About Iraq

Haven Mankin asked:


On October 3, 2008, Oliver Stone said in a Nightline interview, discussing his new movie that President George W. Bush was “the most dangerous man” mainly because we are in two wars because of him; he also felt the last eight years were some of our worst years ever for this country.  Are you kidding me?  This is one of the most stupid things I have ever heard, and with some of the lunatic liberals out there like Bill Maher, Susan Sarandon, Matt Damon and Alec Baldwin, that is saying something!  Listen, you don’t have to like President Bush; personally I’m not happy with him either; he is not a conservative and our debt is way out of hand, but he is a good man.  You don’t have to like President Bush, but please don’t show us all what an idiot you are by calling him “the most dangerous man”.

The last eight years are our worst ever, Mr. Stone?  The economy has been great up until the Democrats took over Congress two years ago.  All their early statements have turned out to be lies; their approval rating is the worst in history, and they are the majority.  This so-called credit bailout is a Democrat invention; the same people who caused it the problem in the first place, then blamed the Republicans, are now taking credit for “the fix”!  Everyone, grab your ankles…$700 billion plus $150 billion in pork and growing fast; and this is only one of many stupid bailouts!  They don’t know where the money is going; I’m sure the nation’s children will be thanking you for many years to come for this boondoggle.

George Bush is dangerous Mr. Stone?  All you liberals are September 10th people; most solid thinking people, the backbone of this country, are September 12th people.  The whole world believed Iraq to have WMDs, and you know the damn things were there!  Don’t believe me?  Just go ask the Kurds; I think wiping out a whole town of 50,000 by gas bombs dropped from planes fits the definition of a weapon (W) that is pretty darn massive (M) and majorly destructive (D).  We don’t even have to talk about the yellow cake that was found later, now do we?

More people than at Pearl Harbor died in one of our main cities on our own mainland by a foreign enemy, and you call George Bush dangerous?  Has there been another attack in our country?  What?…you bring up the brave men and women killed in Iraq, Mr. Stone?  They and their families deserve our respect, care and honor for sure, but more people have been killed in California during the same time we’ve been in Iraq, and many more babies have been aborted in just a fraction of that time!  What is your REAL agenda Mr. Stone?

You call George Bush the most dangerous?  Mr. Oliver Stone, you say the President is worse than Saddam Hussein, an evil man who killed his own people in wood chippers and rape rooms!  Are you serious?  You liberals say Bush rushed us into war?  Well, first of all…there was no “rush”; the years the UN “dorked-around” with their 17 “feel-good” paper resolutions, Hussein was killing his people at the rate of 60,000 each of those years!  Why don’t you libs think about their souls?  Jesus said, as you do for the least of these, you do for Me (Matt 25:40).  I say that anyone who stops that kind of evil is a good person!  The facts are that the whole Congress voted for us to go to war, but if you want to erroneously say it was only Bush, then stopping that evil makes Bush a good man.  Do you really want the opposite Mr. Stone?

Haven Mankin

The Muskrat’s Tail



Fernando

ultrajones asked:


I know of many different sources for estimates on this question. Primarily I am asking this question in hopes of raising some awareness to the truth about the horrors going on in Iraq.
BTW it is well documented that Iraqi deaths went way up after the invasion, not down. Recently they have come back down to the same levels as they were under Saddam, but the deaths continue to ravage the nation.

Christina

Ricardo M asked:


What is the gas mileage of the tanks in iraq? Can anybody point me to an article that might tell me?

Carolyn

Combat Guy asked:


How many soldiers from California have died in the Iraq war? And which state has sustained the most casualties from the war in Iraq?

Suzanne

C. Read asked:


Regardless of your original view of the invasion of Iraq – a just, moral and necessary war according to us paleo-knuckle dragging, tooth sucking, unibrow conservatives – one has to admit that it is over. Done. Finished. Iraq is more peaceful than a typical summer in Chicago, a year in the slums of Toronto, or 9 months in the less savoury parts of New York. More die in a Chicago summer-fest of violence than US soldiers perish in a 2 year period in Iraq. Time to pull out of the Obama-Messiah’s spiritual center ? [Blessed be Obama the prophet]. Or should we just say that we won in Iraq and that the Iraqi’s and indeed the Muslim world, are better off for that remarkable feat ? We already stated in June 08 that this war was over - it is now more obvious than ever. June 08 - it is over

It is a fact that Muslims who live in the West – though they might hate the idea – are better off than those who don’t. Iraq has a stable confederation, with a Western styled constitution which guarantees Islamic law and observance. It is a country with an educated workforce, oil, millions of entrepreneurs, a transparent legal system, and it is a society which is not degenerating into civil war, or partition – contrary to many and sundry geniuses who stated the opposite for 4 years. Iraq 2009 will be generations ahead of Iraq pre-2003 without American intervention, including the hundred’s of thousands of lives saved from the barbarity of a fascist regime – one which murdered 1 million Iraqi’s over 20 years, or 25 times the current kill rate per annum in Iraq.

