It would be interesting to see if peoples opinions changed if they actually had access to the complete factual truth and intelligence the government does not disclose because of national security issues. I served in the military 1973-75 during the Vietnam conflict and am very patriotic and I respect and love this great country. I do not take what we have for granted, too many people who object to war do. I believe the leaders we have now will continue do what is right for the security of this country. They want their children to prosper as well-no matter what public opinion is-(please reread the first sentence). Those of you who voice your opinions need to keep in mind that you only know what you've been told and heard from your preferred source. If you want to continue living the way you do, trust our leaders and stand behind them. When the President of the United States stands before the world and states our enemy will grow stronger and follow us here if we do not finish the current battle and defeat this enemy -you would be foolish not to believe him.

blog no.1 is correct in his assumption, another cleric will replace the one that is eliminated. it reminds of the state run russian church, when one pastor became radical they would eliminate him, but the congregation always had a replacement. everybody in the church was a preacher, same in islam, you will never eliminate what you think is the problem, you will not change who they are, and what they have been for 2000 years. we are not the solution. no matter what you do listen to god he'll tell you.

For those advocating "wiping out" Sadr City, please consider that doing so would result in massive civilian loss of life. While some of you may not be bothered by that and view it as acceptable in a time of war, you must still acknowledge the outrage this would generate. It would effectively be a casus beli for a variety of groups. However, this is all irelevant. What the Colonel does not allude to is the fact that the Iraqi army is HEAVILY infiltrated with "insurgents" and foreign agents. That's a game over scenario. Contrary to the majority opinion, this outcome was not a surprise to the Bush administration. A quagmire was precisely what was desired. Bush is many things, but stupid is not one of them. The White House was well aware that disbanding the army would result in chaos. Doing so gave him something he much desired: an excuse to be in the middle east. Not to display power or promote democracy but rather to commit "income dedistribution." Many people have made a fortune off of the war. Nearly all are associates of Bush. The only reason a rich country goes to war is to get richer.

Strangely, it seems there is nothing left to do. Of course, this is a patently foolish strategy militarily and politically; the equivalent of pumping the gas in a car with a flooded engine. Surge indeed! Yet what else can mighty America do now that GWB has reduced this storied nation to pitifully flailing away at an enemy who has us bloodied and has beaten us nearly senseless. An enemy largely created out of the shards of hubris. We can't win. We can't quit. So we pump on the gas in futility until the fumes overwhelm us or the engine blows up. When the last page of American history is written, this sad era will undoubtedly have a bleak chapter unto itself, this year 2007, may well be portrayed as the Year of Dread and Death, the dirge of the American Ideal. "The horror. The horror!"

Jim Potee said: "I don't think Americans have bothered to stop and think how sick they're going to feel if they turn on the news and see jihadists dancing in the streets of Iraq stomping and burning american flags while cheers of victory over the U.S. echo,..." Well Jim, I have and I will not be sick at all. I teach kids to be able to walk away from a fight. If the bullies want to jump up and down claiming victory, let them. What have they won? If Bush is right and chaos ensues, they will be so busy fighting in Iraq, they won't have time to fight us. Plus we will have trrops in the region for strikes if they do set up training camps. And our troops would be freed up to fight terrorism and not just sectarian violence in one country. Okay, we would have to stop pounding our own chests and chanting "we're number one" but on the whole it sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

President Bush: Standing tall, but facing a wall, while all our problems are behind him. They are looming large, but who's in charge? Is there a plan at all?

It is easy to see that Jack Davis and all the military personnel that he claims approve of this war have not taken the time to really dig and get all the facts. Just knowing the history of the region and how it is so strongly and entirely interwoven with religion would open their eyes. It is a shame that they follow this "Commander-in-Chief" with such blind faith. It will cost many of them their lives, and all will be for naught, as it has been for those 3000 plus brave and courageous men lost over there for WHAT? Bush was warned that starting a war over there would destabilize not only that area but the whole world, and this has come to pass. There is no solution to this mess, and he is buying time just until his term is finished, and then as he stated recently, he will turn it over to the next newly elected president to figure out. What a nice guy!

I just wanted to comment to the idiots that spout off about they (the Iraqis) attacked us 9/11. Yo, idiots, they were Saudi Arabians for the most part. NONE of them were from IRAQ. That just proves how absolutely idiotic you are. The war was planned well before 9/11 by Dick Cheney.

Everyone thinks they know whats good for us soldiers fighting this Holy War you guys know very little and care very little about the American Soldier we are just numbers we are just statistics in and on going war fueled with mis-information and John Wayne bravado, we are not the officers fighting the war from a command center far away from the actual battle that you see on CNN we are carefully trained on how to talk to the media so not to make our leadership look like the dumbas*'s they are we are the one pulling shifts thru the night in order to protect eachother ,the ones pointing weapons at underpasses while we convoy thru the triangle on death taking nodoze to keep ourselves awake , the same one's removing bodies from the back of vehicles that resemble the soldier you ate next too the other day...the one's kissing our sons and daughters and wives goodbye maybe for the last time...while right wingers scream stay the course ...what do you know about sacrifice ....ruck up or shutup!

