I would LOVE to see security in Iraq improve to the point where there is no longer a plausible rationale for keeping US combat troops and permanent military bases in the country. Then perhaps we'll see if there was ever any intent to leave.
The intent to stay or ever leave being "planned" in advance is a
stretch in my humble opinion as inept and disastrous the rest of the planning had been.....a democratic western Christian superpower being hailed as "liberators" in the Middle East?
This flies in the face of the regions entire history...a reasoned plan for invading a Middle Eastern nation
should have taken this into account......
Failure to base their plans on a realistic understanding of the Middle East does not negate the existence of a plan or reveal their intent. It is much more conceivable that in their ideological groupthink and confidence in U.S. military power they severely miscalculated, than that they had no idea of their own intent regarding a permanent military presence in Iraq.
To better evaluate their intent, one should pay attention to the
PNAC agenda shared by the architects of the invasion in the Bush administration.
That being said...referring to an earlier post of mine on another thread:
Regardless of the reason for invading....the single reason we cannot leave is oil...but they will NEVER tell you this which in my mind makes them ALL worthless.It doesn't really matter what the reason is we invaded at this point, I'm done with the "blame game"...I am most concerned with how to extricate ourselves from an occupation that will continue to chew through economic resources like a buzzsaw....everyone is all relieved that the killing is down to what it was a year and a half ago...which is still alot of killing...and the primary factor in this is our presence...does ANYONE believe it will stay this way if we pull out COMPLETELY?...or are you all happy with a PERMANENT presence in the most inhospitable region to a democratic western Christian superpower on the planet?
To better clarify....
if PNAC was the impetus responsible for going to Iraq...and the Democrats win the White House and sweep Congress...publically denounces anything to do with PNAC....and ferrets out anyone ever associated with PNAC from our government....it doesn't change the fact the Democrats WILL NOT leave Iraq either because of oil.
NO ONE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT will tell you...the American taxpayers, citizens and voters of this reality...
Our government...PNAC OR NOT...will not leave the worlds second largest oil reserves up for grabs...and the ONLY way to ensure that does not happen is to keep American soldiers sitting on them.
Why is it the ones YOU support for President do not tell you this?
I am disgusted with the lot of them.....regardless of political affiliation.
Patton,
We don't seem to be in disagreement here regarding the current situation and the real reasons for our prersence in Iraq. I also share your disgust with the politicians in Washington. If the United States of America truly wants to be an example to the world of a representative democracy founded upon the informed consent of the governed, then citizens must not be misled and continually lied to by their own government.
If the truth is essential now, it is also essential to shed light on how we got into this situation. Can you expose the lies keeping us in Iraq without also exposing the lies that took us there? I don't think the American people can be fully empowered with self-government and prevent debacles like this in the future if we are kept in the dark about how and why we were misled into Iraq. Nor can we hope to resolve the current situation if the public continues to believe a false premise.
Unfortunately, none of this can be extricated from partisan electoral politics. If everything surrounding this mess were as fully exposed as one could hope for, politicians would take advantage of it any way they can. It's the nature of politics. But if we are ever to change politics in this country for the better, we need an informed citizenry and elected representatives who are held accountable for their actions.
By the way, the two presidential candidates for whom I have the most respect are Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, both of whom are not perpetuators of the lies that took us into Iraq or advocates of a long term presence there. They are also polar opposites on domestic policy and have practically zero chance of winning their party's nomination. I don't support
ANY candidate yet, but will, as always, vote for the lesser of evils in the general election.
