We’re Fighting the Wrong War

I knew you were sans substance when you stretched into a book, that half baked essay of yours - "Illiberal Democracy". A high school kid [from China or India] could have poked a dozen holes in your thesis. But, Of course, you probably knew that, didn't you?
Btw, daljit dhaliwal is a vast improvement. not only because of looks.

Why, if we are to engage in peacekeeping, does the operation need to be internationally recognized, sanctioned, and supported? If this country considers the peacekeeping to be in its interests, and if the elected Iraqi government is agreeable, then that is all that's necessary. If India, Poland, and South Africa want to help, and still if Iraq agrees, then that's international recognition and sanction.

Are you trying out for a perch at the NYT? keep up the good work and you'll be joining the ranks of Kristol at the NYT with your sound foreign policy analysis.

Are you trying out for a perch at the NYT? keep up the good work and you'll be joining the ranks of Kristol at the NYT with your sound foreign policy analysis.

26 American Soldiers killed this month...another 15 billion pumped into Iraq but never mind, the war is over. It will be over when we are not spending money or American lives over there.

I have to ask. Are you a tool for the administration or just mentally challenged?

I was intrigued but sceptical about faminchin's infrormation on forced cannibalism and cell-phone detonating drones. I tried to Goggle the subjects, but the only hit I got was on the baked children. It turned out to be a post by faminchin on 1/12/08. So, faminchin, is this first-hand information? Second-hand?

Dear Fareed,

What is your secret? How can someone as naive as you get a column at Newsweek? Lemme know, cos it sounds like a sweet gig!

Ritchie

The surge coincided with local disgust at all the violence, separation of Sunnis and Shiites in vulnerable areas, a cease fire by Sadr and the desire of local Sunnis to be in control over the movement we call al Qaeda, so that the levels of violence are down but not out. Whether it succeeded in the short run may matter to Bush and the Republicans who want to succeed him, but in the long run the problem remains the same. America can be one more militia in there banging in shifting alliances with the other militias, and hoping to kill more insurgents than our heavy handed tactics create. However this occupation is doomed to fail in the long run and America can not afford the losses it is giving us. The combatants continue to lay low, attack when the opportunity permits and settle scores among themselves. Local cease fires do not a nation make. We will suffer the same fate as the former colonial powers did. Bush has alienated the world with his unilateral action, and we can only hope that a new administration will be able to get some international help to preserve the interest the world has inpreventing more of a humanitarian disaster in this oil rich part of the world.

Negative objectives have been at the heart of this escapade. When you lose touch with reality you create a bigger mess than you had before you went on a psychotic rampage. The neo-conservative war mongering macho crowd has had their way and now we see the fruits of their unbridled testosterone.

I predict that the unfunded financial and human cost of this episode of American foreign policy will eat into our fiscal and psychological health going forward for decades to come. The next president must clean up the mess or at least contain some of the mess made by our fearless and foolish leaders.

If paying for the war was too costly today because it would depress our economy, what makes us think paying for it later with interest will not be even more costly to our economy?

People who got stuck with sub prime loans and those who issued them are now paying the price for their reckless borrowing binge. This neo-conservative Bush government has done the same thing to our Federal budget by borrowing everything to run the war and occupation of Iraq.

The US Government is flirting with becoming a sub prime government. Thank you, President Bush, for your support of our troops with unsecured borrowed money! The American Empire you and your cronies envisioned when attacking Iraq is crumbling under overwhelming debt. The terrorists you like to think you are fighting will have won a great victory when our government and economy is sucked into the black hole of deficits you piled on us with your ill fated war and unwillingness to be fiscally responsible.

The next president and we citizens of the country will be faced with achieving negative objectives regarding our domestic economy. Can the damages to our democracy and Republic be contained so they do not overflow into the rest of the world? That is the central question of our democracy.