It is amazing how some people still believe our president is doing the right thing now,that he should have done it before.There is a general that advised the administration and the pentagon we would need around 500000 soldiers to occupy,stabilize and rebuild Iraq.His opinion was not given enough consideration and now we are in a mess,a sectarian war that historically has been happening but our president chooses to stay the course by sending more troops .This administration is using different terms such as augmentation instead "escalation" or new way forward instead "staying the course".Can we not see it?Not even his top generals wanted more troops(by the way they are being replaced by those that see things the same way the administration does)Our commander in chief does not listen to anybody.He is arrogant and stubborn.Has anyone wondered why Bush senior did not do it when he could?The president is going forward no matter what ,whether he is right or wrong history will say the last word.Ever since we deposed Saddam we are winning the war by our administration's point of view.It took four years to realize the mistakes and rethink a new strategy.Maybe it takes 10 more years for Bush to understand the grim reality of the Iraq war but the american people is not going to wait that long nor Bush is going to be president in ten years.This war will always be remembered as the war that gave power to Shias that have had the Iran's support for many years.This war altered the power balance in the middle east thanks to manipulated intellingence and WMD that never existed .It was an excuse to invade Iraq knowing it would be easy for a mighty army as ours.

We are treating neither the symptoms nor the disease. Instead we are becoming infected with our own delusions. The surge is a sham, because the numbers don't add up. Pre-war plans called for upwards of 400K allied troops, and intact 300K Iraqi army, and about 400K functioning Iraqi police to secure and stabilize Iraq. Now, with an increase of 21K, bringing the allied force to about 180K, a barely functioning Iraqi army and police force (both with questiionable loyalties) security and stabilization are supposedly within reach. It smacks on new math.

As a member of the Armed Forces (Navy), I am constantly torn over what is deemed "Patriotic" and "defeatist". My firm belief is that our mistake has been and will continue to be our concern over collateral damage and International opinion of our actions. If we truly want to win this war, we must be willing to inflict casualties on the enemy 100 fold. Unfortunately the only way to defeat an enemy that craves to die in battle is to give them what they desire. If you are able to kill enough of them in a short period (i.e. "A" Bomb) you give them pause as to their continued existence. It seemed to work with the Japanese during WWII don't you think? I never agreed with the rationale of the war before it began, and I still marvel at the number of people who still believe that Iraq was somehow connected with 9/11. People truly need to read and learn before spouting out such idiotic and uneducated assumptions. Our services have been abused, depleted, and demoralized by the lack of true leadership from our CIC and his civilian entourage. My suggestion would be to let the General on the ground dictate strategy, but then again, when one does voice his opposition, he is forced out of the military. So much for listening to the leaders on the ground huh??? Our failure to achieve victory is simply an example of ignorant and stubborn leadership that fails to comprehend a simple idea...Saying you want to win is not the same as taking the steps necessary to win.

Considering all efforts based on bad intel. Our moving into Iraq while Iran may had been a better choice. Seems that border is still open and those pouring into Iraq to shoot American devils for $500 per incident. Meanwhile, all advisors continue to be discarded as is the pattern with Iraq intel that started this problem. What we are doing in Iraq is showing our enemies how easy they can attack us. It's just a matter of time before their confidence brings them to the USA. Another area of ignoring the facts is global warming. This is related to Iraq. The same decision tree is used on both. Ten or twenty years from now Bush may be held accountable. The deaths caused by global warming and his responsibility, denial and decisions surrounding those events coming our way. The larger blame will come to the US. As president we should show support him, but he does what he wants. The $8Bil sent to Iraq is still unaccounted for. There are too many loose ends here. None of the intel teams around him can have any confidence that Bush will read it or listen. Bush cannot solve the problems until he becomes aware of what the problems are. That is the problem. That is the problem.

Lets be real everybody!! Get all media out of the warzones and let the military do the job that soldiers do best....When in _____ all is fair in love and war!!! We have gurilla forces of our own who know just how to fight this on the enemies own terms!!! We've seen how the enemy treats our living and dead soldiers! Do you need any more incentive for supporting our generals,admirals and valiant soldiers with respect?!!! I say a prayer each night for our living and fallen defenders of democracy and for their families and loved ones as well. Are we destroying ourselves from within to the satisfaction of all those who oppose our way of freedom(s)? If that be so then you will face the future at the hands of of calous,cold blooded, freedom hating terrorists,dictators and all of their suppression of basic god given rights!! Prepare yourselves for the reincarnation of a worse "HITLER BEAST" than you could ever imagine!!! DAV

Good people do good things, and bad people do bad things. For good people to do bad things it takes religion.

It would seem from reading some of these posts , that some people just don't get it. The radical muslim ideology is the root cause of the middle east.( Stress the "RADICAL" ).They will never stop unless stopped. Leaving Iraq now would only magnify their idiocy. We must not leave and we need to take the gloves off of our soldiers.If shot at then they need to flatten that area and look for the next .Process elimination until all gone . Casualties of war will be ever present but with gloves off ours will be a lot less. We can not let Iraq fall into the hands of the likes of Iran. And at all cost stop Iran from acquiring Nuclear weapons or things will be a lot worse for all.

