Cost of Iraq War

[NYGman]

None of those things were mistakes. Everyone is getting paid off of that war. Everyone at the top anyway.

Originally Posted by NormalBob

jack...Rumsfeld explicitly commanded his senior officers to not plan for the "Stabilization Phase" of the Iraq intervention prior to kick-off.

That single stupid fucking mistake and the subsequent decisions to shut down the Iraqi Army and Basque party should stand in isolation.

It was a major fuck up.

Sure Bush should have caught it but he didn't.

The Afghanistan surge of Obama was probably more stupid because it was directed from the Office of the President.

[jackfengshui]

Originally Posted by jackfengshui

Our nine-year incursion in Iraq is finally and thankfully coming to an end, leaving behind an unstable Iraq vulnerable to Iranian influence.

Originally Posted by george79v

I think the real cost of Iraq war is transfer of all the power in the region to Iran.

We are on the same page about Iran.

[GP]

Jack, it is nice to see you finally starting to open up again and letting your liberal thoughts shine through in your posts. Nice not being a mod again, isn't it? We haven't had any political discussions in a long while.

[jackfengshui]

Originally Posted by GP

Jack, it is nice to see you finally starting to open up again and letting your liberal thoughts shine through in your posts.

My motivation for this thread was neither "political" nor "liberal". It was supposed to be about historical facts and lessons learned. I might not have done a very good job.

[GP]

Then lets see you make a post that can teach us some historical facts and lessons learned (with a negative connotation as you did above) about a past president who was a democrat.

[jackfengshui]

Originally Posted by GP

Then lets see you make a post that can teach us some historical facts and lessons learned (with a negative connotation as you did above) about a past president who was a democrat.

Perhaps it's time for a "Monica Lewinsky" thread. For more current interest, how about an "Obama the Muslim" or "Obama's Birth Place" thread?

[GP]

It is almost as if you enjoy provoking people with things (threads) that you darn well know will inevitably deteriorate in an argument. I wonder who that sounds like? LOL

[jackfengshui]

I was sincere about the intent of this thread. If it ended up "provoking" a meaningful dialog between those who only watch Fox News and those who only watch MSNBC, it might not be a bad thing.

[offshoredrilling]

Originally Posted by jackfengshui

Perhaps it's time for a "Monica Lewinsky" thread. For more current interest, how about an "Obama the Muslim" or "Obama's Birth Place" thread?

Many in Iraq went to Afghanistan. and will not be home

Hillary's sex would be more fun. did not get as much press and Billy was nothing next to her in more ways than one

Obama Muslim duh I forgot what was used as ceremony to prez, but all offices before that was not a bible. and I think we still free to pick.

Waste of time, we will never know where.


thanks for the thread jack

[GP]

Originally Posted by jackfengshui

I was sincere about the intent of this thread. If it ended up "provoking" a meaningful dialog between those who only watch Fox News and those who only watch MSNBC, it might not be a bad thing.

Then I am glad I do not watch any domestic news. pheeew!

[DDarkness]

Now this I do find interesting and typically I would open up on both sides of the politico for the way that this was handled BUT I will simply say as someone with just a little understanding of the situation that this WHOLE situation was SNAFU and that unfortunately the next stop really is looking like Iran. The Middle East is a quagmire that we had no business getting involved in! The first mistake the govt. made was having a united coalition of nations behind us and then stopping at the doorstep during the first gulf war. The move should have been to 'address' Sadam at that time and neutralize the threat to prevent the need for Gulf War II, Afghanistan, and the prospect of a conflict in Iran.

The Book "How To Make Friends and Influence Enemies" should be required reading for ANY DUMBASS going into or in politics. Those in power on either the left or the right fuck things up simply because they don't have a grasp on reality!

The Mantras "Kill 'em' All Let God Sort 'em' Out" or 'Because we are the most powerful economic and military force on the globe we have a responsibility to ..." just doesn't fly!

Working together with global partners we will accomplish tremendous things TOGETHER! thats why we have partners! If we walk into a foreign country thinking we know best we will quickly find out that we don't know shit!!!!

Jack I appreciate you starting this thread and it does/has engendered an interesting discussion!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=FHJi2QXwX8E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWRu80jgKzk

Oh and Merry Christmas DD

[drluv1]

Brown University did a study putting the cost of both wars at 3.5 to 4 trillion through 2017. The future costs, taking care of the soldier's medical costs, our limited presence in those areas and INTEREST OF THE DEBT INCURRED FROM THESE QUAGMIRES will at least double those numbers.

[GP]

Originally Posted by Neville Chamberlain

In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers.

I am pretty sure that, generally speaking, everyone would agree with the above quote. But I think it would take someone who can really put on their thinking cap and be able to explain how in certain cases, a war can also be a success. People always seem to focus on the negatives and rarely take notice of the positives, especially the media. What can we say; blood, gore and sex sells.

Originally Posted by John Milton

Every cloud has a silver lining

[NormalBob]

Originally Posted by DDarkness

The Middle East is a quagmire that we had no business getting involved in! The first mistake the govt. made was having a united coalition of nations behind us and then stopping at the doorstep during the first gulf war. The move should have been to 'address' Sadam at that time and neutralize the threat to prevent the need for Gulf War II, Afghanistan, and the prospect of a conflict in Iran.

As you know, the West has had business there for 2000 years or more. The Ottoman Empire was the unified Muslim response. With the West dependent upon oil, there is no way to avoid involvement.

As far as the coalition of nations go and whether that was the right time to take down Hussein, it's hard to say. The coalition was necessary from a domestic and a Saudi politics perspective.

[george79v]

Originally Posted by jackfengshui

We are on the same page about Iran.

Also, Iraq's Shiite ruling party is now replaced with Sunni - same as Iran's ruling establishment. We are more or less walking out of Iraq, making it a buddy state for Iran ..