The bottom line to my comments is WE LIVE IN A building, we put a post outside where all can see,??? To Let .sell or rent???. Does that explain what we are in?
Let me elaborate. The terrorist have been bad. I agree and you agree as we have seen the damage they have done to our structures and how now we are coughing up to weed them out. It is expensive at what cost? Here is a typical example of what we do and what we think we are doing
Kenya and Tanzania were the targets of Osama in 1992. Kenya was in the minds of many but Tanzania. No. Sir. This was only a postage stamp. Even the letters were marked as P.O.Boxxxxx Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, South Africa. The Osama bombs turned this to read Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, East Africa. Would you call this as a blessing to many in Tanzanians? Yes? They are on the map. Once they were never known except for the tourists who came to see the lions on the trees in Manyara parks. Here I am not advertising anything. Same is the case with Iraq. Hussein, AH (we always salute them with alihis salaam) grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, SAW or many write this as PBUH peace be open him. Was martyred in Karbala. Sadam and his cronies with many Sunni scholars kept this hidden from the Muslim books. Shias knew of this. On 19th January the TV was abuzz with the ceremony held by the Shias beating their chests mourning in the death of the grandson Hussein.
The tints of black and white are out on the table and more followers do not wonder about this hiccup but are proud to state that the invasion of USA has at least opened up the Shia sects very apt, very clear, and the Shias thank them for them. They could never have done this. This is free note to many who never knew the truth from the lectured false.
I see that way. Call this cruelty; I am not a politician who kills many. Even Gaza today on 21st January is in dark. Israel has cut of the power. Egypt is helping Palestine. No, the picture seems to be coming out more open then any time before. Is this what I want, Yes sir. Bu all means. I feel sorry for the mothers who lost sons, I feel sorry for the wives who lost the husbands. I am sorry. But that is the policy of the false decision by the politicians was oil. They did not succeed. They failed. Do I blame them? Yes. The young soldiers got marred by the wars in many countries by the name of fanatics, terrorists, Mullahs, the Osama groups, Saadam Kirks. But why blame the poor. Israel cuts off the power of the hospital where the babies are dying. Is this wart we wanted the wars for? I doubt.
Am I happy now? No. many are still on the verge of half meal a day in the days of plenty. It grieves anyone.

I thank you
Firozali A Mulla MBA PhD
P.O.Box 6044
Dar-Es-Salaam
Tanzania
East Africa

THe leadership of Al Queda is not in Iraq. They just use Iraq to cause chaos. The war in Iraq is a disaster waiting to happen because there are so many factions fighting eachother, but it has always been that way. Al Queda is based in pakistan and has spread throughout the Muslim States in Central Asia. They are building their bank rolls with drug money. Al Queda seems more interested in making money these days, unfortunately these nuts want to use the money to purchase biological, chemical and nuclear technology so they can start a world war. Make no doubt about it, that is their agenda. So we need to go into these places and eliminate this growing cancer. We have to do it NOW because we are running out of MONEY. We need to get rid of the leadership so that the governments can implement reform and sustain it. This organization has multiplied to hundred and fifty thousand in pakistan. These AL QUEDA terrorist supporters are also reforming the education system in northern pakistan and spreading the chapter of JIHAD throughout the region. These same nuts killed Bhutto because she was going to allow the U.S. to go into that region with packistani support. It is time we flex our muscle and let the nations know privately that if we are attacked again they face annihilation. It is the only deterent. The terrorist are ruthless so we have to even more ruthless in hunting them down. Do we have to get attacked again in order to go into remote areas and kill these terrorist leaders. THey hide, train and then let their indoctrinated weapons of suicide reap havoc across the globe, The international community needs to step up and create an antiterroist force that is made up of all religions and all races. That force needs to control the spread of terror after we leave. We as a unilateral force cannot effectively combat terrorism infact we might be creating an enviornment where terroist leaders always have a platform of occupation against us.
We really need to go to the source of problems and contront them. Russia and China and countries in Central Asia need to be included more in the international war against terrorism.

Risk Management. The risk of letting these terrorist multiply in pakistan is worth going into remote areas and eliminating them now not tomorrow. If we can go to the moon we can find away to get at these terrorist. They cannot get away with nine eleven and any candidate that stresses that will surely rack up a lot of votes

AS LONG AS WE ARE SPENDING $15 billion a month (THAT WE CANNOT AFFORD) in Iraq the war IS CERTAINLY NOT OVER!