The Iraq disease and symtoms are depending on variables that have run their course and are no longer sustainable. The Chinese (communist china) that buys US bonds/debt keep the US economy moving. They indicated they will be moving away from US dollars 2007 and have started to do so. The faucet of money keeping all this going is slowing. The US military backlog of equipment in the depots waiting repair is alarming. They are waiting for money. More and more areas in the US military are showing that the money is drying up. My opinion: Bush is making it very easy win for Hillary. A quick impeachment is the only remaining hope for republicians. fyi-I am a republican; but i don't think Bush is.

How credible is our presidents vision of either the problem or the solution? He has been completely wrong on almost all of the important facts. Consider this ... The U.S. government was convinced that communism would spread across asia if we didn't stop it in Vietnam. Now, 40 years later, we see that Vietnam has taken it's own path into communism and is now heading back out the other side -- toward free markets. How many parents would have sent their children to die in Vietnam if they could have foreseen the path that Vietnam has taken? The reason that the Iraq war is turning out all wrong is because our leaders misunderstand the region. None of our leaders have given voice to how their vision has changed. Do not accept the basic premises by which they launch all of their false choices. Their basic premises are all wrong. That's why everything is such a mess.

Those who use 9/11 as the reason for supporting this war are the problem. They don't care that the facts are Saddam was not supporive of al-Qaida and there was no reason at the time to attack Iraq, in fact we should have concentrated on Osama bin Laden(remember him). If you lie to yourself about what is going on, you are not supporting our troops or our country. If you want those who died to really mean something, make this the time to make all those who made these awful decisions responsible - now, so in the future our leaders will know they cannot do it again. Their deaths could really be for something great if that happens.

Sadr ain't the only ailment....the "patient" known as Iraq has more than one disease plaguing it. The Sunnis started off killing thousands of Shiites since 2003 (and during Saddam's reign before then). Despite that, Sistani encouraged restraint among the Shia community. Shiites, to their credit, listened.....up until the Feb 2006 Samarra mosque bombing. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Shiites could take their own people being massacred by the Sunnis.....BUT bomb their holy mosque?!?! Now THAT was cause for fighting back! Such is life/death in the sects of Islam, since the 7th century.

We're left with 2 choices. 1. Accept we can't achieve our stated goals in the middle east and pull out, allow the disollution of Iraq and attempt to pick up the pieces in 3-10 years. 2. Reenact the draft and increase the military to a level which can support ongoing operations. The days of the volunteer military are numbered.

As much as I was against the invasion of Iraq, the bottom line is that the current epidemic of human rights violations being the sectarian lynchings is directly tied to our destabilizing the country to overthrow Saddam Hussein. The general rule of occupation is that the destabilizer can not leave a country destabilized, that would be us. It's not about who's a scaredy cat or who better not mess with us, it's about human rights and innocent people being lynched. Knowingly leaving innocent individuals to the mercy of lynch mobs would be condoning blatant human rights violations. The stabilizing force can come from the Iraqi government, the occupation forces, or a pact with neighboring states, but we can not leave until Iraq is safer than when we got there, and right now 1.5 million Iraq refugees say it isn't. Allen

I can't believe there are some people out there that still believe that Iraq/Saddam had anything to do with 9-11. Bush said there was no connection in a press conference after months of trying to create a link that was not there. Some people rather have others just tell them what to think. To those who point the finger at the previous administration, you need to come to grips with reality. For the rest of us who come to our own conclusions... We are going to be paying for this huge blunder for decades to come. Years of financial obligations to rebuild everything we destroyed , years of a military presence in the region while our soldiers die. One thing is certain, when this most recent surge does not work, this administration will put all the blame on the Iraqi govt. Reality appears to be ellusive in this administration.

To: Gary Schear, Bozeman, Montana Thank you for being one of the few people I have met who understand what has happened. Washington's tactics are alive and well, and are being used by Bin Laden and company. We took the bait to go in and now, much like the British in 1789, we will pay the price. Gary Schear, Bozeman, Montana (Sent Monday, January 22, 2007 3:44 PM No matter what we "Clear and Hold", time remains on the side of the insurgents. George Washington used this against the British in running a classic guerrilla insurgency. Never face a superior enemy on the battlefield unless forced to or unless you are luring them into a trap. Bleed him slowly. Conserve and protect your forces. Use them to inflict maximum damage with minimum cost. Eventually, the invader will leave. It may take 5 years, it may take 50, it may take 100 but eventually the invader will leave. The British, at that time the worlds superpower, were defeated by a Washington’s ragtag, poorly equipped, but highly motivated army. The French, ever practical, didn’t join us until the tide had turned against the British. Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap managed to succeed against the Japanese, the French and finally the U.S. using these tactics. If I were to wake tomorrow morning and find that the streets of my country were filled with heavily armed foreign men and that these men were kicking the doors of my neighbors and attempting to "liberate me” I would become a blood drinking, flesh eating monster determined to inflict pain, extract revenge, and drive out the invader no matter what the cost or no matter how long it takes. The various insurgent groups in Iraq know this and feel it. They appear to have a greater grasp on the history of such conflicts then our bewildered President. Lt Col. Rick Francona states that the violence will continue until the al-Sadr militia is disbanded or destroyed. I assert that it will continue as long as Iraq remains occupied by a foreign power. There is an endless supply of new insurgents and “terrorists”. We make them everyday over there when collateral damage occurs. We make them every day when an Iraqi teenager sees his father humiliated in front of his mother and sisters by Marines who just kicked his door. The only way to run a successful occupation is to dig big ditches and start marching Iraqis into them and then lock and load. The sad thing is that there are some of you reading this that think that might be a good idea. It is a damn shame that our Commander-in-Chief didn’t have the casual knowledge of recent US history and even the smallest insight into human nature needed to figure this out before he marched us into another quagmire. We are Red, White and Screwed.(apologies to Lewis Black)

