Inter Press Service
by Jim Lobe
March 18, 2013

Ten years after reaching the height of their influence with the invasion of Iraq, the neo-conservatives and other right-wing hawks are fighting hard to retain their control of the Republican Party.

(excerpted)
http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/03/ten-years...ld-republicans/

Yup and I couldn't happier. Iraq was a mistake when B1 didn't take Saddam out and was a mistake when W went in with "hey he tried to kill my Dad." Not worth it, never was.

I want it on record that I am not now, nor ever have been even close to being a "Neo Con," and that I supported the first Gulf War, thought that we should take out Saddam then, and that I supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and taking out Saddam because they were at war against us, were a threat to our security, and harbored terrorists within their borders as well as being terrorists themselves.

Iraq is no longer a threat to the U.S., and are an ally in the center of the ME.

Had someone been elected in 2008 who would have followed the Bush-Cheney plan in its entirety, Iraq would have been a victory.

And our 2003 invasion had nothing to do with avenging the assassination attempt on GHWBush, though some might think that an assassination attempt on a former US President a bad thing.

Quote: musiclady wrote in post #3

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I want it on record that I am not now, nor ever have been even close to being a "Neo Con," and that I supported the first Gulf War, thought that we should take out Saddam then, and that I supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and taking out Saddam because they were at war against us, were a threat to our security, and harbored terrorists within their borders as well as being terrorists themselves.

Iraq is no longer a threat to the U.S., and are an ally in the center of the ME.

Had someone been elected in 2008 who would have followed the Bush-Cheney plan in its entirety, Iraq would have been a victory.

And our 2003 invasion had nothing to do with avenging the assassination attempt on GHWBush, though some might think that an assassination attempt on a former US President a bad thing.

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Quote: The_Nevadan wrote in post #4

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Make sure and let W know it wasn't about that:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL6OGwsp9_o[/video}


As far as Iraq being an ally you are woefully uniformed. We are almost universally hated in Iraq - except in the Kurdish part. Iran is having it's way with Iraqi politics. In five more years Iraq will be a splintered Balken mess. Once we stopped sending boatloads of cash and backing it up with a steel fist they flipped us off and went back to their old ways. Now we are giving them light attack aircraft and more up to date weapons. What could go wrong?

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Quote: FP123 wrote in post #5

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Quote: The_Nevadan wrote in post #4

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Make sure and let W know it wasn't about that:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL6OGwsp9_o[/video}


As far as Iraq being an ally you are woefully uniformed. We are almost universally hated in Iraq - except in the Kurdish part. Iran is having it's way with Iraqi politics. In five more years Iraq will be a splintered Balken mess. Once we stopped sending boatloads of cash and backing it up with a steel fist they flipped us off and went back to their old ways. Now we are giving them light attack aircraft and more up to date weapons. What could go wrong?

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Indeed, what could go wrong?

And you are 100% correct about Iraq, it is a splintered mess and the installed leadership is more an ally of Iran than the US. The Kurds are getting screwed all over, look what Turkey (one of our great NATO "allies") continues to do to them.

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Quote: musiclady wrote in post #3

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Iraq is no longer a threat to the U.S., and are an ally in the center of the ME.

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Zitat

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7. Iraq
> Pct. disapprove of U.S. leadership: 60%
> GDP per capita: $4,225
> Life expectancy: 68.5 years

After peaking at 36% in 2010, the percentage of Iraqis approving of U.S. leadership fell to a recent low of 22%. From March 2003, when American soldiers first entered Iraq and ousted Saddam Hussein, through December 2011, the U.S. had a significant military presence in the country. According to a recent Gallup poll, 42% of Iraqis surveyed stated security had improved since the U.S. withdrawal. However, nearly 46% of those surveyed said corruption had gotten worse in that time. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Iraq also ranked as one of the nations with the highest access to small arms and light weapons. The nation was ranked among the worst on Gallup’s social and financial well-being indices in 2011.

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http://247wallst.com/2013/03/13/ten-coun...america-most/2/

Killing Saddam was a great idea. Sticking around thinking we could turn a backwards bunch of filthy rag heads into freedom loving friends was a huge miscalculation. I don't blame anyone for trying to do this experiment, but to call it anything more than a massive disaster today is insanity.