troops and want to win, rether they agree with why we went in or not. Those who realize congress or Hollywood doesn't care about our troops. They use our troops to blackmail Bush to further thier own selfish agenda. They care more about hurting Bush and Republicans than they do about suceeding.
disenfranchised, your an idiot and you most likley started shooting AKs into the air on 9/11. And if you think we can't win, then you will never win.
Kepp up the intelligent comment. Hopefully it spreads and reaches the ears/eyes of our soldiers
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Posted By: sandradea @ 11/19/2007 9:26:37 AM
I have less then no respect for pelosi who is way out of touch with what americans want or need. Is it so hard to believe that we believe in our soldiers. Is it so hard to believe that most americans think bush is doing the right thing after all the democrats did nothing to protect us but botch things up and lead us to 9-11 with their do nothing polacies. Bush actually acted on it with expediance thats alot more then i can say for clinton who was to busy with his sexual antics to care.
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Posted By: sandradea @ 11/19/2007 9:15:57 AM
A big thank you to our troops for all thier hard work. To all you negetive people who suposedly represent the usa be silent youre stinking the world up and we dont need your two cents if its even worth that much.
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Posted By: Ohzee @ 11/19/2007 9:10:08 AM
Gommy goomy, boy, have you hit the nail on the head. If Newsweek and NBC/MSNBC are reporting good news out of Iraq, then things have "really" improved and this war is winding down faster than anyone realizes. News flash to the woman who's son has been wearing the same underwear for 14 days: he's a slob! I spent 24 years in military service and there is no way a soldier/marine/sailor (other than SpecialOps) goes that long without having an opportunity to shower and change clothes for that amount of time. For the most part, our fighting men and women in Iraq sleep in clean comfortable beds, have nutritious warm meals, as well as warm showers and other comforts. There are exceptions; but for the most part, those are the living conditions for our military in theater. Word of advice: get your news from multiple sources, not just the left leaning media.
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Posted By: gommy goomy @ 11/19/2007 8:50:33 AM
First of all;who gets their information from the BBC? What's the matter,you couldn't find Al Jazeera? The news is what it is. I know some of you are still confused over "what the meaning of is, is, but I've got a feeling that if a reputable Dental Office waiting room standby, like Newsweek, who's done everything in its' power to shine a bright light on everything bad, is writing about PROGRESS, REAL PROGRESS, you might want to take off your tin foil hat and slide your short wave radio dial up or down a few notches from the BBC.
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Posted By: Synergy @ 11/19/2007 8:43:54 AM
You said it was only an IED that killed 2 cilvilans and one soldier, you seemed disappointed it was not more dramatic. But guess what it does not get more any more dramatic for the family members when they bury them. please explain what would be better than ONLY AN IED. God bless our troops who give you the ability to lessen the value of there lives with poorly choosen words.
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