I was never convinced of the reason for going into this war in the first place (weapons of mass destruction). When our troops were first passing by Baghdad Airport I made a comment that they had found weapons of mass descruction since the 911 attack was done with commercial aircraft. The former Marine that was sitting next to me was offended by my comment and thought I didn't support our troops, I think that I can support Our troops and still disagree with this administration that sent them there.

when in the course of human history has there not been war? In the simplest terms it is the slaves, (now free), fighting the pharaoh, (the tyrannts and dictators). It is a battle of ideas and law, we the people against somebody who thinks they are god. the world has become polarized into these two camps. now all have nuclear weapons. there has always been war. will there always be war? not until the world is free of tyranny. Invading iraq was a bold move for the center of the board, lets hope we, the people, win, thank you troops for everything

The patient is the disease. The lastest ambush on American troops in which 5 were killed speaks volumes about the problem we face. This group of shiites were American trained and equipped troops. They used our equipment, weapons, vehicles, uniforms and counter-insurgencey training to kill us with. That was a professional military style ambush. We are training our enemies. They are ALL our enemies!! What we need to do is ring off cities Allow women and children to evacuate. No men/boys of fighting age would be allowed to leave then shell it to dust. This is how we kept the peace in Iraq when we first got there. It was brutal but it worked. Yes we really did that.

I'm afraid this policy of imbedding American troops in Iraqi units will end up with all too many incidents of fragging. The idea that eliminating Sadr's force will solve things is silly. Al Queda is Sunni, the former oppressors in Iraq were Sunni, and the Shia will neither forget nor forgive. The Sunni are horrified to think of Shia as the majority, therefore the ruling group in the new Iraq. Civil wars seem to only be resolved by separation or military exhaustion of one side or the other. If we were as ardent in our use of diplomacy as we are in the use of our military might, we'd improve our chances and Iraq's chances of avoiding conflict at even bloodier levels.

I do not believe that the bombing of the Shia mosque in Samarra was the work solely of Al-Qaeda, rather I believe the our own CIA had played a role in it. Our policy even before going into Iraq and much more so after the defeat of Saddam has been one of "divide and conquer" and instigating the mess we see today is exactly some in our government would prefer to see, thus further justifying an escalation of US forces and more reason for us to remain there for the long term. Our media has incorrectly been attempting to brainwash us with the notion that the Shia and Sunni hatred has been an existing one, for over a thousand years. I'd like someone to show statistics as to how many Muslims (Shia or Sunni) were killed in Iraq prior to the war? There was widespread unity among Iraqis immediately following the war, with rallies held in large numbers at various mosques, displaying this unity. One should go back and look at the media footages from the region, showing flags with the writing "NO Shia, NO Sunni, Yes to Islam, No to USA". It is our doing to instigate hatred for our own benefit.