Not a bad legacy.

The West has an ally in the worst region in the world. We have secured a military victory over Al Qaeda and the Islamic fascists killing over 70.000 terrorists. Islamic fascist elements will never recover from this defeat. We now have military bases in 2 countries bordering Iran. We control the Gulf. We can put pressure on other countries including the corrupt Saudi royal family, to reform. We can protect Israel. In short we now control and are allied with a central state, in a central region and we have sent a very clear message to the Islamic world. You want violence – you will get it.

So where are the media reports of celebration? Where are the myriad stories of Iraqi economic and social development? Where are the interviews with politicians from across Iraq on the progress being made there? Where is the detailed story of the Shia militia defeat and the marginalisation of the demagogue and religious zealot and political idiot Sadr? Where are the stories of the Iraqi diaspora returning to all regions of Iraq to invest, rebuild and renew? Where is the over-arching strategic discussion of having military bases in the heart of the Islamic world and the benefits derived therein?

No where to be found.

The Western media is corrupt. It is a group of elitist trained self-loathing left-ocratic boors. Every bomb, every death of an Iraqi or Westerner, was reported ad infinitum over 5 years. But the pacification of a country engaged in various civil wars – almost exclusively intra-Muslim – since 656 A.D. and which is now being policed by US soldiers without body armour and without headgear does not even get a passing mention in the so-called ‘independent media’. Independent? Ha ha. How absurd and how immature is the thought. It reminds one of the hagiographies which were developed by this same media about Herr Hitler, Nazism and the benefices and great appeal of Communism. Morons.

As one syndicated columnist wrote recently and quite well:

“Americans tend to forget that, in the Middle East, most political disagreements are settled with assassinations such as the murder of Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and, more recently, the killing of Benezir Bhutto in Pakistan. In Lebanon, the Syrians assassinated a whole raft of politicians whom they found irksome. Several efforts have been made to kill Hamid Karzi of Afghanistan. In Gaza, Fatah was forced out by Hamas at gunpoint. Having achieved zero cooperation for decades, world leaders keep insisting that the Israelis negotiate with Fatah, giving them land and lollypops.”

Negotiating with the Arabs and with the fascistic elements of Islam is a waste of time. You simply wage war and kill them. You secure the lands, build bases, and impose your will. Historically that is what Islam and Arab culture understand – blood and steel and power.

This is why Iraq is such a momumental victory. It sends a very clear and compelling message.

For those who have been to Iraq, the war is obviously finished. Arabs killing innocents has been going on since the family of Muhammed were slaughtered by rivals claiming power over the early caliphates. Asking Muslims and Arabs to stop killing each other, or anyone else, is like asking Blacks to acknowledge Black slave trading and ownership. It will never happen. And yet that is the fault of the Americans or more specifically Bushitler.

Michael Yon, an embedded journalist wrote this in July 2008 in a syndicated column:

“’The war in Iraq is over. We won. Which means the Iraqi people won.’ When I wrote this on my Web site a few days ago, I set off a mini-firestorm. Perhaps because I have spent more time embedded with combat troops in Iraq than any journalist I know - and have interviewed countless Iraqis and members of the coalition military……

So I will be very clear what I mean when I say we have won the war. A counterinsurgency is won when the government’s legitimacy is no longer threatened by the insurgents, the government is able to protect its own people and the people are participating in the government. In Iraq, all three conditions apply.”

Indeed they do. That piece was written 6 months ago – and things have gotten a lot better since then. If Yon can write in July 2008 that the war is finished – a war he saw, smelled and felt – than 6 months later we should be having a general discussion of post-victory Iraq. What do we want there? What are the conditions we will give to the Iraqis and their politicians for our victory? How will the Iraqis help us repay the costs of the war through future oil revenues ? After all 4200 American dead, and 29000 American wounded were sacrificed in part, and only in part, to secure the freedom of Iraq.

In any event we won in Iraq – but the bells will never be rung. That says a lot about the state of the so-called ‘West’.



Tim

serena asked:


For a school project I had to pick a primary cause of the Iraq war. My reason was :

The creation, research and destruction of weapons of mass destruction played a primary role in causing the Iraq war.

Could you explain or evaluate this cause in one of the following ways and tell me which one?

oGeographic, political, economic, cultural, psychological

I’ve done all the other ways and I can’t figure any of these out.
I will select a best answer so please try your best if you’d like the points.

Jack

James P Krehbiel asked:


A patient of mine recently experienced an unusual problem. Apparently, she got out of bed in the middle of the night, walked outside into her garage and entered her sports car. She was changing her car clock when her partner, who was in a panic, located her in the car. My patient was awakened by her partner and was confused and bewildered as they left the garage to resume their evening’s sleep.

