I had a friend tell me today that there will be a war with China over oil and the whole point of the war with Iran was so that we could station troops over there…
He is the same man who has been predicting the stock market crash (it hasn’t so far because the government keeps propping up the markets).
You mean Iraq, right?
LOL. Maybe…
Yeah, it was just a typo.
What strikes me is this one:
I mean now that we know the truth, where are all the posts and threads from the godly, calling for him to smite the foulness of Americans, to bring death and misery to their evil progeny for generations? Whence the posts calling on God to bless and protect the innocent Iraqis in their noble endeavours to defend the just and the truthful?
Seems to me the better part of godliness is cowardice, as with all things USA in such matters I suppose.
Those were members at the time who didn’t continue on as members. If you note their join dates, they’d mostly been around for months if not years.
IIRC one of the Project for a New American Century’s ( PNAC ) reasons for occupying Iraq was to deny China it’s oil, and use it as a base for troops.
Yeah, yeah, it’s already been pointed out, but well said col_10022. Alack, Bush the lesser will never have his feet held to the fire, and that’s probably why so many seem to expect an apology. After all, the American people will never see Bush fils on their TV screens apologizing, so they want one from one of the sissy hawks that they know.
Ayuh, 'tis. Saves time, space and money and still seems to get the point across. Use it at will.
That is nice.
I’m also fond of “Mess O’ Potamia” (props to the Jon Stewart show).
Oy!, Oy!. 
Can you provide the linky-link for the site you referenced above?
Thanks. The first time you used it, I thought it was a bizarre typo, but the second time, I figured it had to be intentional. It’s handy, though. I appreciate the permission!
Its Iraq Debacle, and you’re gonna be in trouble! (Hey la hey la, Iraq Debacle…)
For those veterans of the Iraq 2003 poll thread, please pop by at SDMB Iraq war poll 2003 vets: Where do you stand now? - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board in IMHO and give your opinion about what the US should do in Iraq now.
And depressing to imagine how many of them are still defending George’s Iraq Misadventure…
I’m sorry; it’s been over a year now, and I just don’t remember. I suspect I was routed there by some thread here, but I really don’t have the faintest recollection, other than the site itself. For all I know, it’s no longer up.
However, using my mighty Google-Fu, I just found it: Bush Apology site
Enjoy, if that’s the right word.
The longer we’ve stayed there, the worse it’s gotten, and the closer to civil war (if you’re one of those who doesn’t think it’s already underway). It would be just as fact-based to say our continued presence is itself contributing to the inevitability of that same civil war. Are we, in fact, stopping violence or ethnic cleansing on any significant scale, or are we seen by the Sunnis and Kurds as simply helping the nascent Shiite theocracy take hold? If the latter, then we’re no longer in any real way part of the solution and cannot become one.
And that point will not occur under Bush. He’s already made that clear; that he’s willing to let our people keep getting killed and all of our other interests go to hell just so he can avoid admitting a mistake. Worse, that would blow the stone wall apart and the remainder of his spectacularly-failed administration would be spent answering subpoenas and testifying before impeachment hearings.
Is there any doubt that the GOP’s 2012 campaign will be centered on blaming the Democratic incumbents for bailing out of Iraq, like cowardly traitors, just when the light was appearing at the end of the tunnel?
I think you’re right, but I wish you wern’t.
My step-son just landed in Iraq 2 weeks ago. I won’t proclaim to understand anything about politics, I just want the kid home in one piece and hopefully soon. 
Amen.
Thanks man.
I voted against Bush in two presidential elections.
I voted against him when he waltzed into my home state, bought a ranch, and ran for Governor.
He displaced a pretty good governor, I might add, and left us with a staggeringly mediocre one, a talk puppet for the Republican party who won’t order lunch without making half a dozen phone calls to find out what he wants to eat today.
I believe that Bush wanted to invade Iraq. I believe he wanted to finish what his father started, and he was going to do so if it harelipped the Pope. 9/11 bought him enough credibility and political credit that he was able to do so, despite the fact that Iraq and Saddam Hussein had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. Hell, if WMDs are the issue, why haven’t we invaded North Korea or Iran, two states that insist they DO have WMDs, or aren’t far from developing them?
I regarded Afghanistan as a mistake, simply due to the logistics of it. Sure, the Taliban will happily host terrorist training camps, but howthehell are we going to invade, hold, and pacify Afghanistan? Hell, even the Soviet Union managed to fail THAT one!
I regarded Afghanistan as a mistake… but I could see why we did that. The Twin Towers lay in rubble. We had to invade SOMEBODY.
But Iraq? Come on, folks, even retarded monkeys and Dilbert’s boss know that when you take out a hardass dictator, you’re sowing the seeds of chaos, and you’d better have SOMETHING to replace him with if you intend to keep the country in one piece.
Worse, we decided to do this in a place where ethnic and religious hatreds are at a premium. Iraq NEEDED a hardassed dictator to stay in one piece!
Blood for Oil? Ha. We aren’t going to see a drop of oil out of Iraq, not without paying six times what it’s worth. Getting oil out of the ground, loading it, shipping it, refining it… this requires INDUSTRY and INFRASTRUCTURE, two things Iraq’s a bit short on at the moment. The minute anyone tries to set up an oil biz, someone’s out there trying to shoot him. Nobody wants the enemy to get their hands on all that money. Build a pipeline? Someone will blow it up. Build a derrick? Someone will blow it up. Iraqi oil industry? Not gonna happen for quite a while to come.
Hearts and minds? Ha. The insurgents started by killing our troops. When our troops got well protected enough that roadside bombs were the only way to hit us, they began killing each other. There’s not an Iraqi on the planet who’ll admit to wanting us there, or even not hating us, because saying so is as good as a death warrant. We aren’t going to win their hearts and minds until we can protect them, and we aren’t going to be able to protect them until we simply begin shooting anyone we THINK is guilty of anything.
Just like Saddam.
Part of me worries about this. Worries a LOT. I think about Winston Smith, and 1984, and the war that never ends, because it’s too politically useful.
But then, I tell myself my favorite aphorism, “Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity.”
Bush didn’t begin the war so he could be Big Brother. He began the war because he wanted to play with the big electric train set, and America’s comes with its own army, and by ghod, he wanted it to happen.
And when his second term expires, he’ll just hand the whole mess off to someone else. And if it’s a Democrat, so much the better…