http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspxThe lazy story of the Iraq War is that nobody expected it.Nobody thought it would be so unpopular.  Nobody thought it would cause so much division in this country.  Nobody thought it would cause so much of the world to condemn us. But leadersen-USCommunityServer 2.0 (Build: 60608.1)http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94347Mon, 19 Mar 2007 21:57:34 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94347Christopher Kidwell, Aberdeen, MarylandI have to agree, this war was VERY predictable. I would have supported this war from the beginning if President Bush had said that it was to get rid of Saddam and his butchers, the Sunni Party. But as soon as Bush started saying it was because Saddam had WMD's, I was like "WHOA! Hold on here! If he had them, he would have used them before now against us!"http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94351Mon, 19 Mar 2007 21:59:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94351C A, Tuscaloosa, ALChris: Sure this war was predictable. And except for the few short weeks it took our military to drive to Bagdad this has not been a war but a policing action. Why have we continued to call it a war? It was predictable because of the nature of the culture and and varying fanatical religious convictions of the people in this area. It was predictable because to win any kind of peace after a war it lacked the number of troops to sustain any kind of occupation. And does not a victorious army have to occupy the territory of a defeated enemy for a period of time until the dust settles? It was predictable because our first priority and enemy number 1 as a result of 911 (Bin Laden) was not hiding in Iraq. And it was predictable because common sense told us we had no business going over there in the first place. If the United States wants to be a big brother to the world why not start with those areas in Africa where hundreds of thousands of poor innocent people are slaughtered by thugs every day. And if we don't want to play big brother to the world then we need to stay home unless a real and "proven" "immediate" impending threat exist from another part of the world. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94355Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:01:32 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94355Mark ThiemeHumble of you to say so. And so timely, too!http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94359Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:04:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94359American citizenThanks Chris, Who would have guessed that torture and the use of chemical weapons against women and children would be so unpopular?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94368Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:12:33 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94368john doeGermany and France predicted it pretty well. Who ordered the Freedom Fries?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94373Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:17:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94373Brent Smith, Chicago, ILNow you bring this up? You quickly dropped or hid that point of view from your TV audience because only up to recently you have been a great cheerleader for this administration. Yes, all these things were predictable, so why haven't you had on any guests, like Professor Cole, who shared this viewpoint, in FOUR years of your show? Not one, just constant cheerleaders and harpies spouting ridiculous support for the President and the War. Now, like a German Post WWII, you say you predicted the problems, then turned your back on them for four years and now that they are in the light you want to be on the good side again. Nope, don't think so. You and Russert have ZERO credibility with the public. Ultimate insider you are, don't forget to wipe a GOP *** when you kiss it at your next dinner party THAT YOU SHOULD NOT BE AT.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94383Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:24:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94383Karen Mickleson, Fairfax, CAYes, it was predictable. But at the time, both people and politicians remained emotionally overwhelmed 9/11, and sought action as surcease from horrible sorrow. There was more to the 'war vote' story than the spineless political machinations of Democrats scared to be seen as wimpy peaceniks. More than anything at that time, we needed psychological leadership to help us through our rage and sorrow.  None of the politicians who voted knew how to talk direct to the American people about war as a response to grief;  many likely did not even understand it, themselves.  They were pressured by their own psychic states, as well as by those of their constituents, to take action. The nation was awash in a Perfect Storm For War before 9/11 even happened: we had a Republican administration and Congress which generally favor military-war spending to justify cutting entitlements and to strengthen defense and oil industries;  we had the neocon kabal salivating through the Clinton years for a new crack at US hegemony in the middle east on Israel's behalf;  we had a President easily persuaded by this kabal to finish what his father started;  and we had a Rovian ginned upsurge of conservative values which framed aggression as strength and thoughtfulness as weakness. Throw into this stew the catastrophe of 9/11, and well, the dye was cast. Catastrophes are psychic levelers which catapult humanity into regressed states of quivering, helpless shock.  It's like everyone gets emotionally thrust together by force back into shades of infant terror and bewilderment.  Not to be corny about it, but in this collective state of mind, from a psychological standpoint, 'WE' truly are 'ONE', on an almost cellular level, as seen in the universal global support for the U.S. in the immediate aftermath of 9/11:  people across the planet identified in a primitive way with our state of mind, regardless of the particulars of the incident.  The world regressed along with us. The way recovery from trauma works is that we inch our way back to normal, adult modes of being across time, back through the same stages we evolved through from infancy into childhood and on into adulthood.  But it's condensed in time, and varies by person, depending on pre-trauma personality.  On the continuum of human development, reaction precedes thought.  As infants, we thrash before we learn to ponder options.  Later we grow able to delay gratification or immediate response to discomfort and intense emotion.  Further on, we learn to consider alternatives and plan our actions. But during initial throes of catastrophic agony, the most common response is an impulse to act so we can feel back in control.  Much of the country and Congress got stuck here emotionally for a long time, and was thus vulnerable, in context of the other Perfect War Storm ingredients, to being seduced into war. Across the months after 9/11, I remember watching the faces of politicians as they navigated back to their 'normal' adult states, juggling their own emotions with their political stands.  Many seemed lost and unsure of themselves in subtle ways, almost like they were batting cobwebs away while trying to figure out just what they thought about this or that--not much different from the rest of the country, where smart folk who'd ordinarily not even consider being pro-war found themselves supporting the Iraq invasion for reasons they later could never quite understand.  I believe to this day that that Congress' war vote was almost as affected by psychological residue from the 9/11 catastrophe as it was by political machinations.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94388Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:28:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94388Brent SmithAmazing Four years of shows and not once did you mention this position. In fact, from watching your shows over the last four years one would think you were a war cheerleader instead of a critic. Wring your hands now all you want, your credibility rested on the GOP and now its gone. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94391Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:30:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94391John Doe, USATo bad you weren't on the staffhttp://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94394Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:35:34 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94394Gwen Markham, Novi, MIYou must be kidding. You and all the rest of the media was hell bent for war. There were people who predicted this outcome from the beginning. Although he went along eventually, Colin Powell was aggressively suggesting that we should be planning for the aftermath. Hans Blix said his team needed a few more weeks to determine if WMDs existed, but that he hadn't found any so far. Juan Cole of University of Michigan was all over the TV and radio warning about the ill-advised policy. Our leaders and you in the media need to start evaluating the facts and strop trying to spin everything. Throw away the talking points memos and do some real analysis. I'm no pro, but I smelled a rat the day Powell testified before the UN. We should never have gone to war on such flimsy testimony, and many people knew it in advance. And while you are at it, how about putting more people on your show who were right at the beginning, like Juan Cole. Quit giving us William Kristol et. al. who have been wrong, wrong, wrong, since the beginning. Maybe the American public might learn something about the rest of the world and our place in it.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94401Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:39:09 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94401Chris VierckMany of us predicted this bloody mess and warned everyone who would listen over and over about how bad it WOULD get. Most of the time we were told to "shut up," and call traitors, if not out and out Saddam lovers and card carrying members of the Baath Party. Conservative jokes abounded about about France and Canada. So, who's laughing now? Al Queda and the swelling masses of the madrassas that pump out anti-American hate. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94403Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:39:37 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94403Michael Dolin, San Francisco, CAYou makes some very valid points, Mr. Matthews. What's even more amazing than the almost obvious predictability of the current state of affairs in Iraq, is how the same pundits and politicos that told us Iraq would be a cake walk are the same people telling us that success is just around the corner. How many bloody corners do we have to turn before we stop listening to them? The same people who are predicting chaos if we leave Iraq are the same people who said we would be greeted flowers and kisses. They were wrong then, and they are wrong now.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94407Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:43:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94407Freddie, Phoenix, AZMy greatest fear, as it applies to this issue, isn't terrorism. My greatest fear isn't whether the many crack-pot conspirist theories about George Bush or even Dick Chaney are true or that there are so many crack-pot conspirists running around. My greatest fear is that we allowed fear to creep into our moral, social and political consciousness; that it so dominated our frontal lobes to leave us entirely void of all standards related to who and what we were supposed to be. The American ideal (not Idol, ty very much ;) was pushed so far to the background that we never asked whether we should, only that we could (note butchered and not-so-subtle reference to Mr. Goldbloom's famous quote in Jurassic Park). And, as long as there were sufficient scared and wimp-label-phobia driven politicians to never bother to question the absurdity of this notion, well...why not? Is it going too far to suppose they seemed to have so short-sightedly weighed the political pros and cons as to have entirely missed the point; that life-or-death moral dilemma they were about to plunge the entire country into? But what's a moral dilemma or two when there's a re-election to win? Your friend in feedback, Freddie P.S. There's a hole in the sand somewhere with my name on it. And, I'm sorry to say, there are times it wishes for my return.