Sleep walking is not an unusual pattern. For many, it is an infrequent occurrence, but for others it is a lifelong experience. Recently, I have been wondering about the manner in which many of our citizens are “sleep walking” through the impact of our political landscape. As a society, we appear to be distracted and asleep at the wheel. It seems as if there is a chronic pathology among of our people characterized by naivety, indifference, and a lack of awareness to political and cultural issues.

I recall Jay Leno canvassing the streets of Los Angeles trying to find one American who could tell him how many Supreme Court justices serve on our highest bench and to identify one of their names. The responses were pathetic and called attention to the lack of political awareness of our citizenry. Recently, as my wife and I boarded a plane to return to Arizona, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was sitting in the third row of the plane. I was not aware of one on-coming passenger who seemed to recognize her or acknowledge her presence. When we deplaned and headed for the luggage area, while other passengers appeared to be oblivious to the relevance of the situation, I proceeded to introduce myself and carry on a brief conversation with her. As one of my 15 year old patients once said, “Why should I care about politics, I can’t change anything anyway.” Nevertheless, it is my belief that feeling powerless is never an excuse for sleeping through the political process.

Although I certainly respect and support our current troops deployed in Iraq and other locations, there is something quite disturbing about the false sense of patriotism displayed by Americans. For example, I believe many of us have trivialized the concept of war through the simplistic use of bumper stickers, ribbons and other insignias signifying troop support. What do these symbols really mean for most Americans? Are they true signs of patriotism by those who fully understand the impact and implications of our current war in Iraq? My brother, who was a Lieutenant and company commander in Viet Nam cringes at the naivety and lack of awareness that many Americans possess about the nature of terrorism, combat and military missions. Maybe if the military adopted a conscription policy, some Americans might rethink their form of patriotism? Maybe if they knew their own children would be subject to going off to Baghdad, they would reconsider the way they demonstrate their loyalty to our military efforts. You might recall what happened when the President tried to make nice with Congressman Jim Webb over the involvement of Mr. Webb’s son in the Iraq war. Congressman Webb bluntly told the President to mind his own business.

Americans tend to believe that if they project an image of patriotism, they are exempt from a deeper understanding of the implications of the war in Iraq. How many of our people are aware of how our wounded soldiers are being treated at Building #18 in Walter Reed Hospital? Do we understand that the hospital is under constant review for improper patient treatment and deplorable conditions? Are we aware that inpatient soldiers have complained about the unsanitary conditions at the hospital including rodents infesting the environment? How many in the Bush administration or Congress are aware of the conditions our soldiers are subjected to and do they care? Would any of us send our loved ones to heal in an environment like that? Is this how we support our troops? Shouldn’t we all be concerned about this issue? Instead we sleep walk through the military and political debate over the mission and purposes of the Iraq war. We believe that the political voices in Washington D.C. are more competent and convincing than our own. We take the easy way out from committing ourselves to being patriotic in the truest since of the word. We must walk the walk through political action, not words.

Will we sleep walk though the debate on global warming as our oil companies try to pay off researchers so they will reinterpret their findings to soften the implications of global warming? We minimize the problem by either ignoring it or by pretending to care by talking about minutiae such as using HOV lanes and not burning wood in our fireplaces as means of eradicating the problem of pollution. Is Al Gore’s documentary, Inconvenient Truth, really that inconvenient that we are willing to deny its truth? Our war in Iraq will continue to kill and maim many, but global warming has the potential to kill us all. Will we sleep walk through this problem by displaying our symbolic bumper stickers or will we attack the problem with action? It will not be the terrorists who do us in, for the enemy is at home.

Americans can no longer afford to sleep walk through the critical political issues that we face globally. Our indifference, lack of awareness, denial, shallowness, and lack of motivation will only serve to escalate the dangers that we confront. It will not be “the axis of evil” that consumes us but our own ignorance and laziness.



Marvin

Bigasian asked:


I know the Army offers 3-5 year terms but how long is a term in the marines. I am considering joining but I have a lot of education ahead of me and a one year difference is a long time. Also, how long are the tours in Iraq? I’ve heard of three months to eighteen months.

Pearl

erudite asked:


What did Iraq ever do to the USA?

What did Iraq do to the USA? Why did 32,000 Iraqis and a couple thousand Americans die for this war? Not to mention hundreds of billions of US tax dollars wasted.

Can any Neo-Con answer that? I really want to see the reasons why so many Iraqis and Americans had to die.

I know New-Cons are frightened by the truth so Ireally do not expect a real answer here, maybe just an insult or two.

Are there any Neo-Cons or war supporters who can answer this!

Mario