1905
Not including the state department diplomat and 3 mercenaries. Which leads to the question - why do we outsource security for our diplomats?
This is all true. Bush started the war in Afganistan to get Bin Lauden. Why the hell did he go to Iraq? Because Bu$h though 'We can go to Iraq say we're going after Saddamn and really be in there for oil. This is a perfect plan.' But if you ask me it was a dumb plan. We almost had Bin Lauden most likely. But then we stop looking for him and go after Saddam. Why? From what the goverment says about 9/11 Bin Lauden is the on who planned the bombing of the World Trade Centers. So if thats the case Bin Lauden is the terrorist, not Saddam. Yes, Saddam was a terroist, but why go after Saddam when the real war was with Afganistan? Becasue that would be the reason to be able to invade Iraq without causeing to much suspicion. Which left the job in Afganistan not finished. So know that we invaded Iraq and looked and finally caught Saddam, the time it took to do that gave Bin Luaden enough time to hide, and find other places to be able to move around to. So know Bin Lauden is two steps ahead of the troops, U.S, and Bush Administration. So know if we start looking for him again. As soon as we think we know where Bin Lauden is, and before we can get there he has moved miles away. SO now its like we are on a "Wild Goose Chase," as you can say. So now we look like complete idoits, running around looking for someone whos not even around there. The Bush Administration should have first finished the job in Afganistan, then not even messed with Iraq. Yes, there would still be deaths, but atleast the wouldn't be over oil. I wouldn't give my life so that someone could get richier. I would join the army if it was a good reason other then going in to get some oil, for Bush, and his friends in the oil business. That might just be me, but I know the right wingers are over there screaming "GO BUSH!!" Hell let them go over and fight. If they like the president so much and like what he is doing for the country, send them to fight. Not us!!!
Posted by muckbat at September 20, 2005 09:00 AMThey were pretty much pacified by Bush's 'Pacification program' through the military and A.I.D. funded CIA operations.
Posted by Archives at September 20, 2005 11:49 AMAnd the mother of all clusterfucks continues unabated.
Posted by Vinnie at September 20, 2005 11:59 AMTo answer your question michalew: Protection and security of our diplomats are done by private contractors who are specialized and highly trained! Ex-special forces, former US federal sort squad types and swat team members. The training is much more specialized than our military. They are the best at what they do and will give their lives if need be. Also, they get paid huge amounts of money for what they're doing. My brother in law is making $500 a day, tax free! That's some serious green from making 50k a year. Additionally, he lives for that adrenline junkie shit.
Posted by bushblowsturdblossom at September 20, 2005 12:05 PMKatrina has taken our collective eyes off Iraq. My local paper stopped listing the GI death count about 10 days ago. Another few months of Bush Success in Iraq and he will have killed off more Americans than the 9/11 attack did. Some revenge.
Posted by T2 at September 20, 2005 12:20 PMIf it weren't so uncalled for and unprovoked, the War in Iraq (The Sequel) might have been a good idea for Middle Eastern diplomacy, but only if it was declared as such.
Revolutionary Islamists such as bin Laden and Traditionalist Muslims (the run of the mill kind) absolutely detest secularist Muslims like Hussein and the Turkish government. On paper, if we took out Saddam, we'd be doing the Muslim world a favor, in its view, and they would warily turn their attentions elsewhere. If we had said so from the beginning, that we were helping our "true Muslim allies" (or whatever), then this occupation might have been wildly different.
Alas, people are not so formulaic. It's only sparked more acts of terrorism, and can be considered a monumental mistake. Now the only options we have are:
Complete, absolute victory - Iraq becomes a peaceful republic, democracy dominoes into the rest of the Middle East [in the same way it didn't seem to work with communism. Hmm.], and Fox and CNN verbally lavish intense praise upon the president for excellent foreign policy. God Bless America.
Defeat - just about anything less than total victory, ceteris paribus.
Ignominious, crushing defeat - Iraq becomes Revolutionary at worst or Traditionalist "hate America without blowing it up" Islamist. Our reputation as a nation of hope falls away for many decades, causing more disaffected Traditionalists to swell the ranks of the terrorist Revolutionaries, and our national bankruptcy looms large as China debates pulling from our currency reserves to invest in the Euro or British pound. God Blast America.
I'm happy to be in America, but not particularly proud of it at the moment...
Posted by DukeRevolution at September 20, 2005 03:28 PM1,904 is a bogus number; the correct number is well over 2,000.
Posted by Eli Stephens at September 20, 2005 04:21 PMDuke, we do spend too much. I'd like to see us call off the rebuilding of New Orleans, the Highway Bill, and Prescriptions for Seniors.
I think there is so much deficit spending now, that we're going to run the risk of running inflation. You folk are complaining about a core CPI rate of just over 2%. Geez, wait until hundreds of billions drop on the economy.
Economic cycles are interesting, though. In the mid-60's, interest rates were low as the nation entered a 17-yr bear market that ended in 1982. And what were interest rates like in 1982? Hoo, don't go there... Seems similar, though, doesn't it? Bush is repeating LBJ's guns and butter programs. From military spending to social spending.
History may not repeat itself exactly, but it sure does seem to rhyme.
Posted by muckdog at September 20, 2005 04:32 PMIMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR POSTERS WHO HAVE CHILDREN 16 TO 25.
The Pentagon has been compiling sensitive data on 30 million youth ages 16-to-25 using a private marketing firm, without the knowledge or consent of individuals or their families. You can opt-out of this database by following instructions at www.LeaveMyChildAlone.org. Click below to start the "Opt Out" process.
Dear MoveOn Member,
The Pentagon announced just this summer it has been collecting and using data—including such sensitive personal information as Social Security numbers, ethnicity, GPA, personal email addresses, height, weight, and even the cell phone numbers of kids, without their parent's permission. They had been keeping the database secret for more than three years—a violation of federal privacy laws and the privacy of tens of millions of young Americans. In addition, a little known provision in the federal No Child Left Behind Act is forcing public high schools to release the personal information of their students to local military recruiters, again without the consent of their families.
While law compels schools to violate the privacy of ordinary Americans, it also creates a way for families to "Opt Out" of both the local high school military recruitment lists, and the national Pentagon database. If you know someone between the ages of 16 and 25, spread the word: you can "Opt Out" to stop the Pentagon from using your data, and to prevent your high school from releasing it to recruiters, by clicking on the link below.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=919
Ok, folks.
If those "freedom fighters" were not attackingcoalition troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, what doyou think that they would be doing?
Would they be back in their home countries weaving rugs for the tourist trade?
And why is it that these "freedom fighters" have such a passion fo killing civilians and children?
Posted by Bagley at September 21, 2005 06:02 PM