The President should see this documentary
I mean he has never seen action in person maybe this would really wake him up so to speak. You could tell that some of the doctors were actually against the War.
shareI am not a Bush fan but I do not think it would make him change his mind or his speech about Iraq. I have a feeling he watched it, though.
shareI think, unfortunately, it is above our presiden't head. He only watches cartoons and Fox News.
share"Cartoons and Fox News"
Aren't they the same thing? Sorry, couldn't resist.
But seriously, here's one of my favorite quotes from one of my heroes (one I find particularly gemane):
"It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong."
-Thomas Jefferson, (letter to Rev. James Madison, July 19, 1788)
A man's got to know his limitations.share
I really dont understand how people are so shocked at what they see here? And I dont mean shocked by the gore and having to watch soldiers dies right before your eyes. It really got to me as far as that goes too... But, as far as not knowing this stuff was happening? Who didnt know this? What do people think war is? When you hear on the news 2 killed 3 others wounded what do you think that is? Yes, seeing the images is very very hard to watch. But, I know that I knew going into seeing this what it would be.
The president knows what is happening. But, he cant concern himself with worrying about each soldier that gets hit. You just cant lead that way. Do you think Roosevelt or Churchill were thinkning about all of the death that their desisions lead to? No, that could drive a man insane... And when that man has the big picture to worry about I dont want him to go insane.
Roosevelt and Churchill were leading countries that had been attacked by Germany and Japan. That gave them the moral high ground. Iraq never attacked the United States. Sadaam Hussein killed fundamentalist activists as quickly as he killed any dissenters to his regime. The question about this war isn't what is going on, but why? Fifteen of the hijackers were Saudi. The other four were from our other allies Kuwait and UAE. They were financed by a Saudi who operated out of Afghanistan. Attack Afghanistan? Yes. Iraq? I don't think so. The point of the film is that war is hell, and you had better be damned sure that you are sending our young men and women off as a last resort and for the right reasons, not for some reason that keeps changing.
shareI dont want to get into all of the reasons for war and what not. I think we are in the right and I will just leave it at that. I am sure we disagree. But, my point still stands. I was refering to leadership. Not the reasons for the wars. Regardless of why we are at war we are at war. And like I said, in order to lead he can't concern himself with that stuff. Just the same as an officer in the field has to try and detatch himself from concern for his men when something needs to be accomplished. It doesnt mean they are ignorant to what is happening or that they don't care. Just that they can't focus on it... Know what I mean?
shareExcept for the statement, "I think we are right" I DO know what you mean. Of course that's a little like saying, "Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" Before the war Iraqi women were not forced to wear veils. Now, in many parts of Iraq, and probably soon all of Iraq, they are. In the cold war this country supported a lot of dictatorships because they maintained a rule of law and were against communism. Our enemy is real. It is fundamentalist, extremist Islamists. The enemy of our enemy should be our friend. Sadaam Hussein was the enemy of our enemy. Hence the Iran/Iraq war. Now we have created a "democracy" that is aligned with Iran and can't wait for us to get out. I appreciate your patriotism. I am a patriot too, but it doesn't hurt to know the facts and think from time to time.
shareI, like many in Congress and our president, thought that Iraq would embrace their ability to lead without fear of the dictator Saddam. I thought, along with our President, that after we pushed the Republican Guard out, that they would jump on board and fight to lead their own country.
Now, the Iraqi people are infiltrated with insurgents that use terror on a daily basis to scare the people into not helping the U.S. soldiers. Above freedom, people want to survive. They want to live in peace. They do not want to endanger their lives and the lives of their family. And this is why we are still there and are still trying to set up police and government in Iraq. And because of this unorganization, the insurgents can effectively hide and build their IED's and move around disguised as local Iraqi's.
Hopefully, with strides like taking out major leaders, we will encourage Iraqi's to take over their own country. They will realize that civil war will not help the situation. They will realise that to have a government where the majority rule instead of the dictator and his minority government is a good thing. And this type of government can keep people safe. That local police, with citizen involvement, will keep them safe. That they can live without fear of walking in the street because a sniper may be around the corner. because their neighbor has already seen the sniper and called the police.
Yes, it was bad planning. Bad planning to go there and not have a set in stone plan to organize their new government. part of that problem goes to wanting the Iraqi's to make their own plan. Not force an American plan down their throats. And this backfired on us. Now, our soldiers are patrolling Iraqi, keeping it safer, just to buy more time for Iraqi's to make their own government and train their police and soldiers.
With that said, I am proud of my president. To me, he is a great example of what an American Leader should be. A person who listens to the people and takes action instead of constantly talking and getting nowhere. We were attacked, and he made the promise that everyone, including me, wanted to hear. And with the information at hand, we invaded Afghanistan, and Iraq. And I will back my president for everything he has done.
