Say Anything Blog

Are you nuts or simply ignorant?

The Middle East is in flames.

Whatever he was, Hussein was a buffer between Israel and Iran. The hostility between the secular Hussein and the Shia in Iran essentially kept the peace.  Iran is the only winner in this conflict.

The article and the sentiments expressed demonstrate how pitiful and desparate you cheerleaders for this misadventure have become. Iraq is a f*cking disaster, and the few remaining Republicans with any sense are finally coming to their senses and baling on worst-president-ever and his crew. I urge you to join them to avoid further embarrassment.

The article and the sentiments expressed demonstrate how pitiful and desparate (sic) you cheerleaders for this misadventure have become.

Or how ill informed you are by relying on perky Katie Couric and the Daily Kos for your assessment of all things Iraq!

For any voter trying to choose between the two candidates for commander in chief, there is no better test than this: When American strategy in a critical theater was up for grabs, John McCain proposed a highly unpopular and risky path, which he accurately predicted could lead to success. Barack Obama proposed a popular and politically safe route that would have led to an unnecessary and debilitating American defeat at the hands of al Qaeda.

Frederick W. Kagan

worst-president-ever

That would be a tie between Billy Jeff Clinton and fellow Southerner Jimmah Cahter!

For any voter trying to choose between the two candidates for commander in chief, there is no better test than this: When American strategy in a critical theater was up for grabs, John McCain proposed a highly unpopular and risky path, which he accurately predicted could lead to success. Barack Obama proposed a popular and politically safe route that would have led to an unnecessary and debilitating American defeat at the hands of al Qaeda.

Frederick W. Kagan

cost us? the lives of 3,500+ soldiers

graybrain, the ME has always been in flames. Your Democrat Party has merrily thrown gas on it since the ‘40s.

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

I’ll take “nuts” for 500, Alex. Leaving ignorant for the expert in that field: greybeard.

The Middle East has been in flames, a disaster, since...well, like forever. And I especially love the amoral realpolitik justification against war: “Saddam was a buffer between Iran and Israel”...perhaps, but that assumes that such a condition was desireable. For that matter who was the buffer between Saddam and Israel?

One wonders how many Israeli terror victims would still be alive today if Saddam hadn’t provided financial inducement to suicide bombers. One further wonders how many dead Palestinians would still be alive today if Israel hadn’t been provoked, repeatedly, to respond to these terror attacks.

Saddam launced an unprovoked war of aggression against Iran, killing millions. Saddam launched an unprovoked war of aggression against Kuwait, killing hundreds of thousands. Saddam commited genocide against his own people. Saddam devastated the ecological balance in the southern marsh region of Iraq. Saddam ordered the burning of oil wells in the first gulf war, releasing who knows how much pollution into the atomosphere, poisoning wetlands and groundwater, and creating utold economic damage to a soveriegn nation. Saddam threatened war against Saudi Arabia before the US stepped in.

State sponsored rape.  State sponsored murder numbering in the tens of thousands every year. Torture rooms. Children’s prisons. All these were well known and well documented facts of life under Saddam.

Saddam twisted the oil for food program, intentionally withholding aid from his own people to manipulate international sympathies. He further skimmed billions of dollars off the top to enrich himself and spread corruption worldwide.

Saddam was good for the status quo alright, but the status quo sucked. Unjust peace is worse than a just war, and if any war was ever just, it was this one.

cost us? the lives of 3,500+ soldiers

My goodness but libtards like Poodle can’t get over the chickenhawk argument.

Yes, costs us.  You think I don’t have family that has fought?  People I love about and care about?  You think my community isn’t effected whenever we lose some bright soul to the enemy?

It’s a terrible price, but that doesn’t make it any less necessary.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

Graybeard said “Iraq is a f*cking disaster!”