BUSH-SPEAK, a much-abridged DICTIONARY by Vince Williams THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S DICTIONARY is, by anyone's measure, a lexicon that adds a myriad of new definitions to our language. Over the past six years, our inference of the world of word-meanings has undergone a metamorphosis due quite literally to George W. Bush and his confederates. Naturally, in such a wholesale re-working of the language, we cannot expect to present a comprehensive list of words in the limited space below. However, we do suggest that when the George W. Bush library is constructed, there might be included volumes which assist us all in a better apprehension of this time in our nation's history. Note: "Apprehension" CAN mean, you know, just understanding, and need not always connote a suspicion or fear of future evil or a foreboding and consternation, dread, horror, panic, trepidation and/or an anxiety. Though the selection of the word here is not an accident. Anyway, we DO NOT expect George Bush to add to HIS afore-mentioned library any AUTO-biographical material written SOLELY by himself. Although, we DO expect an "AUTO-biography" to be there, which provides us with our first definition among others we've included below. AUTO-biography, n. a book written about my life, can be mostly by a ghost writer (which gets me off the hook), that reports stuff "authorized" by me after someone tells me what's in it. I don't care so much if it's mostly fiction as long as it sounds good and is presented as fact. Also, it can include many of the terms below. AUGMENTATION, n. assisting others in their efforts. NOT an escalation. [Shhh... hope they don't look up Webster's definition ... we don't want them to find that it means "to make greater, more numerous, larger, or more intense.] CRACKED EGG, n. what the Iraq war has become. An egg that is capable of being UNcracked. Newly coined term: "the Iraq crack attack". "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED". phrase calculated to supply political points showing how SOLDIER I really am and how I've already won a war. A photo-op that can show "US" in a combat flight suit aboard an aircraft carrier. WMD, n. what a hostile country has when we want to go to war with them. If there are other benefits such as access to oil, and multi-billion dollar profiteering opportunities for such corporations such as Halliburton, hey, we won't turn 'em down. OIL, n. that which will pay for our waging the war in Iraq. (never mind that the price tag is now 1.2 TRILLION dollars and counting.) Ok, maybe it was one of our few mistakes. CHEMICAL WEAPONS, n. in addition to "NUKE-YOU-LER" weapons, just the mention of these is always useful in striking even more fear in the entire country, AND galvanizing our base. BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS, n. no-one likes to be sick. SUCCESS, n. What we're fighting for; and please don't mention the over 3000 soldiers killed, over 20,000 wounded; and more than 34,000 Iraqis killed just last year, with a total Iraqi death toll of more than 600,000 men, women and children. Oops! VICTORY, n. undefined; "We'll know it when we see it." ECONOMIC BOOM, n. record territory for the stock market. Tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of people in the land, and biggest corporations. WINNING, transitive v. sponsoring an election in which 12 million Iraqi citizens (out of a national population of around 26 million) voted for putting in government that's on "borrowed time" led by a president who is on "borrowed time". After all, this is a DEMOCRACY since The United Iraqi Alliance, endorsed by Iraq's top Shiite clerics, captured more than two-thirds of the 3.3 million votes. This Alliance win sealed the Shiite majority's bid to claim power after centuries of domination by Sunni Arabs, including years of oppression by Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led regime. How do YOU spell "relief"? If this isn't DEMOCRACY, it doesn't exist. GOD. n. the GUY who lives UP in heaven above the clouds, and who listens to me when I ask for things. Other words, opposite to "Devil". EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS, n. pl. teensy tinesy people. NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND, a phrase representing a program wherein teachers can be paid more for teaching ALL students to pass the SAME test. DEMOCRACY, n. system of government wherein our administration wields sufficient power to have our own way almost all of the time. System of voting in which, when there's a close election, a SUPREME COURT can decide the outcome (provided ONLY that the outcome can be favorable to those who are defining the term "DEMOCRACY".). NEW WAY FORWARD, a phrase used to mystify as many people as possible, and to justify STAYING THE COURSE, I mean "The New Way Forward". SACRIFICE, v. dying in Viet Nam, I mean IRAQ; and being stressed by watching news on television about the war. SKEPTICISM, n. a word that sounds better than "OPPOSITION". "Thumpin'" can also be used here. PESSIMISM, n. another word to use when others imply abject and/or total failures of our administration. Sounds better than "OPPOSITION". AL QAEDA, n. the world-wide organization (made up of who knows how many criminals) that has the power to bring about Armageddon. The MAJOR cause of problems in Iraq (both now and prior to the war). The vast gang that perpetrated 9/11 and aims to do it again. ADDITIONAL TROOPS, n. pl. A few more soldiers and marines to effect the "NEW WAY FORWARD" change in the prosecution of the war. Something to help John McCain have a better chance in his bid for the presidency. INSURGENCY, n. a problem in Iraq; but it isn't "CIVIL WAR". CIVIL WAR, n. all hell breaking loose with everybody fighting everybody else; not a reason to re-deploy, however. PLAN B, n. something we don't have. Something we refuse to talk about. Something we didn't think we needed in invading Iraq in the first place. REASONS TO GO TO WAR, a phrase to mean "If we can scare everyone into believing we will have another 9/11 if we DON'T do so", we can invade and wage war on anyone we want to. OPTIMISTIC, adj. something to be sure to answer when asked, "How do you view the prospects for the outcome of our efforts in Iraq?" VIOLENCE IN IRAQ, n. that which essentially began with the SAMARRA incident back in early 2005, "I mean 2006". LIFE, n. something sacred as long as it isn't possessed by a criminal, an Iraqi, an al Qaeda member, a Taliban member, anyone deemed an enemy by the Administration, a detainee, someone with Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, or spinal cord injury, or the Casey Sheehans in the war. DETAINEES, n. pl. DIRT with no rights whatsoever. DEMOCRATS, n. pl. "DIRT, but gave us a thumpin". TORTURE, n. something to deny we're doing. Something that we don't want to get caught doing. EXECUTION, n. a hanging that can decapitate the hangee. TRUTH, n. whatever "WE" want it to be. Just a word. Something TO BE SURE TO CALL whatever we say.

Potential for conflict in Iraq is unbound, al-Qaeda is the enemy. We must at some point free ourselves of the civil war in Iraq and engage the enemy with full vigilance. The terrorist network has the luxury of reactive management rather than proactive, taking advantage of opportunities as they occur rather than creating them. For the enemy to reach American targets in Iraq requires less investment, we must create a hollow target, while increasing diligence, in intelligence operations, currently too few ‘path finding’ circumstances are being established, our enemies should have to walk a mile over rice paper to reach our forces even in Iraq, if the surge does not accomplish this I would not even call it “treating the symptoms”, if only referring to the diversion of Iraq then yes treating the symptoms would fit aptly.