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94408Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:43:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94408John ChicagoRight on Chris! I would add more but what is there to add? The predictable stuff that a person would have thought happened....happened. But then your predictions are factoring in the Bush Arrogance, Greed, and Insulated life that Georgie Boy exists in. Whats even scarier then how easy it was to forsee this mess, is the fact that Georgie Boy and many of his sheep followers still buy into this nonsense that the war is worth it and...."winnable"...yet from day 1 noone has ever define what winning is????? and the beat goes on...and the beat goes on....http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94409Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:45:21 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94409Bruce ThomasWe "nobodies" didn't have the resources to accurately estimate the results of the invasion. We were sold a story of WMDs in the hands of a madman, which we understood could be made available to terrorists. Some of the people selling this version of the truth had credibility (i.e. Colin Powell). I think we can be forgiven for buying in. Now we are asked to support this war that is being run by the same people who duped us over and over again about the justification of the war and have told us over and over how well it was going? They tell us that the negative consequences of pulling out will outweigh the benefits. They may or may not be right, but how can they suggest with straight faces that we trust them? http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94411Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:51:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94411Mike Binkley, Torrance, CAChris, You may be understating the case for the predictability of fiasco in Iraq. Didn’t Bush-41 National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft predict civil war (and other horrible consequences) in an Op-Ed piece in the Wall Street Journal before the invasion? Mike Binkley Chair, Libertarian Party of LA County http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94415Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:53:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94415Paul Harvey, Black Diamond, WAYes, Chris it was. But I remember you saying you were 60/40 on invading Iraq before the action started. The scenario we are in will always occur when your rationale for going to war is not self preservation. Didn't we learn anything from failed imperialist ventures in history? The Spainish, English and Dutch all waned in world dominance when nation building/colonization out distanced wealth and resources. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94418Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:57:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94418Nancy LarsonYou are so correct, it was predictable. I predicted it and I am just an ordinary person without any particular expertise in Middle Eastern affairs. We were intruding into a totally different culture based on tribalism. The idea that the Iraq people would welcome democracy when they had never experienced anything remotely like democracy in their society was a unrealistic expectation. The Bush administration is populated with delusional thinkers, in my opinion.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94424Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:03:02 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94424christian reiterAnd so perhaps it´s time for America today to prevent the similarly "predictable" event and outcome of an unneccessary war of choice against Iran. Otherwise that will be the source of news that everyone will be tired of hearing *besides* Iraq in come 2011.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94428Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:07:02 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94428USMC0311It was all very predictable and quite a few of us, especially within the active and former military community called it so, well before the invasion was initiated. For our troubles we were quickly labeled as defeatists and traitors by our fellow Republicans and "conservatives". Four years later, we are still stuck neck-deep in the original quagmire that we created. To add insult to injury we are not only losing Iraq, but also on the verge of losing Afghanistan as well. Remember that war? The one place that was legitimately full of the terrorists that were actually responsible for 9/11? We left our SpecOps guys over there high and dry when we re-allocated most of their valuable and much needed assets to Iraq. In only four years we have managed to squander away every last shred of dignity, honour and respect that our forefathers earned through blood, sweat and tears from the last hundred years of our nation's history. Through fear and moral cowardice we have allowed ourselves to become that which we despise most in our enemies. We have lowered ourselves to the same level as the terrorists whom we have fought so hard against. We have traded nearly ever little piece of liberty so coveted by the fore-fathers of this Constitutional democracy for the tiniest morsel of security, no-matter how false or illusory. We have become a nation of cowards and moral hypocrites. By our own power we have done to ourselves what no terrorist could have ever even imagined to accomplish against us. As a former serviceman who has served his country, his countrymen and Constitution honourably, it greatly saddens and shames me to look at how low our great nation has fallen. Let us all give hope that this is merely the temporary stumblings of a young nation still maturing into adulthood. "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94431Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:07:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94431Dan Parks, Cumberland City, Tn. So why weas the media not denouncing this war of choice instead of cheerleading for the war. I was in the Army during the first gulf war and was told the reason we didn't move on Bagdad was exactly the reasons we are bogged down there now. How could we have grown so ignorant of this so soon.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94432Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:09:54 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94432Jerry Walters, Avon, OHNice try Chris. But when you pander to the politicians all year you can not expect any of us 'politically educated' people to get excited about a few words about this and that. Start taking these guys and gals (I suppose) to task when they just ramble endlessly about none specifics (in their replies to your questions) and then MAYBE someone may take you seriously when you bring up commentary from the past.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94435Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:13:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94435Cletus Amlung, Louisville, KYI agree this was predictable... I predicted it. It was easy, and required nothing more than basic information and an open mind. Think about the known facts about Iraq; 26 million people. Tribal culture. Warring sectarian factions. Porous borders. Densly populated urban cities. Information any American could have (and should have) learned. I'm still baffled at how the Bush administration and 75 percent of America could know these facts and yet somehow believe that we could achieve a functioning Democracy and U.S ally in the Mideast in just a couple of years, and at little cost in lives or treasure (remember the "Iraq will pay for the reconstruction" rhetoric? We'll be greeted as liberators?) What is happening now is no anomaly. It was always the most probable course. Our only hope of stopping it was to acknowledge the probable and plan for it. But selling the war became the primary goal. Now the only options we have are bad ones.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94439Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:14:54 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94439Dee W. White, Titus ALChris Mathews and other "talking heads" should answer the following question in advance of any terrorist blowing up themselves in front of your wife, kids and neighbors: "Should we stop terrorism off-shore on wait until they come to my neighborhood?"http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94440Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:16:40 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94440Fred VietriI just finished listening to your interview with Andy Card. Why did you let him go on the 'Mission Accomplished' nonsense he was talking about. You did no real follow-up. We need you as a journalist to unmask the lies of this administration. Please Chris, be a hardballer. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94447Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:23:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94447Richard Taylor, San Antonio, TXBut of course, all the people who tried to point these things out were marginalized and made fun of, including yourself. It's nice that some folks have come to regret there rush to war, but few of them have made any apologies for how they questioned the patriotism and intelligence of those who had enough basic sense to see this coming before we even hit the ground in Iraq.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94449Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:25:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94449Robert Macin Montreal N.YAny one with any knowledge of history and sociology could’ve predicted this outcome. Our policy makers obviously are ignorant of the weak equilibrium in the region. By Taking out Saddam loyalist, a vacuum would be created in Iraq. Who was going to fill that vacuum? The answer was predictable, Iran loyalist of course; at least in southern and western Iraq. What about the rest? well, without enough policing the looting should’ve been expected, anyone could’ve come across the borders to create more problems like Syria or Al-Qaeda … Unfortunately it was Al-Qaeda. The ethnic killings and militia was just a Method introduced by al Zarqawi in order to create more chaos. That part could‘ve been predicted by going back and see how Saddam forced several groups into living together under his iron fist. In General every time a superpower alters the balance of power there is chaos as a consequence. -All predictable- http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94451Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:26:20 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94451Robert Macin Montreal N.YAny one with any knowledge of history and sociology could’ve predicted this outcome. Our policy makers obviously are ignorant of the weak equilibrium in the region. By Taking out Saddam loyalist, a vacuum would be created in Iraq. Who was going to fill that vacuum? The answer was predictable, Iran loyalists of course; at least in southern and western Iraq. What about the rest? well, without enough policing the looting should’ve been expected, anyone could’ve come across the borders to create more problems like Syria or Al-Qaeda … Unfortunately it was Al-Qaeda. The ethnic killings and militia was just a Method introduced by al Zarqawi in order to create more chaos. That part could‘ve been predicted by going back and see how Saddam forced several groups into living together under his iron fist. In General every time a superpower alters the balance of power there is chaos as a consequence. -All predictable- http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94457Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:32:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94457Rick Wingate, Mooresville, N.C.There is one main reason we cannot progress in IRAQ and I am amazed no one else has thought of it. We cannot win as long as the idiot President goes on world wide TV and tells the enemy exactaly what we are going to do. We have forgotten the necessity of secrecyhttp://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94458Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:33:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94458tony petresUnfortunately, leaving a rouge like Sadam in power, despite the more noble reasonings for going-in, represented an unacceptable danger to the stability of world oil supplies, a situation that would have had to be dealt with eventually (regardless of the White House occupant). The military action primarily addressed the question of saftey and stability of oil markets (and world economics). Removing a tyrant from power also generated additional benefits besides oil reserve protection, and these were mostly positive (take Saddm's practice of wholesale mass murder, for example, a danger now removed. The hypocritical Europeans (in particular) would be the very first to suffer economic colllapse in the event of an attack (by Iraq) on say, Saudi Arabia, and loss of even good fraction of energy supplies. And the bastards know this, all while our kids fight and die, for not only our own, but THEIR economic stability and saftey. Sometimes I think were fighting the wrong country (s). Tony Petres Rapid City SD USAhttp://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94459Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:33:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94459Jeri Jennings, Camarillo, CaliforniaOF COURSE IT WAS ALL PREDICTABLE. I saw it. My friends saw it. My husband saw it. Why couldn't our government see it all coming? Jerihttp://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94460Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:36:20 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94460B. G.Shame on you Chris. I watched you and read what you wrote during the run-up to war. Like most of your colleagues in the media you never gave voice to those who forcefully argued against the rationale for war (check the transcripts of your show - think you could ever invite those not buried deep inside Washington?) and you treated war as if it was a game. I think not only about the brave men and woman we have lost but the countless Iraqi children who have lost their family and the Iraqi parents who have lost children. Our actions have created a nation of ravaged people. The joke of fighting 'them' there is that we are creating a country populated by those living the horrors of war. We are creating 'them' there. I beg of you Chris please, please, please don't lose your backbone again. Don't shirk your responsibility of standing up to power. It's not a horse race. And it's not just politics. It's life. And your job is to give voice to those who can't.