[Rhodes22-list] Political:Off to Iraq

[Joseph Hadzima]

Hi John & the gang!

I think I understand your point about different groups
joining together to fight a common foe is generally correct
but several of your examples don't apply, nor support the
your point.

Though it's not cut and dry, I believe that they're not
fighting us in Iraq, rather they're fighting each other;
and we're getting in the way.

Yes there needs to be a political solution, however, not
all parties agree that fighting should end if there is a
majority agreement.  Remember that there were at least two
nation wide elections held in Iraq. Some people want it
their way, or no way.  Which leads to the most dangerous
type of war ... a war of attrition (you can only win if you
completely kill everyone on the other side).  

I think the concept is (using your words) "if there is
indeed a sectarian conflict on the horizon in Iraq, our
presence is only delaying it not preventing it."; however,
the other opinion isn't that is a waste of time and lives
if the delay helps to create a political solution. 

But this is based on our old 60's mentality of "I'd like to
buy the world a Coke, and keep it company", so there will
be peace and harmony in the world.  This is such a reversal
of political views since. The 60's Democrats tried to teach
us that everyone was the same deep in side, and everyone
wants just to be safe, healthy, and free to work, worship &
play in peace.  Now it's the Republicans that us that
argument, and the Democrats say these people are not like
us, and we didn't take that into account when we went to
war, so we didn't have the proper end game, and don't
understand how to wind this thing down.  

So since times they are a changin, and the major factor is
we're aging, I thought this quote would be appropriate:

Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, 
has not heart; 
and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, 
has no brains.  
~Sir Winston Churchill~

take care, and keep thinking ... maybe the world will
survive through another generation.


joe/hadz





--- john Belanger <jhnblngr at yahoo.com> wrote:

> there are certainly many good men who are willing to go
> get the job done. unfortunately the army is still not
> trained well enough in subversive guerilla tactics, its
> not our style of war anyway, the military leaders want
> out because they have no way of winning the conflict
> militarily. any returning soldier is going to do whatever
> he can to support his team members still in harms way. he
> will not say anything that might undermine the mission.
> pershing spent a lot of time in mexico chasing pancho
> vila with not much to show for it. if there is indeed a
> sectarian conflict on the horizon in iraq, our presence
> is only delaying it not preventing it. the lesson is that
> when threatened by an outside power, lay all internal
> differences aside and repel  the invader. china did it to
> repel the japanese, we did it to repel the brits,
> vietnamese to repel french and us. the military
> leadership knows this. the solution has to be political.
> anything else won't survive after we withdraw. just
>  my 2 cents. john b

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