If our current politicians do what the short-sighted reactionist population and opposing party demand, then we pull out of Iraq before their government can stabalize, the country spirals into civil war, hundreds of thousands of innocent people die. . . and WE get blamed for it. You know we'll get blamed for it! Then Iraq becomes a spawning ground for new terrorist groups who will bring the battle to OUR soil in grand scale. If we do what the currently empowered political machine wants, America stays at war indefinitely in order to justify their presence in office, thousands of Americans die on foreign soil, and eventually the people vote. (You know our leaders don't have the guts to go in and really kick butt like we had to do with Nazi Germany and Japan). So instead, Hillary or some other sing-song opportunist will come into the presidency and do what opportunists do best, kiss everybody's asses, sleep around (maybe not physically, but there are other ways), make lots of money, and lead the cause of continued moral degradation in America, in the name of "freedom of expression" of course, all the while ignoring every potential threat to America's future physical security. What nobody has even bothered to mention is that Iraq isn't even what we would normally consider an enemy nation. We went there with the expectation of finding nukes or similar WMDs, and making sure a nutjob like Saddam couldn't get them to the hands of terrorits he was actively supporting. You people who think we went there for oil, cmon! Give us a break! We've spent more money on military operations than this country could have ever hoped to recover with slightly eased fuel flow! And that tactical decision to prevent significant operations on America and its allies turned out to be an informational mistake, not a tactical one. We all know it. Were we overly concerned then that a radical Muslim leader like Saddam wanted to bring America down? Not at all! 9-11 had put the fear of Islam into us. But our move against Saddam and the subsequent media fixation on it has become a pit that is distracting us from other real threats. How many other radical Islamic nations are planning operations to expedite our downfall (Iran, Syria, etc.)? How many communist countries want our economy to collapse so theirs can boom (China, North Korea, etc.) How many nations, thoroughly sick of America's footprint, would jump on the bandwagon if one strong nation were to attack us in the traditional sense? We're being heavily distracted by a dispute that should have been over in just a few weeks. The only way to change the mindset of an entire people with as deep a history as Iraq is to either obliterate them (as radical muslims hope to do to us) or conquer them entirely, force them into a stable democratic environment, remove their hostile clerics by force if necessary, and give their younger generation a chance to learn about, appreciate, and come to love true freedom, which by nature means that you value other people's freedoms as much as your own. That's a serious long term commitment which could only have come about if we had gone in and literally destroyed that country's will to fight, completely sealed off the country from neighboring hostiles, and then come in to help rebuild with open hearts, strong rules & regulations, and a world-wide community of support. Japan had the strongest resolve and will to fight, down to the last old man, young woman, and suckling child. We were forced by their tenacity to kick that will to fight right out of them, then we built a democracy that still embraced and honored Japanese tradition and culture, and they have become one of the strongest economic powers on earth with a love for freedom. My question is, have WE even learned that yet? Doesn't matter. Our country does what it's few leaders dictate. Most of our military power lies with one man (or woman?) for a lengthy period of time (a lot can happen in 4 years). The majority of religious Americans with Christian roots believe that WWIII is imminent. They don't want it to happen, but deep down they believe it's inevitable. They believe that it's going to get very bad, with millions, if not billions dying. And while that's all going on, God's judgements will reign down on the wicked world with diseases and pestilences and horrible death that will bring people to their knees prior to the return of the only ruler who really understood how to rule. Of course, most of the rest of the world believes thats a total crock; and even if it were true they think it would be hypocritically easy to be a kind, perfect judge when you've kicked the will to live out of the population of the earth with so much death and destruction. The 2008 election is going to be a rip-roaring firestorm of conflict. I feel powerless and helpless to do anything about anything. I plan to do the only thing I can: find the candidate who has the character, is the most compassionate, is the least "pwned" by special interest groups, still understands the word "moral", has a history of being smart with money, and has a proven track record of strong bipartisan leadership. Assuming the above mentioned traits were in place, I'd then look for a politician from my party who's won and kept the support of a constituency made up primarily of the opposing party. (No Hillary, New York doesn't count). Romney is a good example for Republicans; if only the so-called religious right really believed in freedom of religion! He'd be a great leader for them. There are also some great Democratic and Independent leaders who will never win a presidency because American's can't seem to vote past their own hypocracy. All I can say is, God above, if you're reading this windy and meandering blog, please bless our leaders! They need some help! _________ I need to go spend some time with my wife and kids to lift my spirits.

Anybody reasonable person can appreciate that Bush's "surge," is some kind of insane and impulsive hope that those who are killing American troops will somehow be beaten, destroyed, or submit to Bush. I just do not see that as happening. Time is on their side. Apparently, the insurgents have read about how Washington beat the British and how America lost in Vietnam. It is time to bring this fiasco to a close and admit that a collosal mistake was made by some very devious people in the Republican Party. This is the biggest mistake in the history of American foreign policy. THE WAR IN IRAQ IS PVER AND LOST! Let's not put any more American troops at risk for a bunch of lies made by vile liars and criminals.

Not to sound like a broken record, this strategy sure sounds like more of the same. In fact, "staying the course" is just that. There has to be a policy with fresh ideas, a change of course.

I am sitting here reading these comments.Interesting is the fact that the very people that are fighting for the freedoms of the US People are defending the President against their own people, How interesting. I wonder though if any of the people that have sent in comments are really reading those comments of the soldiers. Wake up people, this man that is saying that you might be safe, read again you might be safe. Remember it was his people that came and destroyed the towers first not the Bush administration toppling the government over there . What was there excuse then?? Ask yourself if the US troops are pulled out before this war is finished. Do you think you are any safer or will they just think that US is weakend and come in the night or day when you least expect. Waiting until you think you are safe. They seem to behave like that. Becareful of what you are really asking for.