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94463Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:39:32 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94463Chris DexterThe actual number of Iraqis killed has been estimated at over 600,000. And even that's conservative. It's probably closer to a million. Anyone want to volunteer to go over and explain to those weeping people on TV every night how much better off they are without Saddam? It's a country with a history steeped in blood. What did you think was going to happen? And what if it turns out that it takes a brutal, paranoid leadership to keep that wild-eyed bunch in line? Then we'll have wasted years, lives and billions to get back to where we started. Brilliant. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94464Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:41:35 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94464victor charlesYes Chris Matthews you hit the right notes there, I also thought that it would be a mess, really a quagmire in Iraq, but our supposed leaders only thought about oil and getting rid of Saddam and not the consequences of their actions. Thus I think bush, cheney et al should be held responsible for this war and the follow up mess we are in.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94496Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:22:12 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94496s. mcdonaldMy thoughts, exactly. That echoed a conversation I had with a colleague, after the first utterance of 'Iraq'. We knew what was coming and just watched. I haven't been surprised, yet. Biggest surprise is that W actually won again in '04. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94505Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:33:32 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94505LeahThere are MANY of us whom could not predict what would happen upon the invasion of Iraq, we just knew it was WRONG!!! That's what all those protests around the world (BEFORE the invasion) were about! It was obviouse to many that Iraq was not connected to 9/11, and that WMD's were just an excuse. Now we stand in awe of the continued deceit, carnage, expense, and unbelievable suffering of the Iraqi citizens, as well as are brave American soldiers. Let's hope our next president has a PHD in HISTORY, or at least his cronies do.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94513Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:43:53 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94513Tony GilliamThis Chris Matthews piece is dead on. Going into Iraq, though it was ruled by a brutal dictator, when Iraq had nothing to do with the horror of September 11th, 2001, was like putting sign up sheets for US hating terrorists all over the world. In that respect it has succeeded beyond all expectations. As the button on the lapel of the Alfred E. Newman looking Bush caricatured on the handbill handed out at the Embarcadaro to Civic Plaza parade in SF on 1-20-01 says, "WORRY". How precient that was. Tony Gilliamhttp://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94516Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:47:44 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94516joe yurgine, Bourbonnais, illChris, Your interview with Duncan Hunter. Here is a guy who was in Iraq 1 1/2 years ago. He comes on your program as some kind of expert. What is the source of his info? All he gives us is a lot of hearsay and bull shit. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94523Tue, 20 Mar 2007 01:03:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94523Michael Harris, Tampa, FLBut Chris, come on now. Don't try and play the martyr here. I watched the shows you had on hardball, leading up to the 2004 election. You were very slanted toward Bush and against Kerry. Most of your moderators were Republican in their leanings, Andrea Mitchell, Pat Buchanan, et al. Poor Ron Reagan must have thought he was walking into the Lions Den, when appearing on Hardball. Those of us not fooled by Bush and his cadre in '00 or '04 knew this guy was a loser. Thinking and well read peeps knew, he was incompetent and Hitleresk in surrounding himself with ideologues and Neo Cons, who were prostitutes for their pimps, (Corp. America.) Are we geniuses? Nope! We're just people that read, listen and follow our instincts. But at least you wised up now. That's better than nothing. Well, perhaps the parents and families of the 3,200 dead and 23,000 wounded Americans, will disagree. My hope is that next time, voters will be more circumspect. Let's prove Churchill wrong when he said: "the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94525Tue, 20 Mar 2007 01:04:54 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94525Rich Kokoska, Mansfield, CTWhile I'm glad you're one of the good guys now, Chris, I have to remind you that there were too many days during that invasion when you got irritated at those of us who started protesting the war publicly and criticizing Bush and the whole morality and mindset behind the "war on terror". We were soooo right and all of you who were afraid of the the Bush mafia--the press and the Democrats and Republicans in Congress, were soooo wrong. You won't make that mistake again, will you?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94530Tue, 20 Mar 2007 01:15:24 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94530levon LoveWell...you and the media pundits supported this war. Now, you are saying "I told you so"??? I havent liked you Mr. Matthews since the 200 election fiasco. You thought that it was admirable for Al Gore to step aside and let Bush to take the reins. As a matter of fact, you got choked up and said that Gore was doing it for "the good of our great nation". Do you still feel that way?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94531Tue, 20 Mar 2007 01:18:04 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94531David, Vancouver, BCWow, the only people who had good thoughts on this war must've been exercising their denial skills pretty heavily. Everybody where I live knew the war was a scam, was invalid. Everybody who didn't have their head in the sand knew this war was foul, fueled by arrogant pride, rage, greed, and lies. The issue wasn't even doubted, it was well known that the US is completely dihonest but will do what they do no matter what. It's pathetic that now its citizens will still play the fool, acting like it was somebody else's bad decision and not their own, pretending that there was even room for anyone to not have known the full truth of these issues ahead of time. P.S. who cares how many US citizens have been killed, look at the number of innocent Iraqis. The US death toll should be nothing more than a mere footnote in smallprint, humbled by the deaths that matter much more -those of the innocent and undeserving Iraqis.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94535Tue, 20 Mar 2007 01:23:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94535Kit NeillThis Administration did a textbook perfect job of silencing critics. Hit the talk shows, with words like "unpatriotic", and "helping terrorists." The media, ever senstive to criticism, muted its remarks. Job protection. In fairness, most didn't want to know; it was that well sold. Finally Howard Dean, with nothing to lose because no one knew who he was, began speaking and all those suffering in silent rage, jumped on board. We were all scared, stunned and shocked after 9-11, and the Bush team took advantage of it. There is a brilliant political cartoon in the paper today, the justice lady is on the ground, her sword beside her. A gun marked politics blew her away. The caption: "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight." That sums up the Bush Administration. They didn't bother to gather support for the war, they just brought the ammo.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94544Tue, 20 Mar 2007 01:41:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94544Rick Lapin, Albuquerque, NMSame things are true about Afghanistan. History shows exactly the course that little war will take, while we all act surprised at each traditional turn; at the standard ebb and flow (and occasional outright disappearance) of the resistance there that each new invader thinks spells victory just around the corner. They've been fighting that way -- "mysterious" disappearances included -- for thousands of years, and it always works out the same way. They live there. We don't, we don't want to, and we never will. You can't tame water by hitting it with a rock, folks ... http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94547Tue, 20 Mar 2007 01:45:54 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94547Jack; Fairfax Station, VAYes, you are so right. I was in Vietnam, where I saw a little action, so I know some about war. And, anyone reading some history of the area would know that it was going to be a mess. But, what I really hate about the whole matter is the lies the administration told. And, the cost in lives and $.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94552Tue, 20 Mar 2007 01:57:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94552Dave Bechtel, Kirkland, WashingtonI truly feel that you were (are) part of the problem Mr. Mathews. You lent your credibility to people such as Dick Cheney and Tom Delay and didn't ask them the tough questions up front. It was easy for most citizens to see that this was poor policy upfront and in execution yet your fawning over Dick Cheney throughout the last election helped them maintain credibility.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94553Tue, 20 Mar 2007 02:00:43 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94553Dagmar, Campbell, CAChris, I am so with you. I remember the evening four years ago. I had friends over for dinner. Two couples, all well traveled, college educated, smart people, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Me, my boyfriend - he is naturalized American, originally from Egypt and Muslim - and our friends watched in horror the bombing and then we all stated what a big mistake this is and that this will end up in chaos, big loss for the US and will isolate us in the world. You don't need to have intelligence briefings to know that you cannot invade a Muslim (or other) country and expect to be greeted with candy and flowers. Barack Obama knew that, you knew ... I am from Germany, immigrated here 12 years ago and I LOVE this country. I'll be a citizen very soon and have a hard time making my friends and family in Europe understand why I still want to become an American. Everybody with a bit of an education or interest in history and politics knows that you cannot occupy a country like Iraq without paying dearly ....with the blood of our young men and women, with the blood of more than 100.000 dead Iraqis and with the loss of America's moral standing in this world.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94556Tue, 20 Mar 2007 02:02:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94556Ed Stanowicz, Manville, NJIf Chris Matthews said just one thing in support of our troops and their mission in Iraq, hell would freeze over. The man is a neo-lib, seditious skunk. Just another one of the Islamo Fascist's Useful Idiots in the MSM. Pathetic. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94559Tue, 20 Mar 2007 02:05:05 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94559SFC, US ARMYOf course it was predictable. Our own Pentagon had came to the same conclusions in their own studies of an invasion of Iraq. This, as well as every other warning by experts around the world was ignored. I for one cannot believe that George Bush is still president and has not been impeached. We are all sheep and I suppose we deserve this administration. Im so tired of people saying the evidence was misleading. No it wasnt. The evidence was faked. This administration did it for whatever sick reason that only they must know. The majority of them are cowards, who when asked to serve would not, and now ask us to give our lives for thier lies. I am a 20 year soldier and I am ashamed of our government, and of our people, for continuing to be sheep while me and my fellow soldiers put our lives on the line. If anyone truly supported the soldiers they would march on the white house and never leave until its current occupants have been evicted! I WILL NOT BE A SHEEP! (But, I cant give my name or be prosecuted)http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94561Tue, 20 Mar 2007 02:08:01 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94561rick rodriguez, corpus christi, TXYep! It was clear to see where this catastrophy was going when 43 got on the air and spouted out his infamous "Get out of Iraq in 48 hours" threat to Hussein and his sons. [Unprecedented lawlessness and cowardice for an American President.] The needless carnage and murderous attack on innocent human beings (shock and awe ??) actually shocked and awed the rest of the civilized world, most notably. 43 still talks of 'winning' in Iraq. That really means setting up a puppet regime that can enforce edicts from Washington. The obvious problem is that all of the warring factions in that civil war hate us more than they do each other. Sort of like Saigon. When Charlie rolled in, friends were hard to find. