Do you think the war has gone better or worse than expected? (page 3)

Gopher

Justhuman,

Your "Adolph Bush" rhetoric, comparing the American leader to the Nazi madman, is very disconcerting. I don't know how to address that.

The pictures you show are very sad. Yet to be fair, you should also post pictures of Saddam's torture chambers and before/after pictures of his victims. You are aware that the Iraqi government has (since the invasion) had a woman hanged merely for waving at the American troops, and that they shot a 9-year old boy because of his family's non-compliance with government orders? And these things were done DELIBERATELY, not accidentally as the result of war. All wars have accidents. If you're accusing the American government of deliberately targeting American civilians, you don't know what you're talking about.

Gitas,

If there is justification to enter other nations -- if they DARE the Americans to come in like Iraq did, then yes I would feel the same way. Right now are there UN sanctions against Iran, Syria, Nigeria or whoever else you mentioned? If not, the American coalition would have to make a strong case for interfering in their internal affairs. Let's not just assume the Americans are on a mission to go through nation after nation. Getting through Iraq will be difficult enough.

TraumaHound,

Thanks for your thoughtful and well-measured comments like that one!!

Heathen and Devon McBride,

Agreed!!

Simon,

I entirely missed that comment by Mr. Powell about domination. I guess time will tell how this all shakes out. I would hope that the British-American coalition keeps its word in terms of wanting the best for the common Iraqi people. Nation-rebuilding will take a great deal of effort and cooperation with people at all levels of Iraqi life. Not easy, and a lot depends on the post-war initiative of the Iraqis.

:Does anyone think that in 5-10 years time, a lot of big multi-national companies will not have made a lot of money from all this and the Iraqi people will have at least the same standard of living as they did before we started fighting with them?

YES on all counts. I hope (maybe this is an emotional reaction on my part) that NO companies from France, Germany or Russia make one franc, mark or ruble from post-war Iraq, seeing how they felt that freeing Iraq from the clutches of Saddam Hussein was such a bad idea.

Search,

The British support as part of this coalition has been very helpful in prosecuting the war against Iraq. The friendly fire incidents are an unfortunate part of this war. I don't know what to say except it is very sad.

DakotaRed

A comment by Colin Powell which was surprisingly under-reported (I think the Bush/Blair summit was at the same time) was along the lines of:

"We do not intend to go to all this trouble of having a war if we cannot dominate the entire region"

Interesting comment from Secretary Powell. But, I'm surprised you put it up with link to it's reference. Seems to me the anti-american factions of the press would be all over this. I did a web search for a reference and the closest I found was a playrights "A Page From Colin Powelss Diary," a work of fiction.

Could you post a link to the article mentioning it, please? I too would love to see the context it was spoken in.

lauralisa

Here's another suprisingly under-reported remark by ex-CIA director James Woolsey:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/04/03/sprj.irq.woolsey.world.war/index.html

Woolsey told the audience of about 300, most of whom are students at the University of California at Los Angeles, that all three enemies have waged war against the United States for several years but the United States has just "finally noticed."

"As we move toward a new Middle East," Woolsey said, "over the years and, I think, over the decades to come ... we will make a lot of people very nervous."

It will be America's backing of democratic movements throughout the Middle East that will bring about this sense of unease, he said.

"Our response should be, 'good!'" Woolsey said.

Singling out Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the leaders of Saudi Arabia, he said, "We want you nervous. We want you to realize now, for the fourth time in a hundred years, this country and its allies are on the march and that we are on the side of those whom you -- the Mubaraks, the Saudi Royal family -- most fear: We're on the side of your own people."

Woolsey, who served as CIA director under President Bill Clinton, was taking part in a "teach-in" at UCLA, a series of such forums at universities across the nation.

Woolsey has been named in news reports as a possible candidate for a key position in the reconstruction of a postwar Iraq.

gitasatsangha

America has never backed a democracy in the middle east, beyond some leader's Zionist patronizing of Isreal. America, historically, has seldom backed democracies as it is much better to have a tyrant in their pocket. If they were all in love with spreading democracy they would have made stronger ties with the world's largest democracy, India.

Simon

Well, it seems that no time has been wasted starting the "politics" and what coudl be described as dodgy dealing. Does anyone else find this a worrying development? ...

THE CONCERNS begin with the secrecy that has surrounded the planning process and the lack of publicly released details. What is known is that President Bush, for reasons he has not made clear, has given the Department of Defense primary control over all postwar aid and reconstruction, a role that has sparked discomfort across a broad, bipartisan spectrum in Congress and among other governments.

UNPRECEDENTED MOVEIn what members said was an unprecedented move, Bush asked for the $2.5 billion reconstruction fund to be appropriated to the White House itself, presumably to be distributed through the Pentagon. A memo prepared by senior GOP staff for the House Appropriations Committee noted that the arrangement would erect a “wall of executive privilege [that] would deny Congress and the Committee access to the management of the Fund. Decision-makers determining the allocation ... could not be called as witnesses before hearings, and most fiscal data would be beyond the Committee’s reach.”

http://www.msnbc.com/news/896226.asp?0cv=CB10

Simon, I agree, however, I am getting really pissed at the “friendly fire” rate so far. Now the US hit the Kurds today. I hope the US gets its act together in this area…..

Practice makes perfect.

HS

Do you think the war has gone better or worse than expected?

Gopher

DakotaRed

lauralisa

gitasatsangha

Simon

ThiChi

ThiChi

ThiChi

ThiChi

hillary_step

Share this