Anyone else think that this is just not working out too well? When is it going to end?
Could end up being Mission Impossible. It seems insurgents are being created faster than they can be captured or killed. My vote would have been to not go in the first place, but we’ll still have to wait and see.
What were your expectations during this time period?
Do the math. If it continues at this rate it will mean 1569.5 dead troops per annum.
Chin up, Mopdahl-
These pesky insurgents may be putting the “o” in “last throes”…but better to drive a lightly-armored Marine Amphibious Vehicle over a massive IED near Haditha, Iraq than to ship (at great taxpayer expense) the massive IED, the MAV, the insurgents and the 14 Marines back to Anytown, USA and drive over it there.
Freedom is untidy.
Do the math. If it continues at this rate it will mean 1569.5 dead troops per annum.
Is that the proper way to predict annual casualties in an armed conflict?
Staying in Iraq makes no sense. Going made less sense. If my son were over there (he almost became a Marine pilot) I would be horrified. Talk about senseless death…
Nothing is being gained. NOTHING.
As an ex-Marine I really feel sorry for those guys. Shades of "Nam.
-Robert
certainly not a dramatic increase in the casualty rates.
Going in was wrong. Leaving would be worse. We have to finish the job.
and what would that be? what constitutes “finished”?
Anyone else think that this is just not working out too well? When is it going to end?
Honestly…when aliens invade…or the ice caps start melting at some catastrophic rate…or when a meteor hits the Earth. I really see no other scenario outside of something catastrophic that could alter the state of consciousness of mankind such that everybody is on the same plane. For war to cease it’s going to mean humanity must “unite or die.”
We should have taken a lesson from the ruskies afghan campaign, and not replayed their desert Viet nam.
All those young guys gone , killed with road side bombs - patrolling - shot down in choppers going nowhere / dusty landing brown out crashes.
One of my wife’s clients (she’s a tax accountant) mentioned how much he supported Bush and the Bush administration’s focused war effort (I think there a convoluted oxymoron in there somewhere). She asked him why he hadn’t joined up. He felt that he could accomplish a lot more for our country by staying here (US). With our son over there with the Marines it just didn’t sit to well with her. She seriously considered crushing his head with her keyboard.
“We have to finish the job.”
Exactly what is the job? What was it to begin with? What is it now? And what kind of time-line are you thinking of at this point?
We made a mistake going in. We must not abandon those who are on “our” side. We will leave the whole region in worse shape than when we went in if we abandon.
It is a shame but my feeling is we will abandon them starting next year.
Edit- And actually I am not sure of the job except to bring stability to Iraq. The “insurgents” are waging a very smart war. They have time on their side. We dont.
I dont have a timelne or a plan, but then again I dont really need one. They dont listen to me anyway.
Jay, sorry about your son.
I hope he makes it home alive, well and soon and that the war experience doesn’t have lasting effects on him.
I deleted the post I had up earlier, as I’ve done a lot lately, as it’s just not worth it. Since Jay responded to it, here’s the gist of it:
War mongers disgust me. They are all mongering from under their mommy’s skirts.
“Freedom is untidy” is an easy thing to say when bullets aren’t flying around your head and when your kid isn’t getting shot at.
Army is having trouble recruiting, but none of the war mongers are signing up.
The war mongers in the Army are the worst. I’m sure one could get transferred to Iraq if one asked hard enough.
Go fight for the “freedom”, chickens.
“Nothing is being gained. NOTHING.”
In 2001, about three weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center and the United Airlines Flight brought down in Pennsylvania, I was standing on a berm in the middle east overlooking the West Bank where an ancient war between the Palestinians and the Israelis was being waged.
I turned to a friend of mine, a Palestinian, and said, “Ak, I honestly don’t see what you guys are fighting for. There is nothing much out there…”
He turned to me and said, “That is because you are already free.”
We owe the Iraqis a chance at a free, self governing, sovereign country free from tyranny. It will be a long, long struggle with a terrible, terrible cost.
Is freedom worth it? Ask any man who lives without freedom.
We owe the Iraqis a chance at a free, self governing, sovereign country free from tyranny.
So that is the reason we are over there? When are we going to start in on the dictatorships in Africa?
It will be a long, long struggle with a terrible, terrible cost.
Fine, lay it out to the American people what the cost will be in $$ & in lives & see if the go for it. The administration is doing a good job at sweeping the messy details under the rug, but the majority of Americans no longer support the war or think that going there in the first place was worth it. Who is bearing the cost of the war anyway? Certainly not the politicos–I don’t see many of their sons or daughters over there fighting.
You seem to have drank an extra crimson glass of kool-aid this morning.
You appear to have very distorted views and unrealistic expections when it comes to armed conflict. You seem to think that everyone will have the answers, plans and casualty counts prior to firing the first weapon.
When America started its march to freedom the likes of France came to our aid and lost soldiers in the process. Thank God that their leaders didn’t have the views that you have. They believed in the cause like we do in the case of Iraq.
Michael…freedom is untidy.
" We owe the Iraqis a chance at a free, self governing, sovereign country free from tyranny. It will be a long, long struggle with a terrible, terrible cost.
Is freedom worth it? Ask any man who lives without freedom. "
How is it Joe Blow’s job to bring “freedom” to Iraq?
Why Iraq? Iran isn’t very democratic or free. What about Mauritania, one of US anti-terror partners?
What about Saudi Arabia? What about Uzbekistan? United Arab Emirates? Egypt? Jordan?
None of these countries are free or democratic, yet somehow that is ok. Not only is it ok, they receive quite a bit of US military aid to keep their dictators in power.
So why are Iraqis deserving of sacrifice and those other countries aren’t?