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94568Tue, 20 Mar 2007 02:17:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94568David R. Smith, Newport, OregonVery Predictable and very repetitive. The very sad and most concerning aspect of the Iraq war is how gullable the American people are. Every war starts with a goverment selling it to its' people. Proclaiming that there is a security threat and then questioning the peoples patriotism. It is just that easy to get a nation of gullable people to go to war. WAKE UP! This is how every war through out history has been sold. The Communists did not take over the world when we did not stop them in Vietnam. There were a lot of people that were gullable and believed that would happen, because that is what we were told. Now we are being told that terorists will follow us home unless we stop them in the middle east. Out of respect for the over 3000 GIs, 100,000 Iraq civilians killed. Please spend a little time and investigate how you are being played for fools, for beleiving the lies this time. Gullable = Ignorance http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94698Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:49:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94698Chuck Kulig, Arlington Heights, IllinoisAs I look back at the the last 4 years in Iraq, I recall a scene from a 1975 movie with Robert Redford and Cliff Robertson - "3 Days of the Condor": Turner: Do we have plans to invade the Middle East? Higgins: No. Absolutely not. We have games. That's all. We play games. What if? How many men? What would it take? Is there a cheaper way to destabilize a regime? That's what we're paid to do. Turner: Boy, what is it with you people? You think not getting caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth? Higgins: No. It's simple economics. Today it's oil, right? In ten or fifteen years, food. Plutonium. And maybe even sooner. Now, what do you think the people are gonna want us to do then? Turner: Ask them. Higgins: Not now — then! Ask 'em when they're running out. Ask 'em when there's no heat in their homes and they're cold. Ask 'em when their engines stop. Ask 'em when people who have never known hunger start going hungry. You wanna know something? They won't want us to ask 'em. They'll just want us to get it for 'em!" Of course it was all predictable. It's always predictable when people play games that go too far. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94700Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:56:34 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94700j. brownski. chicago, ILAmen. Indeed, leaders are not supposed to be nobodies. Very well said. There was no doubt that the administration heard/knew/was advised on just about what you said. But greed, arrogance, lust for power etc. trumped everything else. As they say, power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94706Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:02:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94706Martin Murphy, Honolulu, HIIt is so convenient that so many members of the media and our prominient politicians now claim that it was "predictable" - or "I was not given all the facts". As a former Harball viewer, a person with first hand experience in teh Middle East and a war dobter from day one, I remember distinctly the air time the producers of the program gave to the adminstration-friendly war cheerleaders. And I remember Chris Matthews' consent to the war. Mr. Matthews - you are not being in tellectually honest with your role the war. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94710Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:08:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94710Lisa Keenan, South Portland, MEAhhh, Chris... I have been untractably, unrelentingly opposed to this war from Day One not because of all of the points you raise, but because of the simple factor that we were blatantly lied to in order to gain our support (I didn't swallow it while they were telling it to me. I will never forgive Colin Powell-the only one I trusted, for his complicity in this charade). Nothing that's occurred after that matters to me, even if we were having some successes. The fact that we aren't-we're falling down miserably, in fact-is simply more a testament to the lies we were fed to get us there. How can you build any success when you laid the foundation on a house of cards?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94720Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:24:54 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94720Gary Beaubouef, Alexandria, LouisianaI agree that the turn of events that have followed the invasion of Iraq were predictable from the very beginning, but the only administration official to even hint of a warning was Secretary of State Colin Powell who told the President "If you break it, you own it." From the moment the U.S. military allowed thieves to break into the national museum in Baghdad and did nothing about it, this war was on a slide downhill. Well, we own Iraq now and we're paying for it in blood.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94736Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:36:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94736SteveIn anticipation of a humanitarian crisis I was stationed in Amman in January 2003. I am a regular guy, a mid-level manager of communications, not a political heavyweight, but even back then I could have told you what was going to happen. While waiting for the war, we aid workers, would talk and it was pretty easy to see that taking out the long-term strong man in a diversely ethnic & religious country was going to create a huge vacuum and given the history of violence in that part of the world, is it any surprise that it has devolved into a civil war. The icing on the cake is the world generally hates America (for decades of imperialistic foreign policy) and knows the U.S leader is a fool and a liar. Do the math. And read Nial Ferguson's Collossus which details how America has done the same stupid crap many times before. Now I've been assigned to return to the middle east to help the tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees scattered about. Thanks George. Thanks Sam. Idiots! Next time choose a country with a really really crazy leader, like Zimbabwe. No oil there however. And who cares about Africans.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94737Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:36:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94737Rufus Gibbons, Kennett, Mo.I wrote my congressman before the war started and told him that occupying Iraq would make Beriut look like a sunday school picnic. He voted for it anyway. I was living in Florida at the time.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94741Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:38:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94741sylvia coder columbus, ohioI totally agreehttp://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94742Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:39:29 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94742Ed G. Milwaukee, WI Mr Matthews I am a veteran of the Iraq War, I retired from the US Army in 2004. I was with the 101st Airborne Divison up in Mosul. I was and still not a supporter of the war, as a soldier you could see the problems the Iraqis had within the community, especially when coaches of a soccer team steels or sells the other teams uniform, or when you go to a school and want to see equipment that the Americans brought for the Iraqis, and then come to find out they sold the equipment. Then come find out the American soldiers is wasting money for equipment he or she wants instead equipment they need. Then the retirement list grew in July after the division found out they we would stay there for a year. This go backs to the early 1990 with the drawdown of the armed forces after the first Gulf War. Alot of good soldiers and leader took the bonus and ran or got QMP (kicked-out),then the Army leaders wanted a laxed Army. Then you have a administration who don't know what the hell is going on and playing polticial games with the American soldiers lives, and the total disrespect of the American people. All this is wasted money and American lives. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94745Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:42:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94745Jack Richardson, Camp Wood, TxGB Sr was too timid to pursue Hussein in Desert Storm and knew his own limitations in taking on that region's can of worms.Anyway his oil interests were in Kuwait, not Irag. Our tax dollars and military preserved the family wealth. Jr marches to a different drummer-he really feels he has a divine mission to bring democracy and capitalism wrapped in Christian principles to that area.There are other motives (oil) behind the invasion and never spoken about but apparently GW and his military immune advisers never had a clue how to wrap up the ballgame- Hopefully, God is still in control of this mess. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94746Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:47:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94746Jay, Stonaham,MassThe passion and hatred that it takes to blow ones self up should have,at the least,given this country pause before becoming occupiers in a muslim nation. This should have reminded us of WW2 and Japan,and it took two atomic weapons to end that one.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94751Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:56:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94751bob franks,little rock, arwe are at war!!!!!!!! people die.... so don,t think your a genuis because you predicted the outcome...http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94752Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:58:29 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94752S PrabhudasCertianly it was predictable, but what was not predictable was that the majority of Americans would re-elect Geroge W. Bush for 4 more years.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94753Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:59:05 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94753J.C., MichiganI remember watching Colin Powell's address to the U.N. - you know, the one that was universally considered the slam dunk for war with Iraq? - and the whole steamroll toward war, and I remember thinking, "Is this the new standard for going to War with another nation? Has the bar really been lowered that far?" It used to be that all-out war was out of the question unless the country in question was a direct threat to us or our allies in the area. And here we were rushing to war because a dictator MIGHT be thinking bad thoughts about SOMEDAY acquiring dangerous weapons. I was shocked by how many people in this country were willing to have us make the ultimate sacrifice with minimal justification, and how willing the press was to swallow the pill. Not to mention the willingness of our citizens to accept the very rosiest of scenarios for victory and withdrawal. Wasn't it obvious from the beginning that we weren't going to go in there with "shock and awe" force only to just leave and let the chips fall where they may? It wasn't ever going to happen, yet somehow very few had the vision to see it or the courage to say it. We were there from the beginning to not only rid Iraq of Saddam, but to remake the country in our own image. Did people really believe that was going to happen in 6 months? A year? Two years? And did the Bush administration really believe that it was going to happen so effortlessly that we didn't even need a plan to make it happen? Maybe something can be taken away from this disaster if a lesson can be learned for future generations. But then that's just more wishful thinking.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94774Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:25:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94774Samuel F. Reynolds, Austin, TexasChris, yup you were right as rain. My political outlook is internationalist, so "conservative" and "liberal" don't mean much to me. When the war expanded into Iraq I only appreciated that at last the United States was publicly committed to maintaining a presence in the Mid-East, for the first time in fifty years. I figured that the military operations would gradually be backed by behind-the-scenes diplomatic activities. But last year I finally realized half of the State Department has become only a subdivision of the Defense Department, the other half has become a blue-nose tea room where mention of "black ops" is considered worse than cursing in public. I also realized the managers in the Defense Department have insinuated themselves and their families into our society as a permanent class of aristocrats. These jokers would rather spend $300 billion on a war in Iraq than to spend $250 thousand to fund an assassination of Saddam Hussein. Don't let anyone tell you assassinations don't work --the days when Defense and State worked in cooperation must've died with John Kennedy. I believe in the American people, as we really are. To me, now, the government, whether controlled by conservatives or liberals, is only an injury we learn to live with. