Recently the US surpassed the expenditures of the Vietnam confict with the current Iraq mission..thankfully with a small percentage of combat deaths. We will still have a large bill to foot for the thousands of wounded soldiers(and we rightly should) for several centuries to come. The expenditures continue to pile up each day we continue this mission as do the human costs.

Do we honestly plan on leaving Iraq? I hear the neocons saying "the surge is working" and I agree with that view. I also know that if I put a cop in everyones house in my neighborhood that property crime would be almost non existant. The question is what happens when they leave?

What is going to be the US response if the Iraqis "elect" a leader that we dont approve of who wants us gone? We already see signs of that possibility with the current leadership being in agreement with the Obama exit strategy. The majority of those same folks that we were so proud of holding up purple fingers...now want us to leave.

Will we honor the voting electorate of Iraq by leaving if asked to do so...even though we know full well that Iraq will quickly fall back into the medival nightmare that it was before and has been for centuries? Somehow..I doubt it. Im betting that we will NEVER leave Iraq and the American tax victims will have to continue to support what is surely an exercize in futility. I firmly believe that the powerhungry in Washington will NOT give up on this mission and we will have a permanent presence in Iraq...just as we have in Germany and Japan. Im sure that I will not ever see us leave these places in my lifetime and will have to support this nonsense with my stolen wages.

Just how much longer and just how much more spilled blood and how much money are we as a nation willing to spend to continue this mission....and for what purpose?

I think that, as soon as possible after we leave, whoever is in power will at least attempt to seize dictatorial power. I think that may be one reason Maliki bought into Obama's timetable. The sooner we're gone, the sooner they can seize control.

I'm not sure Maliki is actually strong enough to do it. But if he's not, I'm quite certain that there's somebody close to the throne who is. When that happens, everything we did will go in vain.

Get in, kill the really bad guys (like bin Laden and Mullah Omar, hint, hint), and get out. We're not doing any good nation-building--you can't build a nation that doesn't want to be built.

Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:I think that, as soon as possible after we leave, whoever is in power will at least attempt to seize dictatorial power. I think that may be one reason Maliki bought into Obama's timetable. The sooner we're gone, the sooner they can seize control.

I'm not sure Maliki is actually strong enough to do it. But if he's not, I'm quite certain that there's somebody close to the throne who is. When that happens, everything we did will go in vain.

Get in, kill the really bad guys (like bin Laden and Mullah Omar, hint, hint), and get out. We're not doing any good nation-building--you can't build a nation that doesn't want to be built.

If we leave...which I dont believe will happen...thats probably a good prediction.

Fo Shizzle Wrote:

Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:I think that, as soon as possible after we leave, whoever is in power will at least attempt to seize dictatorial power. I think that may be one reason Maliki bought into Obama's timetable. The sooner we're gone, the sooner they can seize control.

I'm not sure Maliki is actually strong enough to do it. But if he's not, I'm quite certain that there's somebody close to the throne who is. When that happens, everything we did will go in vain.

Get in, kill the really bad guys (like bin Laden and Mullah Omar, hint, hint), and get out. We're not doing any good nation-building--you can't build a nation that doesn't want to be built.

If we leave...which I dont believe will happen...thats probably a good prediction.

I agree. For centuries the region has been led by tyrants and religious not jubs. I don't think putting rose petals on a turd makes it anything more than what it really is.

What's crazy is we are paying at a minimum 300 dollars a month to tribal elders in every neighborhood and village. To the tune of over 27 million a mo. (Petreaus figures) We are just arming the Sunni's now for the upcoming civil war when we leave. AND THE KICK IN THE NUTSACK. THEY HAVE OVER 73 billion in their treasury. They are 9.6 trillion and 73 billion ahead of us and WE ARE FOOTIN THEIR f'in bills.

smn1256 Wrote:

Fo Shizzle Wrote:

Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:I think that, as soon as possible after we leave, whoever is in power will at least attempt to seize dictatorial power. I think that may be one reason Maliki bought into Obama's timetable. The sooner we're gone, the sooner they can seize control.

I'm not sure Maliki is actually strong enough to do it. But if he's not, I'm quite certain that there's somebody close to the throne who is. When that happens, everything we did will go in vain.

Get in, kill the really bad guys (like bin Laden and Mullah Omar, hint, hint), and get out. We're not doing any good nation-building--you can't build a nation that doesn't want to be built.

If we leave...which I dont believe will happen...thats probably a good prediction.

I agree. For centuries the region has been led by tyrants and religious not jubs. I don't think putting rose petals on a turd makes it anything more than what it really is.

Im against "Nation Building"...If you try to do it in a country that is surrounded by neighbors that care nothing about freedom, it is a exercise in futility. There are just too many obstacles to success. I believe those in power know that only through permanent occupation and use of force could any success be accomplished.