Monday, March 24, 2008

Five Years In, Americans Assess the War

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

"We're winning over there."
-Random Guy

Take notice of the hat that the man who said that was wearing. And then remember who said that we need to pull out right away...

Draw the ven diagram in your head, come on, you're all smart people.

Anonymous said...

The United States is supposed to set an example. We went into Iraq illegally, because we thought we had the right to, and now we want to pull out after destroying their government. This isn't the example we should be putting off, that we just quit on something we started. Yes, most countries are against us being in Iraq, but leaving now would give us an even worse name in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

I don't think it was right to go into Iraq. I think that as the most powerful nation in the world, it's an important thing that the United States sets an example for the rest of the world. With great power comes great responsibility, yes?

Anonymous said...

I don't think leaving now would give us a worse name because no matter what happens not all of the troops will be pulled out. They have a government over in Iraq now and if we stay there all we are doing is giving something to lean back on. If we're there to lean back on for too long they will get used to it, and we will have to be there for good. I like said earlier though not all the troops would get pulled out because no matter we have made a presense there, and it's no like us to just up and leave completely.

Anonymous said...

I think we did the right thing going into Iraq but we shouldn't leave now because they do have a government and it is beginning to work so we just need to finish what we started.

Anonymous said...

I hate it when the media takes military advice from random citizens. Shear genius.

What if? said...

So they went to DC to talk to protestors and what did we get? Some moron who thinks that we should definitely pull out of Iraq but should continue to fund and support peacekeepers. Well who does this guy think the peacekeepers are going to be? Mermaids who magically come out of the ocean?

abnstrike said...

I completely agree with Pepe on taking advice from random people. Also, I would have thought the poll for whether the war was the right thing to do would have swung more heavily to it being the wrong thing to do seeing how this war is so unpopular. Even though this war is a waste of U.S. treasury, both monetary and human lives, I think we will still be in Iraq for a very long time. Just look at Germany, just now we are finally bringing some troops out of there. By the way the peacekeeper thing is a dumb idea. Can you say big fat light blue targets for the sunnis and shiites?

Anonymous said...

We cannot forget that we took down one of the most oppressive and cruel authoritarian governments to date. If that is an example that we are setting then I am not ashamed of it. Our backing for 5+ years also proves that we didn't just plow in and leave Iraq in the dust just to see it fall under another oppressive revolution. We cannot expect Iraq to be on its feet in just 5 years with all of the change it has gone through. there has been progress and that should be reason enough to stay. I noticed another poll on the news the other night. It said that since news that the surge may be (and probably is) working there are more people backing the war. I guess we have been letting the news dictate our opinions recently.

Anonymous said...

I find it quite funny that the person in the end of the video who said we "We're winning over there" is the only one who was actually, as far as i know, in the military. I think it's quite dumb to take military advice from civilians. Leave military decisions up to the military. Both of my parents are in the military and the both support Bush.


I also think that many people in our government are opposed to this war simply becasue they are democrats and a republican president brought us into it. That is just stupid. People need to think for themselves instead of blindly calling something the other party did a mistake.

Anonymous said...

It's good to know what the people are thinking from a different source other than vague polls. It's interesting to hear the publics POV and their reasons why.
also isn't that great power/responsibility quote from Spider-man?

Anonymous said...

It's easy to sit here at a computer desk and say, "Oh yeah, the whole Iraq thing was a mistake... just look at the death and destruction." Five years ago, however, I bet the majority would have been just fine with sticking it to those terrorists.

I think this poll is a complete waste of time for the reasoning above.

Parsley is indeed an intelligent individual for their post. If we pulled out now and left their country dishevelled, America would be the failure. How about finishing what we once believed so strongly in and fighting with a passion for the rights of all people.

Obviously, this war isn't a popular thing, but when will fighting ever be? Maybe it is just the harder decision, but also the right one. I guess that is all a matter opinion though.

MATAN said...

The entering of United States forces into Iraq was a terrible mistake. We entered Iraq as a revenge, we entered to finish a job not done by papa bush, to obtain control on the oil that we are so dependent on, are we there to impose democracy on a nation that may not be ready for it?, or are we there to make the united states a safer place? Although none of us may know the real reason for this bloody war, we can clearly see that none of this reasons that I listed have been successfully done.
Some people may say that the surge is working and Bagdad has become a safer place, but to truly create a consolidated Democracy the soil must be tilled, the change must come slowly, the people have to be ready for it, we cannot impose our western culture and ways of government on people who are not ready for it, as Mr. Keller said "you can't just dump tradition like that".
This war has done Very little if anything to Protect U.S Citizens from terrorism, every day we are endangering thousands of American solider lives, we lost 4000 American heroes, the tension between the United states and Arab nations leaving us more prone to terror attacks.
We have to stop this war and try to approach our problems with the Arab nation using other methods

abnstrike said...

I agree with Matan and I just saw on the news that there is a moderate increase in violence, the most US casualties in 6 months and its right before Petraeus' next report. Now who says the terrorists are dumb?

Doug McAcy said...

So we can't listen to the citizens of the United States of America and hear their story as our government (whom we all elected) constantly spend our tax money? The truth of the matter is that the Bush Administration went into this war on FALSE PRENTENSES and, in agreeing with Matan, to finish the job that daddy couldn't do. So if you all agree we shouldn't listen to the average citizen on what our governmental policy (not military policy), should we not listen to them when electing a president? Old Joe Schmo may not know a lot about politics, but he can vote for his candidate. Should we not listen to him? No. We are the United States of America. Our fundamental values were established and still lie within the voice of the people!
Ladies and gentleman, I am in no way a military genius but I know we messed up in Iraq. It is impossible for us to win in this insurgent-style of war. We have spoiled 4,000 mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins lives with this idiotic foreign policy. The war was mismanaged, fiscally irresponsible and above all, personal. The hundreds of billions of dollars we have wasted on this war could have been used for domestic problems (i.e. Katrina, the economy, alternative energy resources, and the list goes on). We need out, there is no way to win. It has turned out to be another Vietnam (which I may add that we reached 4,000 deaths faster than we did in Vietnam-which totaled about 60,000 deaths after we completely pulled out). We need to set an example by improving our own country and worrying about our own problems.

Anonymous said...

Matan, Bill Clinton is the one who pulled out and left saddam in charge. Then you say it is a long process to change Iraq into a democracy, but you are unwilling to allow the time for the change to occur. Our country is obviously safer when we have not been hit since 9/11. the countries who suffer the terror attacks are the ones who either didn't support or pulled out of the war in Iraq. To say that the Iraqi people aren't ready for democracy is odd. It's like saying that Iraqis aren't ready for peace and stability. The 4000+ soldier deaths are tragic, but look at previous wars America has fought. This is a drop in the bucket. And we have been trying other methods for decades to decrease the violence, but madmen like Saddam don't tremble in fear when they get a letter from the U.N. saying how naughty they (Saddam and others) have been. Let's be real.

Kendra said...

I have to agree with the people who also think that America is to set an example. However I do believe at this point as a country we should quit dwelling on whether it was right or wrong to go in to Iraq it's only seperating us more as a country and focus on a way to get out efficently and correctly. As time goes I begin to look on a correction and a plan to get out with the least amount of chaos for us and Iraq.