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94776Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:25:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94776Paul - OmahaIt's always easy to be a Monday Morning Quarterback. Tell me, Oh Great and All Knowing Chris Matthews - what would YOU have done if faced with the same quandry as president Bush after 9/11?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94781Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:29:32 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94781Curtis Hammond, Charlotte, NCAmen! Only the misguided Haliburton oil mongering Republican neocon elite couldn't see this coming from a mile away. Probably because of the dollar signs in their eyes! They were so out of touch then and they still are today.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94782Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:30:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94782kaustinIf the Iraq war was so predictable, then why did the media, yourself included Mr. Matthews, act as cheerleaders for it, rather than as objective journalists? The media has much responsibility on its shoulders for following the Bush administration's lead and whipping up mindless "patriotism" in the public that stifled reasoned debate on our country's response to 9/11. I hope now and in the future, the media will uphold its duty to inform the public rather than exploit it.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94807Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:43:04 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94807Ellen Waukon, Boyceville, WIYou have voiced one of my great fustrations. If you were paying attention at all - this was no surprise. I listened to the pro's and con's - It was apparent to me that the pro's had no background in the region, didn't understand their history, didn't understand their culture and were dismissive of anyone who did. I listened to people who spoke the language, had contacts and had lived in the region, understood the history say that this would be a quagmire - guess who I listened to. The absolute arragance of this administration in particular is astounding. I lived through the Nixon impeachment, the Clinton impeachment and this is the first impeachment that seemed worth the trouble. Where is the accountability? A mistake is hitting the wrong key - this was no such mistake it was a concentrated effort launched by incompetent individuals, blessed by a delusional president and a machiavellian vice-president, supported by a cabal of neo-cons.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94811Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:47:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94811John Doe, Seattle, WashI remember Chris Matthews as an applogist, if not an over confident stooge, for the Bush/Cheney propaganda machine. I also remember the day he dressed down the administration when he saw the light. If he knew, why didn't he resist the war histeria and expose it as a manipulation?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94819Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:53:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94819Steve CrichtonYou're not the only who who made predictions...I predicted in an email to a friend, back in 2002: "...just wait, as soon as things get difficult, or ugly, or messy, our politicians will start the 'backout' process. Could you imagine what would have happened during WWII with this generation? Oh no, lost too many at IWO, we should withdraw back to Pearl. Oops, too many lost in Normandy, let's hold here on the beaches, and engage the Germans in talks..." We are not being resisted as an invader. We are fighting a true handful of knuckleheads out of a population of over 20 million people. We are winning the war over there, and war is ugly, and painful, and not sanitized. If we don't carry on, and win, then our children will live with the results of our lack of fortitude.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94822Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:58:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94822Patricia Bureau, FRANCEMakes you wonder where George W. Bush was during the peace and love 70's, Vietnam war. Did he see any of the movies that dealt with the horrors of war, postwar trama (those wounded and not wounded). I'm not a graduate of any University and I was able to predict how this mess in Irag would unfold. I canceled my TIME subscription when Bush was elected the first time anticipating the embarassment just to observe him in office, this was before 9/11 and Irag. Now I've resubscribed and at least regaining faith in the American people to come to their senses and get to the bottom of this catastrophic administration.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94825Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:01:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94825Paul HelderleThe condemnation I have on the Bush administration is that they sold the war to the American people rather that debated the issue of going to war. And then to add further insult they attacked and sacked all who questioned them like the general who said more troops were needed or attacked them who disagreed with them like they did with outing the FBI lady. And while I supported the war it was not because of Weapons of Mass Destruction but because of their Weapons of Mass Disruption. If your shit leaks from your country, terrorist funding, attacking another country, then I support keeping the option of an invasion on the table. Sadaams shit had leaked for far too long and the time was right to get rid of him. And then to have the republicans jumping on the Nation Building band wagon and condemning Clinton's Nation Building is just so hippocritical of the Republicans. Yes if you are going to invade a country nation building is just part of the job. But very too faced of the Republican party to now be supporting nation building. When did it become so wrong just to go in and assassinate tyrants? It is time to reverse our assassination policy on heads of state, at least when we determine them to be tyrants. According to the recent book I read on Lincoln, Lincoln created a cabinet not with like minded people but with the people he ran against. People who would tell him not what he wanted to hear but what they believed themselves. Sadly Bush surrounded himself with people who only read from the same play book and any one else who read from a different play book was sacked or attacked. In truth I was impressed with Bushes cabinet selections and his first term was impressive. The Bush team seamed to be master political chess players. And Bushes second term started with me thinking he and the Republican machine were invinsible. Catholics bailed on the Democrate and it looked like they would be able to roll out more Christian Conservative Far Right principles but then the war came and the Bush political train just seemed to derail. What the heck happened to this administration? Did 9-11 turn this administration into distrusting communists. Did the wagons just encircle the Neo Conservatives with Bush in the middle and did the resulting GROUP THINK sink the decision making process. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94834Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:11:01 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94834Jane Wallac, Groton CTMarch 20, 2007 Dear Chris Matthews: Hindsight is always clearer when you have the opportunity to look back. Let's not forget we took this course after 911, how soon WE forget! We were attacked by radicals first - count the number of attacks through the many years and not just the latest ones like the Twin Towers or USS Cole but others including the Embassy’s. We are not fighting just Iraq insurgency or single minded shier or Sunni in one nation, We are fighting an ideology that intends to kill off all faiths including Christians! It is obvious they are filled with hatred for anyone, and no one in particular – they have no value of Life, or this would not be going on anywhere. Speaking of over there – let’s not forget 911 was over here. Where now would you say you would rather fight them? Over there? Or Over here? The Congress voted to allow this President and our troops to go to war; did it ever occur to anyone including the Congress that when you open the "Flood gates" water will pour through, that you will get more than what you bargain for? The hatred between those tribes is historic; their hatred for America and our freedoms comes from having none of their own ever, and growing up in nothing but radical beliefs, killing and tyranny. This war will not be over even if we withdraw tomorrow - their hatred is centuries old and the hatred of free nations is not unique. We are not fighting one people -we are fighting all of the radicals in the Arab world and my very best guess is this is just the “tip of the iceberg” in years to come! Also, Never forget what country loves to spread their errors – Russia, and the latest poll suggests they have sold lot’s of weapons and technology to the Middle East and along with communist China – so I am convinced the horizon does not look peaceful at all and it will get worse, as long as these people are not for democracy what else is left for them? And as long as We are a free nation, we can not and should not think this is over just because we wish it so or we disagree with the President and the views of the Congress. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94842Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:18:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94842Pat Baughn, Saratoga, New YorkMr. Matthews: I agree with your opinion regarding prediction of the outcome of the Iraq war. I'm just an ordinary citizen, sir, but I read a book called "The Desert Queen" (forgotten the author's name). It was a true story about a British woman called Gertrude Bell who lived and worked for many years in Iraq in the early 20th century. She came to love Iraq and it's people. She was working for the British Government trying to bring political agreement between the Suni, Shia,and Kurd people by negotiating with their leaders. A truly difficult task then as now. She was well respected and liked by these leaders as well as by the Iraqui people. It was an excellent book; very informative. If some of our leaders had read it much of what has happened now could have easily been predicted. I read this book in 2002 and have been against this war all along.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94848Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:21:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94848Duncan Nixon Reston, VA I agree completely, and the Bushies got these predictions from Wise men and women in the State Department and the CIA, but simply chosse to ignore them, and instead choose to believe the whispers of the Chalabi and his pals that it would be a cake walk. regards, Duncster. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94859Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:33:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94859J D MatthewsExactly right. Senior Bush said to invade Iraq would de stablalize the area. His son did not listen. They sold this war on false intellegence and lies and a poorly thought out planhttp://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94869Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:42:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94869Richard Haviland, Kinnelon, NJChris Matthews, Yes, the outcome of the Iraq War was very predictable. The anti-war movement forecasted the bloody outcome with astonshing accuracy and precision. This movement was given almost no voice in the mainstream media at the time of the run-up to the invasion, and still rarely receives any airtime. The weak Democratic Party response is not representative of the broader movement who tried to stop the invasion from taking place, and has fought the escalation ever since. There are numerous leaders and pivotal players who were able to predict the debacle years ago, and it is a great disservice to the wounded, dead, and soon to be dying, to not allow their voices to be heard, especially when these voices were the ones that could have stopped this tragic foreign policy years ago if the mainstream American public had only been allowed to hear what they were saying. Shame on all of us. Richard Haviland Kinnelon, NJ http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94870Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:42:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94870Robert J MoweryI watch your show and for the most part agree with your positions. I agree with your all of your predictions noted here and I am and have been adamantly against this incursion into Iraq.Your predictions also reflect just some of the blantant lies this administration has fed to the American people. What I find difficult to understand is why has the media (not just you) have been reluctant to pointedly attack this administration, it's policies, it's hypocritical behaviours, and it's very reckless endangerment of our constitution, our values and our country. The political machine cannot be attacked and brought to task today as it was during Vietnam as there is no draft, no need for rebellion. The press / media now needs to lead a rebellion against how this administration is behaving and lead the drive to make them accountable at the highest level.Not simply carry on discussions and pander to both sides. Take a position and fight for it. There is no right in this issue / only wrong and the media needs to help push this. Our country is disintegrating before our eyes and Bush is promoting Iraq needs before ours.How can this be. "We the People" need your (media) help to overcome this insane direction Bush has taken us on. