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Now that the final combat troops have pulled out of Iraq, did we accomplish what we set out to do?

 

 

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Since our objectives in going to Iraq were never concisely stated, this is a hard one to answer.

At any rate, my position then, and now, is that we could have accomplished a goal of containing Islamic terrorism by simply by a total, isolating embargo of IRAQ. We had, and have now, the resources to accomplish this. Surround the country with air and ground sensor support to prevent the movement of any body/thing into and out of Iraq. The same holds true for Afghanistan. Hold the isolation in place until the people of these countries decide it is probably in their best interest to stop killing each other, and anybody else in disagreement with them.

Of course, the hysterical cries of being inhumane would capture the nanny staters (media, politicians, etc.) However, the above is one method of partially achieving containment without imposing/forcing a behavior code upon a reluctant people.

Submitted by cpgrasshopper : Aug 19, 2010 12:25pm

Gee. Let's practice with our southern border. Oops. Doesn't work there.

Submitted by jude : Aug 20, 2010 12:16am

For some reason, three quotes seem to come to mind:

Peace through superior firepower, victory through total annililation:

When in doubt, empty the magazine. And:

Kill them all and let God sort it out.

Submitted by USMick78 : Aug 21, 2010 8:00pm

Of course we accomplished what we intended to do - the weapons of mass destruction are gone!

Submitted by cdrcos : Aug 19, 2010 4:06pm

You are kidding, right?? This misguided war has cost too much money, and too many lives. It accomplished nothing except to make more terrorists than there were in the first place, damaged our credibility on the world scene, and greatly degraded our ability to make war by exhausting our resources. America is far LESS SAFE than before the war started.

Submitted by Captain Ron : Aug 19, 2010 6:00pm

CDRCOS stole my comment. Nevertheless, it was a stupid war, and a stupid waste of lives and treasure to try and help a stupid group of people who do not now, and did not then, want our help. It was all about oil and politics. My problem is that I'm too subtle sometimes, I need to learn how to say what I really mean.

Ron Kriel, CAPT USN (Ret.)

Submitted by ronkriel : Aug 19, 2010 4:53pm

we tried advisors in Vietnam and it did not work what makes the goverment think it will work in Iraq? Till they have a stable goverment they will need our help.

Submitted by vietnamsailor : Aug 19, 2010 5:11pm

Nope. It WILL be accomplished when George W. Bush along with his entire former cabinet is in jail for lying to the American people and misappropriating America's human and financial resources. This was a war that was started on W's personal whim and one that has personally financially benefitted him. But instead we have the Legion honoring that waste of space in the hall of fame. Like Vietnam, it should have never been started in the first place, and just like Korea the whatever progress we have made by removing Saddam will be completely erased within the next few years when a new "Saddam" takes over. It was a complete waste of money and lives. When the hell did we become the world police?! Let those countries take care of themselves, we have enough problems and needs to be met in our own country. America first. Now let's get out of Afghanistan,another idiotic, pointless war waged for the pure financial gain of the military-industrial complex, the sooner we're out of there the better.

Submitted by imdaemon : Aug 19, 2010 11:51pm

Excellent points! I do have to disagree with you on one point, though... You seem to suggest their reasoning was just misguided.

All that talk about freeing the people, bringing democracy, getting rid of Saddam, regime change, WMD, Al Qaeda, terrorism - NONE of that really mattered to them.

Not ANY of them.

They used those things to prod and manipulate and harangue and cajole and bully and frighten us into believing in those lies so they could start the $$$ rolling in.

There are 3 types of Republicans:

1. GREEDY MONEY GRUBBING POWER HUNGRY POLITICIANS

2. Middle Class people who have bought into the lie that "SOMEDAY YOU TOO MIGHT BE RICH" (the only thing holding you down is taxes, the poor, gay marriage, abortion, and foreigners)

3. Religious fanatics

We let that first group frighten us all with their lies.

Never for a minute did they actually think they were doing "good" or "right".

Submitted by amauck : Aug 20, 2010 6:11am

INCONTROVERTIBLE
ɪnkɒntrəˈvɜrtəbəl
adjective

Not open to question or dispute; indisputable

That's the PROOF Cheney said they had. INCONTROVERTIBLE PROOF of Weapons of Mass Destruction. He warned of MUSHROOM CLOUDS. We were told about yellow cake, centrifuges tubes, drone aircraft, biological & chemical weapons. Rumsfeld said they were located "Just North, South, East and West of Tikrit." Every mention of starting a war with Iraq talked about WMD. Al Qaeda in Iraq. Over & over we heard the lies.

There were no WMD, and they did NOT have INCONTROVERTIBLE PROOF. They claim they can't give us that proof. It would "compromise our information gathering."

SO? IT WAS BAD INFORMATION!

Face it, we were LIED to. Our brothers & sisters, sons & daughters & friends DIED because of Bush & Cheney's GREED.

BTW - how many 10's of Billions is Haliburton still not being able to account for?

Submitted by amauck : Aug 20, 2010 5:57am

From the word go, I do not recall any specific objective(s) to accomplish. The whole thing has been a great big tap dance by the administration(s). So many people think we have "accomplished" the mission (whatever that means) in Iraq now that the "combat" troops are out of there, but...What about the 50,000 troops still there? Oh yea, they are "advisors" in Iraq. This whole second invasion has been played-out almost 180 degrees from Vietnam. In Vietnam, we FIRST sent in "advisors" then fought a war, then withdrew our people, and...If I am not mistaken, when we pulled out of Vietnam, we PULLED-OUT, nobody was left there. In Irag, FIRST we fight a war, then most troops are pulled-out, only to be redirected elsewhere, and "advisors" are left holding the bag. If anybody thinks our advisor/trainer troops left in Iraq will not have casulties/mortalities, then they with such thinking are in La La Land! As long as our troops are there they will continue to be targets.

Submitted by cordy : Aug 20, 2010 1:58pm

The war on terror was just a weak attempt to get a faltering economy back on track. It worked in the forties it would surely work again......Right. Wrong, this time it put us further in the hole and there is no clear cut answer as to how we are going to dig ourselves out. The politicians sold our country out to China to fund this mess and as far as I can tell we have gained absolutely nothing. Just my two cents.

Submitted by waldoo65 : Aug 20, 2010 5:43pm

According to Bush Mission Accomplished!

Submitted by Sooners61 : Aug 21, 2010 12:30am

What do mean "WE" ?
Bush got what "HE" wanted!
He killed the dude that tryed to kill his daddy,
Mission accomplished.

Submitted by RickShaw739 : Aug 21, 2010 12:35pm

There were NO objectives!! That being said, as an organization we need to stop the political bashing. No one person is responsible for this war. Both parties had to vote for the funding AND the authorization to wage this "conflict". We should be spending our time and efforts to make sure that the men and women on their way home, and those of the future, are not brushed aside and forgotten. As warriors and former warriors, we shouldn't give a rotund royal rodents rump (fat king rats' a$$) about objectives. We support the warrior, not the war. Don't waste your breath about who got what. Most politicians might get what they want, but what they NEED is for someone to push their teeth down their throats! Since they have forgotten they are only representives and not royality, maybe we should shake the trees and see how many bad apples fall out so we can get rid of them. Sorry. Just my ten cents worth.

Submitted by USMick78 : Aug 21, 2010 7:52pm