Re: Way off topic, but it has do to with rednecks

Just curious... What is your definition of "Iraq succeeding"? I must
admit, I've been watching... and I haven't been seeing anything I
would define as "success" -- Certainly not when the total costs of war
(in $$$ and lives and the global perception of our country) are
factored in...

Gosh, even the mainstream media here in America -- normally anything but Bush allies -- have been documenting our success in Iraq over the last six months (which tells you that it really started probably a year earlier, given the "impartial journalists" in this country) -- and the non-mainstream media have been taking note for far longer. It's hard to believe anyone could actually ask this question anymore.

General Petraeus has found the right mix of "carrots and sticks" in working with the various tribes in Iraq. He has worked hard to forge alliances with the Iraqis to unite against the Al Queda operatives who were laying waste to their country. Normal life has returned to most of Iraq, violence is down to levels that would make large American inner cities envious, and real progress has been made to eradicate AQ.

Schools are open, roads have been rebuilt, power plants are back on line, telecommunications systems are working, commerce is growing, and the latest polls show Iraqi citizens are increasingly happy with the way things are going. Because of "the Surge", our troops are numerous enough to be out amongst the citizens again, instead of cowering in safe havens, and are providing a stable sense of law and order that normal Iraqis (and people all over the world, for that matter) need and want.

By any measure, this is known as "success" -- and even the most rabid Bush-bashers have been forced to admit it.

Both Obama and Clinton, with their calls for retreat, are looking more out of step with reality every day -- but it's hurting Hillary's campaign the worst. As Iraq fades from public view, and attention is focused on domestic worries, Obama's message for "change" becomes more compelling.

Now, of course, you can argue that success took too long, and cost too many lives, and we shouldn't have invaded, and any of a hundred other postulations -- but the bottom line is this: At this point we need a stable, peaceful, Iraq, allied with us against AQ and radical Islam. Gen. Petraeus and the U.S. Army is making that happen, and -- although it's still a tenuous situation -- it's a beautiful thing to see, after so much bloodshed and waste.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Way off topic, but it has do to with rednecks
    ... Bush allies -- have been documenting our success in Iraq over the last six ... Bush-bashers have been forced to admit it. ... along with the thousands of lives lost or ruined is a small/non- ...
    (rec.aviation.piloting)
  • Re: OT - Moving south of the border
    ... country and we need to take steps to secure the borders to ... that wish to enter the country temporarily to work. ... uglier lives to show for our efforts. ... The number of Americans killed in Iraq as of April 08, 2006 is 2,352. ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)
  • Re: Banned weapons
    ... lives, and where was your concern when the Bush gang bombed to ... regime that left untold numbers mutilated and scarred and even ... Iraq from the Ba'athist domination. ... International mayem than the Liberation of a belegured country. ...
    (alt.politics)
  • Re: From Iraq: A Letter to the British People
    ... The jews have made the christians bomb your country. ... > A Letter to the British People from a Daughter of Iraq ... > honesty that we too grieve when human lives pass away. ...
    (uk.media)
  • Re: Before you die lists
    ... Ah, the mendacity of him to admit that even if Iraq forms a stable government tomorrow and all the insurgents pack up to go home, we'll end up with a long-term military presence in the country. ... even if the word is so antiquated that my Microsoft Word program regards it as a spelling error. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)