The Iraq War - An appropriate time for retrospective

[removeduser_487563287433]

Tomorrow, Tuesday 22nd of August 2006, the War in Iraq will have lasted one full week longer than American involvement in World War II. Tomorrow there will be a lot of bad noise in Iran about nuclear items, people will squabble about trying to keep the peace in southern Lebanon after Israel's failed invasion, the corpse of a British soldier will start its journey to wherever its home was and the corpses of some, as this message is posted still breathing Iraqis will make their journies. In how many pieces is hard to say.

So. Has anything that the coalition of the willing attempted in the greater Middle East actually succeeded at all in the long run. Beyond removing the Taleban government, and Suddam Hussein, and getting an uncomfortable picture opportunity of George Bush on an aircraft carrier with the now ominous words 'mission accomplished' fluttering behind him?

The past few years have seen an exceedingly right wing, underdog candidate become the President of Iran, who has since gone on to describing his hobbies as wiping 'Israel off the map.' After his successful election his campaign manager responded to reporters by saying 'I would like to thank President Bush. Without him none of this could be possible.' Clever bit of propaganda? I would say so, but he is also probably correct. Tomorrow we are treated to a discussion about Iran's developing nuclear capability.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, deaths, both coalition and civilian continue to rise. In Afghanistan an uprising of Taleban fighters in the south has required the British to reinforce the mission with several hundred troops in the Helmund provence alone. The opium trade has skyrocketed.

It's a harsh retrospective for some very wasted years. Oh. And does anyone even remember this Osama Bin Laden guy? What did he even do, anyway?

[Da Skinna]

Osama bin-who?

Power to the dollar bill! As much as this war is costing in lives and resources, money is still being made in massive amounts, though it's going to all the wrong people for all the wrong reasons...

[LoZz]

realy one full week longer? oo never knew that

[AMERICARULES]

So let's get out of Iraq and let the Iraqis figure it out for themselves now that we've accomplished our goal of deposing Saddam and installing a democratic government! (I vaguely remember having this argument before...hmm)

[Bwaho]

The situation in iraq isn't a total war like WW2... I mean they're fighting partisans.

The opium trade has skyrocketed

yeah, afghanistan is now the worlds largest producer of opium.

[Tom Paine]

So. Has anything that the coalition of the willing attempted in the greater Middle East actually succeeded at all in the long run. Beyond removing the Taleban government, and Suddam Hussein, and getting an uncomfortable picture opportunity of George Bush on an aircraft carrier with the now ominous words 'mission accomplished' fluttering behind him?

Has it removed the Taliban, given that they stood in many provinces in Afghani elections?

The past few years have seen an exceedingly right wing, underdog candidate become the President of Iran, who has since gone on to describing his hobbies as wiping 'Israel off the map.' After his successful election his campaign manager responded to reporters by saying 'I would like to thank President Bush. Without him none of this could be possible.' Clever bit of propaganda? I would say so, but he is also probably correct. Tomorrow we are treated to a discussion about Iran's developing nuclear capability.

So unlike his predecessor, of course. And its again hardly the first time Iran and nuclear threat has been discussed as a problem, to be honest. Just the most belligerent of them.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, deaths, both coalition and civilian continue to rise. In Afghanistan an uprising of Taleban fighters in the south has required the British to reinforce the mission with several hundred troops in the Helmund provence alone. The opium trade has skyrocketed.

And our support in neighbouring Uzbekistan has strengthened the trade, further it has strengthened one of the most brutal regimes which has used boiling as a form of torture and execution.

It's a harsh retrospective for some very wasted years. Oh. And does anyone even remember this Osama Bin Laden guy? What did he even do, anyway?

Get away, then get forgotten as new crises were created which notonly failed to damage him but psitively helped his aura?

[ForgottenImmortal]

The invasion of Iraq is one of the most foolhardy, unwise, poor move of foreign diplomacy of any American president of the last 21st or 20th Century. Bush should go down in history as one of America's worse Presidents, at least in recent times. Amazing people still support him in any shape or form.

[AMERICARULES]

The invasion of Iraq is one of the most foolhardy, unwise, poor move of foreign diplomacy of any American president of the last 21st or 20th Century. Bush should go down in history as one of America's worse Presidents, at least in recent times. Amazing people still support him in any shape or form.