I am amazed! I didnt think you had it in you People all the comments were so thoughtful and trying to express a knowlegable and rational way forward that i read them all Keep driving this way away from the dumb american soap opera nit picking we are one of the best educatd peoples in history exculding the Greeks of course. It will be a devilish operation to put the genii back in the bottle and I am trying to recall how alladin did it without going to the childrens library to look it up. it was alladin however who regained control of the lamp and the genii not the evil wizard from the west. it does not seem that a few brigades patroling the streets day and night in a city of 6 million will be of any more effect than the british army patroling the 6 counties of ulster these past 30 years. the british learned their lesson in this cradle of civilization in 1921 when they appointed king fasil because they knew they were militarily about to be annialted by the local malitias and tribesmen. tribesmen always have had their personal armies family connections economic links and marriage contracts which has worked. those links are still healthy and in place even with the invader army sitting in the green zone. this force like the romans in jeruselem are irrelevant to the main course happeings that are ongoing within the culture of the middle east. Blood baths are common over there power totalitarianism is accepted the strongest wins and holds as long as he is able but one day he will grow old and weak and a younger more virile buck will take over or a son who is a prince among men. The american army can only as it did in germany and japan after total surrender by these peoples go to barracks and assist and advise they cannot kick in doors patrol the streets day and night unless of course the enitire 130 million civilian americans volunteer to hold neighborhood watches on hiafa st. what a joke that would be. lots of human rights cases for our unemployed lawyers The surge as it were is not anything but a drop in the bucket towards appeasing the natives into submission. all the contractors with all their private security forces cannot stop the distruction of basic needs services as long as this tactic achieves the disruptive useages necessary to keep the civilian population cowed and in need. Those of you who desire a quick empeachment of the evil wizard do not think through who will replace him the vep of course and next in line the speaker of the house is it now. our congress will not depart from the rule of law and proceedure and accept the rule of the mob no matter how nessesary that may seem. Public presure does not work on a person like gb who is used to getting his own way needs to prove himself for daddy and does not think he is dull or stupid. the ego controls. what may 'contain 'him as obama tells us is more control of our money not giving it out to any contractors or any security forces and by redeploying our existing army to a more secure location outside the volitile city of bagdad. bagdad can be controlled by encirling it with our army and not letting anyone in or out without permission of that army. those living there will be sorted out from those intending harm by order of their malitia commanders. the insurgents are not anachists by any means they are on the payroll and in the oath bound loyalty to their commanders and their tribal chiefs. they do what they are ordered to do same as our guys. no one wants the civilian population to be used as ablood sacrifice for tv consumption in the west. shia and sunni jew and arab got along for centuries in iraq and iran and the general desert. they even got along as late as saddam.the markets were open the streets where fairly safe to walk about in american food aid and unra were not nessesary like in darfur to sustain daily existance. doctors without borders were not the only means of obtaining basic medical services. these ancient peoples have mingled since sumer and assyria and the law of hamarabi was in vogue. why do americans believe they cannot funtion without them? aes or ass in gaelic means a waterfall yr is iar which means iran or iraq assyria is the waterfall of iran or iraq this peoples have been there since before abraham left Ur with his flocks as was the custom when the flocks became to large and brothers or fathers and sons parted. the history of the reagon is well known to its natives. it is not well known to us we dont even know our own history. as the greeks said know thyself before inflicting your pain on the rest. george bush is simply not qualified to be president he is taking the nation down the same road as the emperors of rome or like the tzars of holy mother russia. as rome fell before the onslaught of the unhappy peoples it occupied with pax romana and russias army rose out of its starving mud holes on the eastern front and shook hands with the kiasers solders so america must learn frmm these experiences of our predecessors if we do not learn history will repeat itself. and history like mother nature is a tough task master. keep thinking and maybe you will think our way out of the geniis revenge. jd the montana piece is so good i am sending it to both my sons the crazy one and the republican one

goebbels the propaganda minister of nazi germany had a theory..it was called the "big lie" repeat it often enough and people start to believe it...we americans are in a similar position today...Iraq like Kuwait,Sryia,Lebanon,The United Arab Emirates etc etc etc are not nation states they are artificial divisons within the "Arab World" invented by imperialists in London and Paris during the 20th century...americans must learn and understand middle eastern history or we will fail in this effort as surely as the British and French empires did...at this point the only good that can come out of this is a "Greater Kurdistan" which should include areas of eastern Turkey as well as northwestern Iran..that at least would be a stable and friendly state...as for the rest of Iraq it is an arab problem not an american one we are fighting a Pan-Arab movement and we no longer have an army large enuff to engage it with any hope of success...finally if we take the Colonels advice we will shortly be in the same situation as Israel...after ignoring the PLO for years by the time the Israelies were willing to work with the PLO it was no longer the real power in Palestine..newer and more radical elements had emerged..should we destroy the "Mahdi Army" who knows what will rise in its place. America must not repeat the mistakes of other powers...

I can't believe that the REAL reason for the "war" has escaped scrutiny... MONEY. Who is being payed to supply the troops? Who gets the no bid contracts? Who gains from this instability? How much is gas per gallon? How many billions? A billion here a billion there... pretty soon we are talking about real money.

