[Grovenet] The Iraqi View

[Katie Allnutt]

If my history books are correct one of the reasons we could stay in  
Germany/Japan at the end of the war was because they stopped shooting  
back at us.
How many people think that the shooting will stop as long as we stay  
in Iraq?
There it is just the opposite. As long as we stay the shooting/ 
bombing will continue and unfortunately the most likely targets will  
not be the US troops who can shoot back, it will be the civilians who  
are cooperating with us.
This is not a traditional war but our illustrious leaders keep using  
language like it is. Kicking ass is great in a regular war but if you  
do it in an irregular war the only ass you wind up kicking is often  
your own.

Katie


On Sep 10, 2007, at 8:51 AM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

> Since whether we and the Brits remain a physical presence in Iraq  
> is quickly
> shifting from a military/political decision to a public decision,  
> perhaps
> this poll was inevitable.
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/ 
> 10_09_07_iraqpollaug2007_full.pdf
>
> Or
>
> http://tinyurl.com/yqmr7r
>
> As you might guess, it says that in broad terms the Iraqi people  
> interviewed
> say they are worse off now than before we invaded.
>
> I'm no fan of this "war" but I bet a similar poll asked in Germany  
> in 1945
> would have yielded the same results.
>
> Even so, we didn't leave Germany or Japan in 1945. We stayed on for  
> decades,
> helping build a stable, successful economy in each country,  
> spending huge
> amounts of money both in material and personnel. Does whether one  
> thinks our
> invasion of Iraq was justified determine the nature of our  
> obligation to the
> people of Iraq? Do we want to see a more prosperous, more stable  
> and safer
> society emerge from the bloodbath?
>
> Or has the United States changed? Do we no longer accept  
> responsibility for
> our actions?
>
> For nearly eight years I've watched the Republican party take the  
> blame for
> the mess in Iraq. A few years ago the Democratic party gained  
> control of
> Congress. Now it looks like the Democrats will gain control of both  
> Congress
> and the White House next year.
>
> I wonder what they will do?
>
> Will they say "too bad, so sad" and walk away from Iraq?
>
> Is that the sort of thing the United States of the 21st Century does?
>
> Ron D'Eau Claire
>
>
>
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