A DIFFERING VIEW: Inconsistent on Iraq
In its July 7 editorial, “Iraq, the reassessment,” the Rocky Mountain News wrote: “Two months ago, we argued against the attempts of some Democrats to impose a timetable for withdrawal on the Bush administration. That is still the path of folly, as Domenici and Lugar both recognize.”
The editorial concludes by stating: “To paraphrase Domenici, Americans cannot ask their troops to sacrifice indefinitely if the Iraqis appear more committed to sectarian domination than to defeating the Islamic radicals in their midst.”
But, if not “indefinitely,” then isn’t establishing a timetable or some parameters for the Iraqi government a viable option?
I don’t see any folly in that.
Rick Kearney is a resident of Colorado Springs.
If you tell a bank robber that the police will only look for him for a set amount of time then there is an open invitation to lawlessness. I disagree with the ridiculous way this war has been handled and hope the troops are given permission to be soldiers instead of social workers soon. If not then it is time to leave but we must let the military decide and make no grand political announcements We just tell the Iraqis goodluck and good bye.
Posted by momma y on July 23, 2007 12:40 AMMomma- I'm not sure how your attempted comparison of a rather mundane crime and the police effort needed to solve it compare in any way with the invasion/occupation of a sovereign foreign nation that posed no threat to us and damn little to its neighbors in the region.
Seems to me that our extended presence in that benighted place only creates a greater probability of casualties American and Iraqi, and extends the operating life of the very best live-fire school in American doctrine, tactics, and weapons that we could hand any terrorist organization, along with the recruiting propaganda they need to further extend their influence.
It also seems that our extended occupation provides the erstwhile Iraqi government a way to avoiddealing with very real internal problems.
Take a look at the latest Discover magazine so you can see how we have improved the Iraq health care and hospital situation.
After you see those pictures, and read the text then be prepared the next time a Bush apologist tells the forum the situation is improving in Iraq, why just look at all those new hospitals we build for them.
The comparison is simple. We can make the decision to leave or not as it meets our needs and national goals. What we don't do is to announce such an action in advance. And I also repeat that if we aren't going to fight we need to leave. Let the soldiers be soldiers without a touchy feely oversight. We were successful in other wars because we decided to fight. Right now I doubt that we even have an idea of how to do that.
I would merely use our superior forces and tecnology to flatten any area of violence. But I'm not sure any of our leaders has enough guts to be a real war-time leader. So I say we have only two options: fight or leave.
We touchy- feely progressives who just hate it when one or two of our troops rape a girl, and then kill her and her family have no business telling soldiers how to fight. And we certainly have no idea how to interrogate prisoners, we should leave that to trained....oh wait those weren`t trained interrogators, they were just folks having some fun.
Posted by Sharon B. on July 24, 2007 12:02 AMSharon B.
Time after time after time, soldiers, sailors and marines come back to the States and say that the media is telling a completely different story than what is really going on in Iraq. But that is no surprise. People love to complain about the fact that there is blood and guts being spilled but they also love to look at it. It’s the train-wreck syndrome. And who in the media wants to tell boring stories of successes in Iraq when their audience wants to see the train wreck?
Of course, Discovery magazine is the source of all accurate facts on that issue you brought up, right?
What makes you think that Discovery magazine doesn't have a strong bias against the war, just as you do, and would only show the bad aspects without showing any of the positives?
Posted by Mountain Cat on July 24, 2007 04:45 PM