As for the person who said that some of the doctors are against the war, I think they may be reading that wrong. They aren't against THE war, they are against ALL war. Because people die, and people get injured, and it looks like they make no difference because people keep coming in the door on a stretcher. And that would be expected from anyone that is seeing only the bad side of the war EVERY DAY. They don't see the hundreds of patrols that have Soldiers playing soccer with the kids on the street. The doctors only see the 5 guys that were brought in today because a convoy was attacked by an IED. And that is discouraging. And that is understandable.
War is not a good thing, but it is often nessesary to start change. And I believe that Iraq will eventually be a better place. Just like America, after 200 years, has become a better place. Iraq, with much less time, will be a better place. It doesn't happen over night, but because of our experience, it will happen faster.
I appreciate the sentiment in the latest posting, but a realitly check is in order. The Iraqi people DID have a police force and a military. Instead of getting rid of their leaders and telling them to tow the line we disbanded them. Who do you think the people are who are trying to be soldiers and policemen now? The same desperate people who hated Sadaam, but took the job because they had to.
As for our president, if he were a head of a corporation he would have been fired long ago. His incompetence is stunning. Cutting taxes and fighting a war is unprecedented in all of history. Our soldiers did an amazing job of capturing that country, but the reason that the military allowed Baghdad Er to be photographed was in part because the generals on the ground have had it. Their soldiers were trained to take a hill and secure it. They weren't trained to be policemen in a foreign land where they don't speak the language or know the customs.
If you watched that documentary you may have noticed the carefulness with which soldiers tip toed around when they were outside the green zone. That's the safe part of Iraq. The green zone.
Will the Iraqi people be better off in the long run? Not if they have an Iranian style fundamentalist government. Are they better off now? No. I hate to say it, but go ask the Iraqis and they will tell you.
The one thing that I agree with the previous writer on is that the doctors in the film are anit war, but not necessarily anti this war. It's war in general that they abhor. They see the consequences.
ok since we are off the topic of what the president does and does not know I'll express my opinion a little farther.
The way I see it we are fighting terrorism in Iraq. Did Iraq have anything to do with 9-11? Not directly no. Did they harbor terrorists? Probably. So, the reason we invaded Iraq was not only to fight terrorism...
We invaded Iraq for more than one reason. The one everyone knew about from the get go was b/c Saddam had WMD's. I definetly don't want to get into this b/c it is an argument that goes nowhere. But, hind sight is 20/20 so look at your perspective before the invasion. Everyone thought Iraq had WMD's. That is all that matters. Turns out they didnt. Bush looks like an A-hole for going on bad information that just about every leader in the world also agreed upon. Anyway, this isnt the only reason we invaded. This is just the one reason that is acceptable for a nation that doesnt want a war will hear. If a case was made with these equaly important but not as popular reasons there would have been no support for the invasion from the get go. Another reason for this war was b/c Iraq was starting a program to sell Oil for Euros. This would be devastatiing to our economy. The power that the Dollar has is b/c oil has to be purchased with the dollar. So, a country like China will sell us goods at a low price b/c the dollar is very valuable. And as a nation that doesnt really make things anymore, we need this kind of buying power. There is more to it than that but I wont get into it. Another reason for this war, although people don't want to believe America would do something good, was to liberate Iraq and out Saddam. Something else that has happened is we now have a heavy military presense in a very unstable part of the world. If Iran decided to attack Israel right now we are in a pretty good position to do something about it. And unfortunatly(i say that b/c i think israel could handle their own problems) we would do something about it. The last thing; fighting terrorism. We are right in the heart of it all. Right in messopotamia. To fight terrorists who have no state or country what better place to fight them? These people don't think in terms of nations. They just dont see things that way. They dont see us as being in Iraq they see us as being in the middle east... Right in the motherland. And say you are a young terrorist looking to kill yourself some infidels, are you going to make the long trip to America where you are lucky if you can even get into the country and move let alone pull off an attack? Or do you take the short trip to Iraq and team up with a bunch of other idiots right there? So, the way I see it we are most definetly fighting terrorism.
The outcome of this war remains to be seen. It is a long long way away but I think better times are ahead for our troops and Iraqis. If we man up and stick it out we can finish what we started. It will just take some time. Probably a lot more time than people realize...
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whatever you say dude...
and I'll ask you not to insult me, I didnt insult you. Just because someone doesnt think what you want them to think doesnt mean they are an idiot or ignorant.
point well taken. I apologize. I really hate Bush, but one of my best friends is one of Bush's best friends. They were in the same frat at Yale. I certainly don't hold it against him.
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