While the Democrats voted for money and authorization for the war in Iraq; almost from day one the Left has been preaching at the tops of their lungs from the rooftops that we are losing in Iraq, it is another Vietnam, let’s cut-and-run, the soldiers are Nazi’s torturing prisoners, Bush is taking away our liberties, America is the cause of Islam hating us. In this way the Left has deliberately, knowingly, often on foreign soil given aid and comfort to the murderous Islamic terrorists and have encouraged them that if they just keep killing our soldiers, America will get out, we’ll appease them and give them the Middle East and Israel.

Bush had to launch a war against Islamic terorism and against Saddam Hussein and at the same time he has had to fight the enemy at home - The Democrat Party and Liberal America. Your side is a Third Front in this war and your side is every bit a danger to America as are the Islamic terrorists.

You keep screaming Iraq is lost and if you can force us out (Unilateral Surrender to the enemy in the field); you will claim how wise you were, how you predicted what happened and that President Bush was a weak leader. But, that is a damnable lie, you didn’t predict our loss (if it happens) you have caused it as allies of the Islamic Terrorists and each of you are accesories with Islam in the death of every soldier - just as much as if you took up a weapon and shot them yourself (You killed one I love dearly). Yes, I am saying you, The Democrat Party and the Left are directly responsible for the deaths of our soldiers, because you are deliberately helping the enemy to defeat us in this war. So as long as you post here, I will challenge you every time you spread your lies, as you and your Islamic buddies need to be fought at every turn.

No matter the age or state of health, for a military man it is always glorious to tilt at windmills, rescue a fair Dulcinea and be a gallant knight in armor in a glorious cause.

More and more Iraqis are joining the fight against the terrorism. They’re sick and tired of living amongst violence. They have tasted freedom with their votes, and they want a political process. This has been reported for about a month now. Here’s just one recent article about the new positive developments.

Some people see the above situation as a “f*cking disaster”. I, on the other hand, see it as wonderful progress for that area of the world. Terrorism will largely be defeated (can never totally defeat it) when the people living among it say enough is enough. They are now doing just that in Iraq.

Rob writes:
“The war in Iraq has cost us the lives of 3,500+ soldiers and hundreds of billions of tax dollars, yet for all that terrible expense are we not still better off without Saddam Hussein in power?”

The answer is no. President Bush gave a speech last month as if to prove the obvious (an excerpt):
‘“This notion about how this isn’t a war on terror, in my view, is naïve,” he said. “The lessons of September the 11th are these: We’ve got to stay on the offense, we’ve got to bring these people to justice before they hurt again, and at the same time defeat their ideology with (an) ideology based upon liberty.“‘

‘The fact that al Qaeda is attacking democracies should tell the people of the world that the terrorists fear the will of the people, the president said. “That ought to tell you that we’re dealing with people that have an ideology that is opposite of liberty and will take whatever measures are necessary to prevent this young democracy from succeeding,” he said.’
http://www.arcent.army.mil/news/archive/2007_news/may/may24_03.asp

Once again, Bush conflates 9/11 with the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Apparently, the fact that there were no al Qaeda in Iraq before the Bush Administration invaded remains lost on the remaining 26% of Bush supporters--and he still tries to capitalize on their willfull ignorance.
He speaks of an amorphous “war on terror,” as if a war on a “feeling” could come to any positive and conclusive outcome (it’s akin to “the war on getting high.")
Bush, simplistic to a fault, refers to the “terrorists” in Iraq as if they were a monolithic entity. Of course, we know there are many factions (we knew this before the invasion), and al Qaeda was late to arrive, and with members few in number, compared to the domestic Iraqi “terrorists.”
Bush’s comment about Iraq as a “young democracy” is laughable and does not merit comment.

“Peter Wallison makes that argument in a Tech Central Station column, pointing out that the political and social situation in the middle east would be much worse had we not invaded Iraq.”

That’s difficult to know now, isn’t it? What we do know though, is that in reality it is much worse now than it was four years ago.
http://www.aina.org/news/20070623154620.htm

“Now I know the anti-war types won’t take that to heart.  They’ll talk of chaos and sectarian violence and civilian casualties until they’re blue in the face, but what’s funny is how they ignore all the good we’ve done.”