Bush is actually a visionary who had the stones to desire something more than the terrible status quo in the Middle East. He took the reins after al-qaeda declared war on America and kept has kept us safe ever since. I certainly support Bush and what he stands for and fail to understand how you could take such a short-sighted view of world politics.

[Tiwaz]

Bush is actually a visionary who had the stones to desire something more than the terrible status quo in the Middle East. He took the reins after al-qaeda declared war on America and kept has kept us safe ever since. I certainly support Bush and what he stands for and fail to understand how you could take such a short-sighted view of world politics.

Or, with another perspective you could say he is idiot who failed to understand terrorism exists, failed to pay heed to warnings of intelligence agencies and once all the milk was on the ground went overboard trying to support his goverment by going overboard pushing new intrusive laws, starting wars all over with very little proper planning and generally acted like an idiot who thinks something has to be done but has no idea how things work in the world.

Ok. That was harsh, but even if we grant Bush title of idealist we can still curse him(and his goverment) for being STUPID idealist, who failed to grasp how dreams and reality do not tend to fit together. Common trait in idealists but fortunately few of them get into same position where Bush is.

[Carach]

just watching the news atm, from an independant geezer doing his own movie thing.

interviewed iranian kurds tht have been smuggling petrol into iraq - they would rather live in the kurd area of iraq than live in iran..

and just recently, the iranians and turks have shelled kurd-controlled iraq ... ?

[Tom Paine]

The kurds would love to live in one area. They also want to break away and create a nation called "Kurdistan".... I wonder, might the two be related?

[RusskiSoldat]

Don't forget Kurdish insurgents in Turkey.
As for Iraq, I think it was a mistake.
Saddam's regime was one of the more modern and developed ones of the middle east, and the man was the Tito of Iraq, holding a multi national, multi religious country together.
Now the ghost of colonialism is coming back to haunt the west.

[Carach]

Now the ghost of colonialism is coming back to haunt the west.

how does colonialism come into this, russki? i fail to see.

Considering no western nation has even colonised the middle east...i find it hard to understand.

[internationalist]

how does colonialism come into this, russki? i fail to see.

Considering no western nation has even colonised the middle east...i find it hard to understand.

I imagine he means the ghost of imperialism.

[Carach]

I imagine he means the ghost of imperialism.

which is entirely different to colonialism.

[internationalist]

which is entirely different to colonialism.

I understand that. Sometimes people make mistakes, I wasn't defending his error I was merely elucidating his point.

[vizi]

Is the war over? If not why waste time with a premature retrospective?

Edit: Also I see people saying Bush is a visionary, well maybe that is true. Bush and his cabinet do view themselves as a modern day Lincoln and his cabinet. He believes he will be vindicated in history. Only time will tell...he just might be viewed as our best president 100 years from now. Stranger things have happened, like Lincoln.....

[The Alcotroll]

Is the war over?

I heard it was...

[Visna]

I heard it was...

And when that man tells you something, you better believe it!! An epitome of honesty, he is. :tooth:

[Blokhoofd67]

So. Has anything that the coalition of the willing attempted in the greater Middle East actually succeeded at all in the long run.

Coalition? Technically a coalition can consist of two countries. But in this case if would rather speak of the US and the UK.

Beyond removing the Taleban government, and Suddam Hussein, and getting an uncomfortable picture opportunity of George Bush on an aircraft carrier with the now ominous words 'mission accomplished' fluttering behind him?

They didn't really, like, actually remove the goverment. They're still out there, in Uruzgan, Helmand and other provinces. It's Dutchies and British now doing all the work, because the Americans had to wipe out some other ''terrorist'' regime a few hundred kilometers west. Did you know OBL actually offered the Saudi goverment to fight for them AGAINST Saddam in the first gulf war? They chose the Americans instead, which is why OBL now despises the Saudi royal house and one of the reason why he hates the Americans. So they didn't really achieve something. Just created a bloody mess.

That picture did look nice though.

The past few years have seen an exceedingly right wing, underdog candidate become the President of Iran, who has since gone on to describing his hobbies as wiping 'Israel off the map.'

There's this bunch of guys called Hezbollah who have this hobby too. And most Arabs don't mind their common hobby.

It's a harsh retrospective for some very wasted years. Oh. And does anyone even remember this Osama Bin Laden guy? What did he even do, anyway?

Bit too early for a retrospective. Oh, and that guy blew up some towers. Yeh, that's right, got some planes and just threw 'em right into the towers! Admitted, they were hard too miss, but nice throw anyway.