We are about to go into a recession because we are wasting HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Any presidential economic plan will be directly affected by the events in Iraq. We need to get the hell out of Iraq because our military presence in that region is a constant irritation to the region. Anyone who is knowledgable about Homeland Securtiy will tell you that Al Queda is regrouping. They attack in Waves and it only take one big Hit to change things on the ground. Just because things are going well now does not mean they will remain the same. This is the trap so many have fallen into, they supported the war because it seemed everything was progressing well, as soon as things started to deteriorate everyone jumped ship. In this case people jump ed off the ship and then got back on amazing.Not one more American life should be wasted in Iraq. We can secure the oil without force. We cannot afford Iraq we are living beyond are means and this will never get old. This is why Obama has fallen off a little, he is not stressing a specific middle class plan that is stronger than Hillary's. He is not reaching out and uniting Latino's and Blacks. Could you imagine if he held a March to end racial tensions that included all races. He needs to stay on the Iraq issue and let the American people know their is a cheaper and more intelligent way to deal with the situation in Iraq. ALSO, for some reason Obama looks fatigued and tired. It could be that he is trying to quit smoking. If he stops cold turkey it will be hard for a month. But if he smoke once in a while it will affect his nervous system. Looking Tired during the New Hampshire debate hurt Obama. Obama is young he should never look Tired. He never stressed that his economic plan is more beneficial for the working mother than Hillary's. These are the issues that brought victory in IOWA. The CLinton machinery is outworking the OBAMA machinery. The Hillary machinery is bringing in over fifty per cent of the vote. So Obama needs to push harder and make up that small percentage he is losing buy. Unfortunately, it appears OBAMA has fallen into the race trap
Obama has accomplished the hard part, people like him and are listening. Now he has to fill their ears with Economic prosperity and relief to the middle class. He should have a march for the MIDDLE CLASS that INCLUDES ALL RACES AND ALL AGES. He needs to battle Hillary for the older vote. Senior Citizens and Latino's make up a large majority of the electorate in Florida. OBAMA needs to start telling these people specifically what he is going to accomplish on behalf of their interets.

Iraq is deeply divided between Sunni and Shia and democracy remains a messy business fraught with uncertainty. The peace between them has been fragile for hundreds of years and nothing the US or the UN does is likely to change that. Dr Zakaria seems to gloss over the devastating defeat al Qaeda has suffered in Iraq. Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri declared Iraq the central front of their jihad against the west. Thanks to the psychotic brutality of al Qaeda???s foreign fighters, their Sunni brothers in the Anbar and elsewhere have rejected them as enemies of Allah and helped our soldiers destroy them wherever they can be found. If this is not fighting al Qaeda and hurting their recruiting effort then what is? Without any help from the democrats or the UN we are pursuing an intelligent counter insurgency strategy under General Petraeus that will result in the establishment of a democratic Iraq rather than the new Caliphate.

If anything can and will be done, it will be done by us. The international community has shown itself at best to be feckless and unwilling. We have been forced, willy-nilly to step in everywhere, and when we ask for a littel help, we get excuses. NATO is a spent force, as the Euros have so disabled their militaries that they are incapable of anything but complaining.

It's interesting that the press continues it's negative analysis of the Iraq war when it appears that the result of the war will be a government that by most measures is a remarkable improvement from Saddam H's hell on earth. If the Democratic candidates choose not to recognize this, then they will may pay a price at the polls. McCain's popularity shows that the American people do see the advantages of establishing a democracy on the border of Iran.

Can't we all just get along?

Cut the funding, bring our soldiers home, and turn the peace-making over to the U.N. Our presence in Irag has a radicalizing effect upon the entire Middle East.

Excuse me sir. When an Army (the Sunnis) decide not to fight, it's usually because they're defeated and don't want to die. As to the brilliant suggestion to solve all with an internationl conference, I believe that's been tried continuously. Did you forget that the U.N. left wen the first shots were fired and U.S. State Department types don't want to go because it's too dangerous. Perhaps the conference held be held in Paris.