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94874Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:44:05 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94874Bobby G., San Antonio, TxThat is exactly the problem - Nobody wanted to predict it, or have anyone else predicting it either. Everybody who did found themselves quickly retired from public service. Everyone wanted to be a "loyal Bushie", and now we have a bunch of dead and crippled children to show for it. I don't know about you - but I'm going to run right out and vote straight Republican ticket in '08.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94879Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:47:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94879A.B.B. Clemson, SCAbsolutely right ! From the initial lies about WMD to the arrogant "cut and run traitors" espoused by the intellectual challenged, this war has been a fiasco from the first second we chose to invade a country for the flimsiest of reasons. Bush and his cohorts do not have a clue.....two more years ? Does the term "screwed" mean anything ?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94880Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:48:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94880John E., Miami, FLThis "war" is a bad joke getting worse! Today, all our troops are doing are acting as referee's between the Sunni's and Shite's civil war. The rest of the world hates us and we can thank Bush-Cheney for the mess. It's probably going to take 2 Presidents to clean up the mess & fix the mistakes Bush made. I'm so disgusted with Bush and the entire administration the only light at the end of the tunnel at this point is knowing we have the 22nd Ammendment in our Constitution.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94881Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:48:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94881Xander, Boston, MAThe protests leading up to the war was a clear indicator that the war was going to be unpopular. The amount people who marched on the streets of New York were grossly underestimated by the media and their voice dampened. General Shinseki advocated the need for "several hundred thousand troops" to stabilize a post-war Iraq, and more importantly George Bush Sr. had a coalition of 660,000 troops without even sacking Baghdad! He knew the perils, it was clearly predictable...http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94882Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:48:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94882Bryce Pullano, Saratoga NYNo doubt, the mess created by this administrations hubris was 100% predictable. Even Bush 1 understood that taking out Saddam would destabilize the entire region, which is precisely why he let him be after the Gulf War. How could the American people be so misguided as to follow this "leader"?? It is beyond belief that so many still support a man who has completely destroyed the image of America, at home and abroad. Can anyone reasonably conclude that our futures, and the futures of our children, have not been severely comprimised (if not totally ruined) by this pointless conflict? The only unpredictable part of this entire fiasco is how we will ever get out of it.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94888Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:52:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94888Andy Fleisch the great shame is the incompetency of the Bush administration has made a difficult task seemingly impossible. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94889Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:52:31 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94889Bill Mahoney, Madison, CTI'm tired of hearing what we should have known. Either we didn't, or our leadership was blind, or stupid, or they were motivated by other factors. What do we do now is the relevent question. Stay focused on that.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#94892Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:55:21 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:94892Steve Sampson, Choctaw, OklahomaIraq was as predictable as Yugoslavia. Too many tribes, too many guns. Sunni Iraq needs about 10 more years to kill off the current adult population, and then we can deal with what remains. Our troops are only delaying the end, and they need to get out of the way, while we fund and arm the proxies. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95065Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:54:04 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95065Paul Staynor Memphis Tenn.For you to write this now, without grovelling in apology for your conduct before the war and in the early days, is at best cowardly. After Sept. 11 when we went after Al Queida in Afghanistan the whole world was on our side. We had no good reason to go into Iraq. We took an all volunteer army that was the equivalent of a guided missile and wasted it like a crude wooden spear. We took over a trillion dollars out of our treasury. We have wasted our troops, we have wasted our hard earned dollars and we have wasted our credibility and the goodwill of much of the world. And you cheered it all on. Be ashamed.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95069Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:56:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95069Thomas KellyChris, Excellent work! It was common sense that Iraq couldn't have posed a threat to the US. If, and I emphasize,(IF) Bush had more intelligence and I don't mean the kind from data, he would have marshalled the world support that we had just days after the attacks on 9/11; gone in after Bin laden, then point that power at Sadam, DONE. With the world on our side we could have averted thousands of dead young americans, and iraqis, and could have used that infuence to motivate the world community, including Iran and N Korea, to thwart terrorism. Bush blew it big time and we're going to suffer the consequenses.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95075Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:01:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95075Kay, Jackson, MississippiSome people and politicians may still have been emotionally overwhelmed when it came to voting on whether or not to go to war, but many citizens here and around the world knew we should not invade Iraq. Proof of that showed in the demonstrations against it. And there are no numbers available indicating the number of letters written to our polititicans and Bush begging them not to proceed with that insanity. Anyone with any common sense at all should have known that if Saddam had WMD, he would not just sit on them and let the US annihilate him. While a first-strike is generally unacceptable throughout the international community, to just sit and wait for destruction when you know it is coming would be an unnatural reaction if you have the weapons to defend yourself. And Saddam knew it was coming--all the world knew! This fiasco can be laid squarely on the shoulders of every member of Congress who voted to give "moron" the authority and the funds to invade and to continue the war. We have paid dearly in soldiers and funds and will continue to pay for many years to come. The war has become a breeding ground for more terrorists; and if anyone believes those young kids who have seen us destroy their country and their families will forget, they are living in la-la land. Those kids will remember; and when they grow up, they will reap destruction upon our children and grandchildren. Further, another result of this Iraqi war is one I haven't heard mentioned. While we have always been taught in school and through the media that the US is the greatest, most militarily powerful country in the world, many of us have been enlightened. Now we are disgusted with the US we see and have loved. And that hurts. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95100Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:13:21 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95100Dario Gonzalez, Buf, New YorkPredictable, maybe, you make claim that the war is wrong, but what should we do? Should we just pull out, call it a day and let the Iraqi’s kill each other with religious cleansing. Would it be acceptable to leave without resolution? You seem to like to be so predictable in your response, you find it necessary to belittle the President and his way of doing things, but do you honestly believe you can do better. Your points are good for the argument, but that is all it should be. You take your words of negativism and despair of our country, the administration, and the war and use it to make your weekly paycheck count. But are you really addressing the truth or just your truth. You make claims of predicting the future by you and others on matters you really do not understand. To meet your predictive mind, here’s some prediction. I predict due to the people of the united states no longer interested in saving their lives from these international terrorist and tyrants, that the terrorist and Tyrants will conquer the world, Islam will become the dominate religion in the world. By 2020 or sooner, the world will be in a nuclear war, that the United States will not respond in kind, because we lost the will to fight and defend our freedom. That the first response will not be from the US, but from an allied defending their last rights to be a free nation. I predict (2009) that the Democratic Party will put into law the Selective Service Act, which will be established due to posture of our country not ready to fight or deal with world issues. DNC will find it necessary to quell concerns of the loss of our South American friends being invaded and over run by socialist tyrants and Islamic conversion of the population. To satisfy your thirst for more, I predict you will be demanding War, because we were attacked and hundreds of thousands of Americans are dead. You see, it’s easy to predict, so let it be written, so let it be done.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95110Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:18:16 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95110Leonard K., Las Vegas, NevadaChris, you nailed it! As for the first responder to your column whose son is fighting in Iraq, as a former marine I salute him. Is he fighting the enemy? That is a question worth serious debate as we really are still not sure exactly whom it is we are fighting over there. Still, his willingness to serve his country, same as I did, in another unpopular war which I didn't agree with, is a true sign of his courage and dedication to country which any parent should be proud of. Having said this, as much as I admire the way this parent obviously raised his/her/their son, I still condemn this war as much if not more so than when it began. Predictable, like your original column for the San Francisco Chronicle, same as the sun rises and sets each day, many of us saw the same thing as you did. One has to ask daily, why didn't our leaders? Thank you for your thoughts and oppinions, keep on writing until we finally rid our top leadership of the vermin habitating a house once painted white. As ex-Sectretary of Defense Mr Donald R. went, so too will the rest follow if you continue with the education process of your columns; I salute you sir!http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95136Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:27:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95136Jean, Covington, WAFrom Day 1 of this ridiculous war, I told my (adult)children that "This is another Vietnam--only this time, it's not for "freedom" but for ignorant, idiot, stupid Bush & Big Oil." I was sure hoping I'd be wrong but four years later.......well.........maybe if Chicken George the II had served in Vietnam he would have known better, but I doubt it. That dingbat needs to be impeached.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95138Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:28:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95138Mike Tatom. Lone Tree, COChris Matthews was part of the lap dog media that supported the President and the Republican Party in everything they said and did and now to say that it was predictable is laughable and a sad commentary on Chris Matthews. The media has become spineless during this administration and Chris is no better than the lap dogs on FOX. What happened to an objective and curious press, they all ate the Administration dog food.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95144Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:31:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95144Susan, Indianapolis, INChris, You are 100% right. And since I have watched your show faithfully for the last 7 years, I KNOW for a fact that you have always vehemently opposed this war in Iraq. It was the biggest possible mistake to go in, and even worse the way it was mismanaged after the invasion. