Hawaii Libertarian
Member
- Joined
- May 10, 2007
- Messages
- 127
What is the Objective of the War?
During WW II (our last declared war), at least there were unambiguous objectives--the unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan. The empty rhetoric we get from the administration is that we'll leave when the "job is done." Unfortunately for the troops, the definition of what exactly "the job" is keeps shifting. Muslim extremism and factional hatred has been rife in the region for over 1000 years. Ironically, Saddam's Hussein's regime was secular and thanks to his toppling, we have made a bad situation worse. Yes, Bush and by extension the U.S. is indeed responsible, but we will never be able to impose a "peaceful" Iraq on their people as long as the government is a theocracy.
Tell your friend to read the new Iraqi constitution. It's not a clone of our constitution, but it set-up an Islamic state instead with the blessing of our government. The problem is, few of our leaders and policymakers understand the "irrationality" of Arab politics as Dr. Paul described it.
The troops will continue to get slaughtered as long as the status quo continues. Short of surging several hundred thousand more combat soldiers into the country, things will not get better. Thing about the occupation of Japan and Germany after WW II--it took years to establish new governments and transition power there, and we didn't have suicidal fanatics in Japan once the Emperor there renounced his divinity.
The bottom line is that the neocon plan for "planting the seeds of freedom" in the Muslim Middle East is naive at best, and criminally irresponsible at the worst. Yes, withdrawal will be painful, but like Vietnam, it is the wrong war at the wrong time and our nation does not have the collective will to pay the ultimate price in lives, maimed limbs, and fiscal resources to see it to a conclusion.
With the "terrorists" hiding among the civil population, it would literally take a "scorched earth" policy with thousands of innocent civilian casualties to sift out the insurgents from the "peaceful" civilians. The problem is, the "terrorists" don't wear uniforms. Like the Viet Cong, you can't tell an enemy combatant from an innocent civilian on sight. We fight by the Law of Armed Conflict, but the insurgents don't.
The real tragedy is that while the troops suffer and die, the Administration architects of the failed war left the Department of Defense and landed cushy jobs as a reward. How anyone can hire Doug Feith or Paul Wolfowitz for any job of significant responsibility after the Iraq fiasco is one of the great mysteries to me, (unless they're being rewarded for being establishment yes men.)
During WW II (our last declared war), at least there were unambiguous objectives--the unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan. The empty rhetoric we get from the administration is that we'll leave when the "job is done." Unfortunately for the troops, the definition of what exactly "the job" is keeps shifting. Muslim extremism and factional hatred has been rife in the region for over 1000 years. Ironically, Saddam's Hussein's regime was secular and thanks to his toppling, we have made a bad situation worse. Yes, Bush and by extension the U.S. is indeed responsible, but we will never be able to impose a "peaceful" Iraq on their people as long as the government is a theocracy.
Tell your friend to read the new Iraqi constitution. It's not a clone of our constitution, but it set-up an Islamic state instead with the blessing of our government. The problem is, few of our leaders and policymakers understand the "irrationality" of Arab politics as Dr. Paul described it.
The troops will continue to get slaughtered as long as the status quo continues. Short of surging several hundred thousand more combat soldiers into the country, things will not get better. Thing about the occupation of Japan and Germany after WW II--it took years to establish new governments and transition power there, and we didn't have suicidal fanatics in Japan once the Emperor there renounced his divinity.
The bottom line is that the neocon plan for "planting the seeds of freedom" in the Muslim Middle East is naive at best, and criminally irresponsible at the worst. Yes, withdrawal will be painful, but like Vietnam, it is the wrong war at the wrong time and our nation does not have the collective will to pay the ultimate price in lives, maimed limbs, and fiscal resources to see it to a conclusion.
With the "terrorists" hiding among the civil population, it would literally take a "scorched earth" policy with thousands of innocent civilian casualties to sift out the insurgents from the "peaceful" civilians. The problem is, the "terrorists" don't wear uniforms. Like the Viet Cong, you can't tell an enemy combatant from an innocent civilian on sight. We fight by the Law of Armed Conflict, but the insurgents don't.
The real tragedy is that while the troops suffer and die, the Administration architects of the failed war left the Department of Defense and landed cushy jobs as a reward. How anyone can hire Doug Feith or Paul Wolfowitz for any job of significant responsibility after the Iraq fiasco is one of the great mysteries to me, (unless they're being rewarded for being establishment yes men.)