Yes, just the niggling details of over 650,000 dead Iraqis, and between 2 and 4 million Iraqi refugees fleeing their country, which rather gets people’s attention. Nobody has to keep repeating these facts, unless, of course, somebody else is not paying attention. 
Naturally, we’d all get a better idea of all the “good we’ve done,” if only the reporters we rely on for all the good news would stop getting themselves killed. The rest of them never get to leave the Green Zone, which for the past year or so has been half-jokingly referred to as the Yellow Zone.

“What’s more, with many on the left supporting intervention in Darfur (Democrat Presidential candidate Denny Kucinich recently claimed during a recent debate that if Darfur had oil we’d have invaded already) it seems a little odd that these same people would oppose intervention in Iraq.”

Kucinich obviously meant the American government “we.” A war conducted based on false pretenses is opposed by conscientious Americans no matter what the geographic location. Debunking the rest of this particular parameter of your argument is unnecessary.

650,000 dead Iraqis and 2 to 4 million refugees, Mr. Steele? According to who?

Even if true, ever stop to ask yourself who is responsible for that? Personally, I’d look at the people deliberately targeting civilians when placing blame. That’s just me and my sense of cause and effect, however.

David, how hard a concept is it to grasp?  Seriously?

9/11 was the result of Islamic extremists attacking our country.  One of the worst sponsors of Islamic extremism in the world was Iraq under Saddam.  So after 9/11, after we had gone after the primary actors, we went after Saddam as part of the larger war on terror.

This isn’t rocket science.

Sometimes I wish people would recognize that global terrorism doesn’t begin and end with Osama bin Laden.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

David, do you support going into Darfur?  And if so, why not Iraq?  Which was every bit the human rights crisis Darfur is now?

And what false pretenses?  Outside of bad intelligence on the WMD’s, every other reason we went into Iraq for was spot-on.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

And what false pretenses?  Outside of bad intelligence on the WMD’s, every other reason we went into Iraq for was spot-on.

Doubters should read Congress’s resolution on the war here.

Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.

I was going to refute Ms Steele’s moronicy, no need. Y’all done so quite effectively. Flamer, you cad, you! Throwing Congressional Records at leftards is so clishclash. You should hang your head in shame, using facts to refute their heartfelt feelings, what.

And what is your current avatar, that is pretty cool!

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

Thanks 2Hotel9, my Avatar is Mini Dragon by T Tiger, found at DeviantArt (again).

Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.

Considering it, things wouldn’t be all that much different if we’d invaded Darfur instead of Iraq.

Not so sure about that.  Without the Iraq invasion, al Qeada would have had another place to plan, organize and train after we kicked them out of Afghanistan.  I doubt thst s Darfur invasion would have affect them (the terrorists) as much.

You don’t have to be a moron to be a liberal Democrat but it sure helps.

Peter Wallison makes that argument in a Tech Central Station column, pointing out that the political and social situation in the middle east would be much worse had we not invaded Iraq.

The middle east always has been, and always will be, a killing zone.  There’s no way to stop people who hate each other from killing each other.  It’s been going on for longer than America has been around.

Our presence doesn’t make it more or less violent, it simply makes a little bit of the violence have an actual purpose beyond genocide.

If we think that we can fix the middle east, we really are fooling ourselves.  There is nothing to fix.  All we can hope for is to neutralize the factions that would do us harm.

The way I see it, the Left is very consistent on principle regarding foreign invasions:

If a Democrat in the White House does it (i.e. Bosnia), it is a good thing.
If a Republican in the White House does it (Iraq), it is a bad thing.
If a Republican in the White House does not do it (Darfur), it is a bad thing.

Democrat good, Republican bad.

For any voter trying to choose between the two candidates for commander in chief, there is no better test than this: When American strategy in a critical theater was up for grabs, John McCain proposed a highly unpopular and risky path, which he accurately predicted could lead to success. Barack Obama proposed a popular and politically safe route that would have led to an unnecessary and debilitating American defeat at the hands of al Qaeda.