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95145Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:31:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95145Bill SimsForgotten history: "People like to say on this fourth anniversary of the war that we never thought it would this bloody." What a bunch of baloney. On the openning day of D-day on a quarter mile stretch of beach, code named "Omaha" 3000 men lost their lives liberating France. Opening day totals are more than 20,000 for the enitre operation. We have occupied and controlled the country of Iraq for four years with just over 3200 lost. Though every life lost is to be mourned, this is the greatest military feat in history. So inept and ineffectual is the so called insurgency that they have fallen back on civilian terrorism to make this a political failure. This war was moral and just, now we are dealing with the mess of liberal media bias that has painted a bleak and pessimistic story for the masses, banking on the odds that the masses are as historically ignorant as they appear to be.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95290Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:49:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95290BC Richmond VA All of the people who voted against Bush in 2000 predicted a mess and that is why they voted against him. Just what sort of mess may have been unknown at hat time but nevertheless they had some idea of what he was capable of. Personally I could not vote for him because of the hate between GW's father and Sadam. That is exactly what came into play with the war, It was never about WMD but rather, repaying a debt from the past.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95291Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:50:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95291Tony Vernon, Indianapolis, INI have spent the last 4 years listening to all my conservative slowly give up on each argument, from WMD's and the connection to 9/11 to the overall war on terrorism. These friends assign us to easily the moral obligation, placed directly on young American, lives to save the world from itself. In reality, we can barely save ourselves. From the beginning I believed this war was rooted in something more political; more economic. It was always easy to see the logical facts, but harder to see the true motivation. I believe the "truth" is now the most precarious issue our government manages. We have no control over the truth. It has been reduced to whatever we are told. This administration has done the most complete job of nurturing a global and domestic enemy since the McCarthy era. One of two things is certain. Either our leadership is blindly ignorant of geopolitics, culture, and the nature of nationalism, or they have an agenda which has not been shared with the American people. Either way it is a frightening prospect.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95292Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:50:24 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95292Bruce Jones, Los AngelesWe all knew what was about to occur. To many, it seemed to be the right thing to do until the body bags began to come home. We sent our youth off to war expecting them to come home, as we did in the War Between the States, everyone believed the soldiers would return home within 6 weeks unharmed and victorious, showing vacation videos and sporting imitation Rolex watches. Do you prefer to hide your heads in the sand and pretend that it didn’t happen as you did on February 26, 1993 when the World Trade Center was bombed under Clinton’s watch? A mere invitation to repeat their efforts unchallenged whenever and wherever they chose. They did so on Sept 11, 2001, and would’ve continued if allowed to. Bush is merely a figurehead; it took the Senate and House of Representatives (Republicans & Democrats alike) to get us into this war. If Bush truly is the idiot and poor leader he’s proclaimed to be, what can we say of all the members of Congress that follow him and still grant him unprecedented powers? Bush didn’t get into the Middle East by himself. What this has emphasized more than anything is that the world has learned much from Jane Fonda; the only way to defeat the United States is to divide and destroy from within. If united, the Hitlers, Husseins, and Bin Ladens will cease to exist. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95303Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:57:05 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95303Richard, Phoenix, ArizonaChris, You and the rest of the media should be ashamed for your lack of independence and patriotism. Asking tough questions does not make one unpatriotic; it is the epitome of patriotism. You're all just as guilty as Bush and the rest of his administration and you all have blood on your hands. Don’t backtrack now; just have the guts to apologize. Not only because of the war but for helping the administration perpetuate this ongoing culture of fear. You, like the administration, want us afraid; helps the ratings doesn’t it? And now, on the major media outlets, including MSNBC, we hear whimpering sounds about blogs and YouTube and the upcoming election and confusion over why we, the people, are turning to alternative forms of news and information. I can honestly only hope that the mewling and whimpering we hear is the sound of the mainstream media’s death throes. That’s what happens when credibility is lost. And I say good riddance. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95306Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:58:01 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95306Maurice Hampson , Middleburg, VAAgree w/previous writer....why is this a war? We won the war quickly and predictably 4 years ago with a well planned strategy and a well trained military. Re-building a Country politically, economically and militarily in a secure environment requires similar, if not greater planning and execution. It is not now a war, but a policing and rebuilding excercise, with a largely political, not military dimension. Unfortunately this excercise is not only well beyond the limited mental resources of this administration, it is not even clearly understood by them. Let it not be said that our military cannot win wars. Let it be recognized that our President and his administration are pathetic at re-building Nations. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95311Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:00:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95311steve weatherholt, el dorado hills, californiaChris, when will the media discuss the true reason for invading Iraq/Afghanistan? It is the 1992 Defense Planning Guidance doctrine of Wolfowitz, Libby, and Khalizad a.k.a. The Policy of Pre-emption. It is now called the Bush Doctrine.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95318Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:03:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95318Sam S, E. Brunswick, NJIn response to Chris Matthews statements about the war being predictable, yes it should have been foreseen. Since there were “Neo-Cons” in the offices making the choice for the country to go to war, there was little in the way of different points of view. I find that the plan to wage a war and battles to bring the Iraq government of Saddam Hussein down as well planned. I believe that was the only item done well. There was no planning on winning the peace – rebuilding the infrastructure, developing a all inclusive government, securing the boarders and other functions that we take for granted while the new government was established. I believe some of the greatest faults were not fully understanding the relationship that the various groups had to each other inside Iraq as well as to groups outside Iraq. The idea that we would be able to go in and impose our values (or the Neo-Con values of limited government, private businesses “being the best way” and de-Ba’ath-ifcation) is just laughable. In the time that has transpired between then and now, there have been several elections which is all well and good. The elections and other great gains that have been made are nice. We won’t know how well the government is working until the U.S. and the rest of the “coalition of the willing” (however small it is) has been gone for sometime and there is a major dispute which is resolved peacefully. Right now, there have been several ideas ingrained in the culture of the area – culture of bribery, violence and intolerance. Until those things have been eliminated, what we did in there will be rather pointless. That is just the political and societal look at things. What has been done to protect the historical treasures in Iraq? There has been little done that I remember, and looters get away with lots in the meantime! http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95324Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:06:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95324Gail HodgesJust read your Bible and everyone would have known that this would happen. The only thing is why doesn't our government help our country and keep our noses out of everyone elses problems. We have so much going on here in our own country, we need some help our ownselves. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95351Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:30:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95351bill, jacksonville flGlad you said it, but I agree with those who question why you never said it before. Your most remarkable broadcast was commenting on the president landing on the Abraham Lincoln. If you really were as prescient as you allude to in this article, you never would have fawned over the president like a school girl in heat. This article strikes more of rewriting your past than having spoken truth to power on your show.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95354Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:31:05 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95354Fernando, Oneida, PaChris, I am amazed that so many people are so wrapped in the flag that they cannot have an unbiased view. We the U.S.A. invaded the only country that did not sponsor terrorists and created conditions that not only harbor terrorists but create them. Had this administration been truthful about the circumstances for going to war, I honestly do not believe we would have gone in. I believe that Chaney and a few other hawks either spiked the evidence or buried evidence to suite their goals and as a result many good American lives are being wasted along with American money and reputation. I know it wount happen, but it would be nice to not only impeach Bush but to put him on trial for ordering the shock and haw campaign that killed thousand of Iraqi civilians.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95376Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:44:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95376henry jacobs MD JDwell, I think that Chris Matthews is a vocal critic of a war that has torn America apart and killed more Iraqis than Saddam did. I am glad to have him in the anti-war corner and wish there were more like him. Americans love to win, but Americans are not war mongers. Isn't a representative government supposed to be the face of its people? Why has our country taken on the face of a small group of powerful hawks and corporate entities who have unprecedented greed as their foremost purpose? I believe the American people grieve the loss of every one of their sons and daughters lost in this war or badly injured in this war. I do not believe that the American people take any joy in the 140,000 Iraqis killed in this war. We are not a bloodthirsty nation. we need to bring our troops home, heal this nation and allow peace a chance to prevail. go Chris. henry jacobs MD JDhttp://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95388Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:50:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95388Horacio GarciaFunny...I remember watching your show and saying how stupid have we become in this country that we can have all this people been cheerleading this senseless president...yeah, your were one of them! Question...Are we ever going to impeach these president? are we going to build an library to "Honor" this person? are we going to pay for this guy to have secret service for the rest of his life?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95404Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:59:20 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95404John Hochmuth, Saint Louis, MissouriWars are not predictable. I think most people know that.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95408Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:01:46 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95408Kirk Hayworth, Peoria, ILI have a question for President Bush. If you are going to demagogue and call everybody who questions the war as being against the troops, why don't you take a couple of minutes and define what exactly victory in Iraq means. Does it mean taking out Saddam Hussein? Well, then we won the war and we should begin to pull out? Does it mean creating a Utopia society in the Middle East at the behest of the United States Government? If it does, then let's declare Iraq a U.S. territory and really get things in order. I am so sick of hearing President Bush and Snow and everybody else act like people who have a reasonable argument against the war are not on the President's side and don't want the U.S. to "win" the war.