Facts are facts, and any reasonable person can see that the situation in Iraq is a mess. There is nothing we can do militarily that will suddenly be able to stop the regional/tribal battles that have been a mainstay in that area of the world since approx. 3500 BC. So at this point, our best option appears to be to (1) extricate our forces as quickly as possible, and (2) take hat-in-hand in a “mea culpa” to the UN to request international assistance with rebuilding efforts/funding, and (3) contribute generously to those funds needed to try to make up for the destruction we wreaked. BTW, As a military family member, I have already lost one of my family members to the conflict; and I have more friends and family currently serving in the military operations in Iraq. Willfully offering the lives of more of our troops for such an unwinnable cause will neither honor nor replace the lives that we have already lost in this “war of choice.”

Thank you for this site to get the world to see that we in America can partisipate in ways we can express ourselves, share our thoughts that is the kind of freedom we would like to see the Iraq people to have or even the world. May it be so.but all we can do is try our best so lets back our troops because its the right thing to do and may Our Heavenly Father direct and bless America. Willie of Menno,SD USA

While I agree that Sadr's militia is a major problem, it is not "THE DISEASE" but a symptom. The Shia-Sunni hatred has been there for a long time, greatly multiplied by the years Hussein & the Sunni's were in power. All we liberated in Iraq was hatred, the violence will continue until one side or the other wins, or until they all get tired of it. The only thing we will accomplish in Iraq is to give them new targets. This war was a fool's errand from the start. If we had put the number of troops into Afghanistan that we have in Iraq, we would've already had Bin Laden, al Zawahari and countless others. Afghanistan was the war we had to win, not Iraq. The is no doubt that Hussein was a monster (at one time, he was our monster), but that doesn't mean it was our place to remove him. We are not the world's policeman. It's time to set a time-table to bring our troops home.

As a fellow shipmate on this little ship looking for a new world order, I want to go on record as believer in the eventual success of our trip. I may be a seasick landlover but I'll sail on to America. Lead on President Bush.

Keeping troops in place for an extended period after a local 'victory' sounds like a recipe for an American blood-bath. Are we sure we can protect soldiers whom are physically isolated from garrison? I can only assume the insurgents read msnbc also, so they are probably already preparing for this.

I dont think this war is what we wanted but to get the one who hit us in 9/11 that is the one we should have got and as for our man and woman they are doing a good top and we should stand up for them but as for Bush no we shouldnt for the war that is going on now is not our war and our man and woman are dieing cuz of it they should send them home to there love ones and let them fright there war them slef for they sure dont want us to help them so let them work it out them self

Remember THE NO WIN POLICY, who was president then? What effect did it have on NAM, KOREA, NOW. People wise up if we dont respect our country our way of life,will others?

Freedom what a concept! Reflect if the Saddamm was in charge your comements could start a death squad to your door. Right now individuals control the squads not the government. Best option. LEVEL SADER CITY. Let the mosques stand. Our battle is with the terrorists not the religion. Then procede. Remove the head of the snake and the rest of the body isn't a problem. No half measures!

We're at war with really bad people.We need to join hands all american's and see this thing thru.We don't get freedom by sitting on our butt's and bad mouthing our goverment in a time of war.Wake up American's and Pray that these devil's will be defeated.

Why don't people take South Africa as an example. The non-whites were killed, jailed and beaten for a very long time. The whole world expected civil war to occur when Nelson Mandela was released from prison.. But what happened? They forgave and decided that working together is the best solution because everybody would benefit by it. South Africa is striving as a result. It's by no means perfect, but what an example of forgiveness. Maybe the whole Middle East should learn by it. They could be a huge economical force, but because they hate each other, unity will never be achieved. They always make an excuse why violence is needed.

"Weeding the Garden" Jesus tayght in parables. Here's one I think he would tell of our current situation. Two gardeners one day decided to plant a flower garden all around the town. They cleared the land, planted the seed, toiled very hard & one day the garden had flourished. All the people of the town admired the garden & praised the gardeners for their work. They were all so proud of their beautiful town. As time went on the garden became commonplace. The people took it for granted and went about their busy lives. The garden was a lot of work to maintain & eventually the first gardener began to spend less & less time maintaining the garden. The second gardener worked dilligently to keep the garden growing. The weeds began to creep in more & more. Before long the two most beautiful rose bushes died. The first gardener saw this & came to help the second gardener to bring it back to its original beauty. The weeds were many and the work was hard. After some time the first gardener became wary from the work & eventually quit helping. The second gardener kept working but could not keep up. Soon the garden was overcome by weeds & the garden was no more. Now as the people go out they complain of how ugly their town has become. They curse the gardeners for starting the garden in the first place. They all wished the garden was still there. They longed for its beauty and sweet smell. The moral to the story. If you want to live in a garden, you have to pull the weeds!

Congratulations to all you geniuses out there - your obviously vast experience in international affairs and military operations from the tactical to strategic levels of warfare, and intimate knowledge of exactly what is happening on the diplomatic front is shining thru. Regardless of whom you fault, or hate, or wish would be impeached, we have 2 choices because our engagement in Iraq is a fact. We can either commit ourselves to achieving stability by bringing all our sources of national power to bear following the DIME principal (diplomatic, informational, military and economic); or, we can withdraw, strategically redeploy, whatever, and accept (responsibility for) the near certainty of thousands of additional Iraqi deaths.

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