Bush: OK, I've got a plan. No, this one will work, honest.

SC,

If I could be guaranteed a trip to purgatory, I'd book the reservations right now.

 

No, a tour of duty is employed by the army to make sure that when people are in a combat zone, they are at their peaks. You put soldiers in there for 52 straight weeks, you break them down physically and mentally, kill morale and get diminishing returns on the gains they may have made in the first place.

That idea is so impractical, I can't believe someone suggested it.

 

Look at who you're talking to, GB. He's about as illogical as they come.

 

By the way, this is coming from someone who has never served any tours of duty, nor ever will. I'm chicken.

But you can't expect this from professional soldiers.

 

Here's the thing: al Qaeda wouldn't be spouting anything whatsoever had we finished the job in Afghanistan. That's one thing people just don't realize or have forgotten -- just how thoroughly we crushed al Qaeda.

Drawing the US into Afghanistan was bin Laden's goal with every attack against this country. His master plan was to draw us there and then bog us down, drag out the fight and use the conflict as a recruiting rally for the organization. He figured, shit, happened to Russia, why not America. But it backfired badly.

Within days we had destroyed almost every terrorist camp and cell in the country, had killed roughly 85-90 percent of al Qaeda and had the rest of the group on the run. Only the top leaders remained and they were scattered throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan, hiding in the mountains and had no quick way to communicate with anyone. During that time, bin Laden got a letter to one of his sons in which he expressed regret for the 9-11 attacks, called them a huge mistake and didn't hide the fact that he thought al Qaeda was a dead organization at that point.

And it was. There was no functioning al Qaeda organization to be found, at least not one that posed a threat to anyone. The leaders were cut off and slowly being hunted down and the US controlled the only al Qaeda-friendly country. There was no way to gather new recruits, no place to train them if they managed to find some (we blew up their camps) and no way to organize an attack on anything larger than a compact car. All that was left was for us to kill off the remaining leaders and squash that threat for good. But we packed up and went to Iraq.

And when we became bogged down in Iraq, it was like an answered prayer for bin Laden and Co. The remaining leaders organized groups to infiltrate the country and start a propaganda war. And slowly, the numbers began to grow. The worst part was that we knew it was happening but could do nothing to stop it. We were so busy trying to maintain life in one damned city that there was no way we could venture to other parts of the country and run al Qaeda back across the border. And three years after they first started to actively work in Iraq, al Qaeda, which had been on life support, controlled a major province and was still growing.

So, what we've accomplished in Iraq is this: We created another terrorist breeding ground and strengthened a group of terrorists -- the same group that attacked this country -- that we had all but wiped out just five years earlier.

 

Sportschick, you remind me of Gidget. Ever watch it? Ya ought to.

 

I think there's one answer to this. And it's your screen-name.

 

Hmm, this coming from a poster who chastised me over whether I was a Christian or not based on my posts. Good one.
Despite whether you think people will change their views or not doesn't mean you should perpetuate falsities about Christianity.
Couldn't your average Iraqi muslim say, "Well, old Yawn isn't going to change his views about us no matter what we do, so I might as well go on hating everything, everywhere and continue with what he thinks we are - a bunch of psychos that like to kill everyone that isn't Muslim."

 

I don't give a shit who's opposing what. If every Democrat in this country got together tomorrow and decided that doing anything other than withdrawing our troops from that shitpile was a good idea, I'd call them blithering idiots.

From a military standpoint, you've got two choices for Iraq:

1. Leave.

2. Kill hundreds of thousands of people and claim victory -- again.

We're not going to do No. 2 and we shouldn't. We're responsible for enough senseless deaths over there. The only real option is leaving and then trying to sway the ensuing civil war so that the more favorable side gains control.

And make no mistake about it, folks. This shit has nothing to do with elections. That's not why this asshole is still pushing for this war to continue. That would be too noble a cause. He needs this shit to continue on a bit longer so a new law can be passed and his oil exec buddies (Read: His base) can swoop in and suck a few million barrels out.

 

I'm Sally Field?

 

Nah, you're cuter.

 

Door No. 2, please. Unfortunate, but 't must be done.