Frederick W. Kagan

Saddam launced an unprovoked war of aggression against Iran, killing millions. 
Seth Williams on June 30, 2007 at 07:46 pm

A war in which we assisted in killing those millions.

And what did your nation, Greece, do in that war?

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

And perhaps we should have cut a deal with Russia during that, pushed both wack job countries into annihilating each other and rebuilt to saner specifications.

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

And what did your nation, Greece, do in that war?

2Hotel9 on July 1, 2007 at 07:32 pm

Not a damned thing.

But what that has to do with what Seth Williams is saying. It does do away the truth. And truth be told we (USA) did assist Saddam in killing millions.

Au contraire! Your nation, Greece, sold vast amounts of surplus ammunition to Iraq. Ammunition used to kill many many Iranian boys who were forced to march into Saddam’s meatgrinder. So you, Greek national, are just as guilty as everyone else. Ladies such as yourself are comical in your denial of culpability.

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

"The way I see it, the Left is very consistent on principle regarding foreign invasions:”

“If a Democrat in the White House does it (i.e. Bosnia), it is a good thing.”

If it’s done right, and if it’s not based on LIES. Of course, you remember the “No war for Monica” mantra. How could we forget?
Bosnia was a “piece of cake” compared to invading and occupying Iraq. I think we all knew that--that’s why we tried our best to stop Bush from invading--besides he said war was a last resort. He sure does lie a lot.

“If a Republican in the White House does it (Iraq), it is a bad thing.”

It’s bad because it was UNNECESSARY. It was also done with amazing ineptitude (even if everything was done correctly with an overwhelming force, retaining the rank and file military, closing all borders tight, securing all ammo dumps, and quelling riots and looting, etc., it would have been a crap shoot--to say the least).

“If a Republican in the White House does not do it (Darfur), it is a bad thing.”

It’s bad, because we CAN’T do it. We can’t do anything now, or haven’t you noticed? Our military is stretched to the breaking point with backdoor drafts and extended duty for our soldiers, all so they can spend one more day trying not to get killed in Iraq. Afghanistan is overrun with the Taliban (remember them?), and their bumper crop of opium sure is reducing the global price for heroin. The tragedy in all of this is that it is because the Bush Administration used the anger and hurt from 9/11 as a catalyst so it could invade and occupy a land for its oil--while the Corporate Media became the Administration’s willing stenographers.

I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say that when Bill Clinton refused to step in and help the people in Rwanda when 800,000 of them were being slaughtered with machetes and axes, and when the U.N. refused to call it genocide--just so nobody would be “duty bound” by the U.N. Charter to intervene--was grossly inexcusable. THAT’S a bad thing.

It’s obvious that, if Iraq had no oil, it would be just one more Darfur, or Burma, or Ivory Coast, or Nigeria, or East Timor, or Belarus, or Tibet, or Iran, or Saudi Arabia, or Somalia, or Palestine, etc., etc.

No questions, not at this time.

“650,000 dead Iraqis and 2 to 4 million refugees, Mr. Steele? According to who?”

Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health survey released late last year. It was in all the papers:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/11/uiraq.xml

2.2 million refugees: UNHCR (excuse my hyperbole--I said 2 to 4 million)
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/20/damon.iraqrefugees/index.html

“And what false pretenses?”

1) They Attacked Us: Iraq Supported Al Qaeda
2) Imminent Threats: Iraq’s Bio-Chem and Nuclear Weapons Programs
3) It Will Be Easy: Iraq as a “Cakewalk”
4) The Moral Justification: Iraq as a Democratic Model
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20040329/scheer

Past false pretenses:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/05/23/its_not_the_first_war_under_false_pretenses/

“Outside of bad intelligence on the WMD’s, every other reason we went into Iraq for was spot-on.”