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#95413Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:05:27 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:95413AHRemember that infamous quote "All you have to do is kick in the front door and the whole rotting structure would come crashing down." http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96438Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:29:29 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96438RamKleaders of the world should know one thing first- that their actions will affect the lives of all people of this world. Do not think about the deaths of the US soldiers alone. think about the wounded soldiers, disabled soldiers, mental truma also think about the effect of this war on the children of iraq, and other countries, lives of the iraqi people who had lost thier husbands sons , kids and many of them disabled, and world divided along racial lines, ALL BECAUSE OF ONE PERSON IN TOP ORDERIING THINGS AS IF HE IS THE OMNISCIENT.*!%% IDIOThttp://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96447Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:38:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96447MichaelAmerican public is so disconnected from this war. If to continue the war would mean, for example, to be forced to switch back from the fast internet to dial-up, the war would be over in no time.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96454Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:42:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96454Ben, Dallas, TexasI believe that our failure to understand or even try to understand the fundamental geopolitical and cultural circumstances in this region can be traced to our public education and university systems. We have placed so much emphasis on math and science that we neglected to remember that history and politics as fields of study are important as well. A basic widespread understanding of the history of Iraq (or even how to study history) and it's neighbors may have warned every citizen that this was a fool's errand. We need to have citizens who are students of the world.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96493Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:12:32 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96493EH,NYThere is a famous adage and a widely used military doctrine, “you hope for the best but you plan for the worst” This administration hoped for the best and planned for the best. Colin Powell new this and he told the President “if you break it you own it”. They also ignored the history, the culture and a parallel scenario, Yugoslavia. ‘Strongman’ Tito, as a war hero, held Yugoslavia together. When Tito died Yugoslavia split and the warring factions committed atrocities that Europe promised would never be allowed to happen again. Similarly ‘Strongman’ Hussein held Iraq together. Although a tyrant he held the factions together. They also ignored human nature. A freed people, without security, will loot and destroy. The Iraqi police forces of the time should have been kept on the payroll and told to keep order. Root out the bad guys later. It was obvious to everyone who worked, lived or dealt with the region (except of course those in the administration) that without Hussein or someone like him Iraq would split. The Shia, with backing from Iran, would start a slaughter of the Sunnis (payback). The Kurds would declare independence annex the northern oil fields and prepare for the Shia assault. The only thing stopping this right now is the presence of the American forces. Even while US troops walk the streets death squads and illegal prisons proliferate. All is quiet on the northern front because the Kurds are waiting, biding their time. There are no suicide bombers or car bombs in “Kurdistan”. There is a vibrant economy and a very well trained and equipped army. So what this boils down to is that whether US forces leave today, tomorrow or in 10 years Iraq will predictably split and a full blown civil war will erupt. The bigger problem or question with this future, besides the US losing any remaining credibility, how will this affect the region? Will Saudi Arabia, with their money, and Syria with their forces try and protect the Sunnis and end up in a conflict with Iran. Will the Kurds after declaring independence enjoin the Turkish Kurds and open the door for a Turkish assault on “Kurdistan”. There is a similar scenario with the Iranian Kurds. So what is the US to do? There is nothing we can do. We stay we lose. We leave we lose. We could reinstate a Hussein type dictatorship but of course with three thousand to four thousand American dead we would still lose. Bush, I am sure, is being advised by Rove to stick it out until he leaves office and maybe shed some of the heat of failure to the next administration. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96552Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:11:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96552Chaz, Stony Brook, New YorkOK, so we as a nation elected him. OK we as a nation followed him into this war. OK here we are, and our leaders are in a quandary how to proceed. The tough question has to be asked; WHY do our current leaders continue to lead us on a path that so many of us dont agree is best for all of us ? Is there more then meets the eye ? War is tragedy, but maybe not fighting is more risky and more costly then fighting ? http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96562Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:16:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96562Tom Knight, Charlotte, NCPredictably, nobody here ever raises the fact that we put Saddam in power in the first place.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96618Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:55:21 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96618tom Lig, New York, NYWhen are you and the rest of this wonderful country going to wake up. Nothing is easier than criticizing an action taken by someone else without offering a realistic solution, something common among "know it all teenagers". The real question is not about revisionist columns and blogs like this one, trying to make a point, but rather about what we should have done with the information we had prior to the war, and don't focus on WMDs exclusively. Everything done over the 2 decades prior including Bush Seniors limited military action and Clinton’s Cruise Missile has resulted in more Islamic radicalism. What was common in those prior administrations was our blind support for oppressive dictators. What George W did was something different. He went into a country ruled by a brutal dictator with the intent of liberating the people of Iraq, and succeeded. This is not an afterthought. There have been plenty of mistakes, as any reasonably intelligent person knew there would be. But it is so much easier to be the "know it all teenager" and criticize. But why should this blog be any better than our wonderful congress, who at the point of launching a new strategy in Iraq, undermines our commitment openly with votes of no confidence and discussions about a hard pull out date. It is not hard to see how insurgents in Iraq interpret these actions, and the correlation with Viet Nam is used openly. Viet Nam – Political strife let to an emboldened enemy and this counties worst military resolution. Lets us all hope that the sacrifices made by our service men and this country will help establish and stabilize Iraq before American politics forces an abrupt withdrawal. When are you and the rest of this wonderful country going to wake up. Nothing is easier than criticizing an action taken by someone else without offering a realistic solution, something common among "know it all teenagers". The real question is not about revisionist columns and blogs like this one, trying to make a point, but rather about what we should have done with the information we had prior to the war, and don't focus on WMDs exclusively. Everything done over the 2 decades prior including Bush Seniors limited military action and Clinton’s Cruise Missile has resulted in more Islamic radicalism. What was common in those prior administrations was our blind support for oppressive dictators. What George W did was something different. He went into a country ruled by a brutal dictator with the intent of liberating the people of Iraq, and succeeded. This is not an afterthought. There have been plenty of mistakes, as any reasonably intelligent person knew there would be. But it is so much easier to be the "know it all teenager" and criticize. But why should this blog be any better than our wonderful congress, who at the point of launching a new strategy in Iraq, undermines our commitment openly with votes of no confidence and discussions about a hard pull out date. It is not hard to see how insurgents in Iraq interpret these actions, and the correlation with Viet Nam is used openly. Viet Nam – Political strife let to an emboldened enemy and this counties worst military resolution. Lets us all hope that the sacrifices made by our service men and this country will help establish and stabilize Iraq before American politics forces an abrupt withdrawal. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96658Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:21:24 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96658Scott,Windsor CT.80% of the u.s. said lets go to war when it all started.just like v.nam the assholes in gov. start a war they have no intent on winning ever!!Dont ever come knocking on my door for my sons to fight your wars that you have no intent on winning. WHAT A WASTE OF LIFE. EVERY OFFICIAL IN GOVERNMENT IS TO BLAME BOTH PARTYS NOT ONE OR THE OTHER!THE NEWS MEDIA IS AT FAULT IT ALSO BOASTED ABOUT THE POLLS AND BEAT THE WAR DRUMS JUST GO BACK IN TIME 4 YEARS AND 3100 SOLES LOST. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96660Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:21:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96660Alexander, New YorkWhatever ever happened to that guy Scott Ritter? Everything...everything...he predicted before Iraq invasion has come true. Did you guys black-ball him or did he choose to leave the media discussion on his own? Why don't you guys invite him back to give him his due? Replay the tapes and see how accurate he was on everything while the rest of us were clueless. It's taken us about 5 years to catch up to him. He was vilified and practically chase him out of the country in a mob scene. But everything that guy said has some true. Except one thing. He said we'd lose the war. He might be right on that one too and we just don't want to admit it cause it's just too painful and admission. This is another Vietnam. We should all just admit it and Vietnam lose did not effect global politics one iota.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96664Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:22:27 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96664Jim, BostonI remember the one constant dissenter on cable television was Phil Donahue. MSNBC decided to cancel his show a couple of weeks before the war launch. I have barely watched MSNBC since. Was the outcome of the war predictable? Yes 100% so. The actual war which lasted about 3 weeks was the most powerful military in the history of the world versus a heavily sanctioned country - without an air force! It wasn't even close. I recall the propagation of the "vaunted" Republican Guard, the only force that our media could use to make pretend this was a fair fight. Our troops rolled right over this menace. So the war was an easy win for the US, but the aftermath not so much. I can not pretend that I predicted it would be this bad but how could I see any good coming out of settling old scores in the most volatile region on earth while in the middle of a wider ideological war. I am all for having leverage of oil fields and understand the realpolitical goals behind this leverage but gosh. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96719Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:01:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96719Bob, PensacolaI'm not convinced Bush, Cheney and Rice didn't have the knowledge to stop nine-eleven. They had a memo. We're talking about predictability of an attack and subsequent invasion of Iraq. To me, when Republicans give the best army on the planet to former oil executives from Midland, Halliburton and Chevron-Texaco and suddenly they want to attack the country with the second largest oil reserve on the planet, maybe, just maybe, they want to control the oil, its price and development, reconfigure OPEC, pay them back for the oil embargo of the winter of 1972 and fall of 1973 and enrich their brief pathetic lives beyond their imagination. Maybe, just maybe the New Oil Law does all these things and it has nothing to do with national defense or Bin Laden's parents and Prince Bandar flying out on Sept. 13 without answering a question at our expense when we were all grounded. Maybe, just maybe, they orchestrated and manipulated this entire colonial invasion to steal Iraq's oil and nothing else. I know I'm right and I know the truth will be hidden forever just like Noriega's testimony never given to the Iran-Contra Hearings, the CIA murdering the Kennedys and King, and on and on. National security is about the CIA and World Bank acquiring natural resources to feed our machine and if they fail, we send in the Marines in the name of democracy. It's certainly predictable.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/19/94305.aspx#96735Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:08:54 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:96735Cayce Awe, West Hartford, CTThe ultimate lesson in this fiasco is that policy based on ignorance and arrogance will always fail.