The Democrats who voted for the War Resolution can be blamed for enabling the Bush Administration to conduct this phony diversion from the “war on terror.”
The intelligence was “cherry picked.” Cheney lorded over the CIA to make sure it was. I thought this was common knowledge:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/09/AR2006020902418.html

Pick your favorites:

1. to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
2. for regime change.
3. to further the war on terror.
4. because of iraq’s violation of united nations resolutions.
5. because of saddam hussein’s evil dictatorship and actions.
6. because of a lack of weapons inspections in iraq.
7. to liberate iraq.
8. because of iraq’s ties to al qaeda.
9. because iraq was an imminent threat.
10. to disarm iraq.
11. to conclude the gulf war of 1991.
12. because hussein was a threat to the region.
13. for the safety of the world.
14. to support the united nations.
15. because the united states could (easy victory).
16. to preserve peace around the world.
17. because iraq was a unique threat.
18. to transform the region.
19. as a warning to other terrorist nations.
20. because hussein hates the united states and will act against it.
21. because history calls the united states to action.
http://www.rojisan.com/blog/2004/12/21_reasons_to_invade_iraq.html

Keep spewing propaganda, Ms Steele, some morons will believe anything. Just ask the Democrats, they believed it all.

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

Au contraire! Your nation, Greece, sold vast amounts of surplus ammunition to Iraq. Ammunition used to kill many many Iranian boys who were forced to march into Saddam’s meatgrinder. So you, Greek national, are just as guilty as everyone else. Ladies such as yourself are comical in your denial of culpability.
Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

2Hotel9 on July 3, 2007 at 04:24 am

I wonder where they (Greeks) got the vast amounts of surplus ammunition to sell to Iraq.
I always thought (wrongly perhaps) that Greece’s meddling in the region ended around 700 or 800 AD(dates are approximate).
If not shame on them.

2Hotel9 it is with great happiness that I anounce my retirement effective July 17 2007.
In the past I have asked you many times for a breakfast with fresh eggs from your chickens.
In all seriousness I ask you again. How about it?
Can we please have breakfast together?

David Steele - where is the oil?

You should stop lying David.

As for the supposed 650,000 dead - only fools believed that. Not even the staunchly anti-war iraqbodycount.net site bought into that fantasy.

It’s bad because it was UNNECESSARY.

David Tinfoil: I’ll agree with this half witted point. Yes, technically it is not necessary to prevent the rape, torture and murder of people in another country. It wasn’t necessary to go into Bosnia. Hell, it isn’t necessary to fight any wars! We can just roll over and accept whatever terms the victor imposes!
But, free men have a choice. And some would say, a responsibility to share the fruits of freedom.
So, pull the covers over your head, David. Ignore the cries for help of anyone outside of your little world.
We have men who are up to the task for that.

Have a happy Fourth of July-- commemorating another unnecessary war. I mean, we could have just remained British subjects, right?

For any voter trying to choose between the two candidates for commander in chief, there is no better test than this: When American strategy in a critical theater was up for grabs, John McCain proposed a highly unpopular and risky path, which he accurately predicted could lead to success. Barack Obama proposed a popular and politically safe route that would have led to an unnecessary and debilitating American defeat at the hands of al Qaeda.

Frederick W. Kagan

I just bought 300 rds of .30 that transshipped through Greece.

And the chickens are dead. We had a running battle with raccoons, I managed to kill several. But in the end the chickens got wiped out.

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

And the chickens are dead.

Damned racoons. I have not had fresh eggs since I left Greece. I still remember the unbeatable flavor and texture of eggs layed by hens that only ate natural foods including crickets,grasshoppers and other insects that they would encounter during their dayly forrays.

We still get fresh eggs, a retired couple who moved into an old farm out back have got quite the operation going. They have 150 laying and 20-30 brooding. Selling out of season hatchings is making them more money than the eggs.

The raccoons really did a number. I killed 4. They were on the large side, all over 20 lbs. They just ripped their way right through the wire in several places.

Wifey loved feeding the chickens dandelions. They would fight over them if she didn’t throw a whole pile in at once.

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

Man o’ man I’m jellous. Even the meat tasted different. Can’t raise chickens in the city though.
You have a good night.