Is the Iraq war worth it? It's three years into the Iraq war and answers vary among "experts" and thinkers.

 

oh, tough subject. i am mixed on it, i mean i support our troops and we have helped to get Sadaam out but its not going the way they thought. if it turns into a full out civil war then of course not, but in the end if they get together and form a great nation the yes. only time will tell.

 

Worth it no if gas prices would have went dpwn it may have been more worth it. But as we had talked about before i am all about the free oil we should have gotten and did not. Yet my tax money is paying for it.

If it causes a civil war it may be our best exit plan. Cause then the USA can say that the Iraqi's choose there path and not the USA.

As far as the on the ground troops i support anything they do. I have a great respect for someone that is willing to go and protect my freedom of saying and doing almost anything i want.

 

The troops don't want to be there. It's not like they can say "No, I'd rather stay home." That's what makes their efforts there even more admirable.

It's hard to believe, but it's safer for Iraqi civilians there now. More Iraqi civilians died per day, on average, when Saddam was in power. Now if the American deaths went to zero, that would be a good period to put on the end of this sentence. They are far below what they've been in past months, though. In addition, Osama can't work with Saddam anymore in planning attacks against US interests.

Now, about that oil. Where's the oil? Didn't we go there "for the oil?"

 

Whether it’s worth it or not depends on whether one believes a democratic Iraq is essential for success against global terrorism. And, whether one believes global terrorism is this century’s greatest threat. Tony Blair and George Bush believe both those things to be true.
The progress in post war Iraq, viewed in context of other US led post war reconstructions, i.e., Germany and Japan, is staggeringly more successful. Post war **** insurgency lasted 9 years and, by percentage, caused far more lose of life and destruction of property than we've seen in Iraq. Was a democratic Germany worth it? Was a democratic Japan worth it? (Yes, we never found large cashes of WMD and Japan and Germany wanted to take over the world-it get it, but that is a different question.)
If Bush and Blair are right, then seeing this through, what ever it takes, is necessary.
What makes it hard, besides the lose of life, is that US accomplishments in Iraq are rarely headline news, or back page news for that matter. Try googling 'accomplishments in Iraq'. I found a long list of profound accomplishments. Sure would be nice to see that our money and blood are doing some good.
I work with US soldiers every day. Surprisingly, their morale and desire to see this mission through to success is generally high. They certainly must not believe the dire reports in the newspapers. Those who have been to Iraq are generally fine with returning. They tell a very different story about Iraq than do the majority of US media. I’ve noticed those same media outlets will search for a disaffected soldier; one who will rant against the war effort and tell you the majority of US soldiers are either committing unspeakable atrocities or don’t believe in the mission. I don’t believe them.
My opinion? I’m not so sure we should have gone into Iraq, but I pray for success now that we are there.

 

Okay. I believe that invading Iraq, for whatever reason Bush and Blair come up with, wasn't exactly the wrong thing to do. It just was they way Bush went on about it. It was rushed. We went in too cocky. It was like a lack of planning. Amnd that is starting to show as the days go by. In previous wars, The U.S. wasn't that quick to jump into the World War II. They knew what was going on, who the enemy was, and where they are at, and had an idea of how many and who is on thier side. Plus we had our allies backing us. We just didn't run bullheadedly into it blindly. Plus it **** era Germany made the move first and started eating other countries alive pushing it up the world threat ladder quickly, no questions asked, world support behind us or we behind them. That was a straight case of them or us.
In iraq, most of our allies wanted to wait for more evidence, we wanted to do it now. we rolled the dice and got snake eyes on the WMD gamble. Okay, so we go in on the grounds that he's a terrible dictator. Fine, but there are tons dictators that are far worse than Saddam can ever imagine to be down in places like Africa. But on the other hand that is one less we have to worry about except I doubt we will even worry about the rest of them outside the oil country becasue they don't have nothing to offer in return if we take over.
And the worth of it is hard to compare to other past wars because this is a whole new monster. In the past, we fought basically countries. The enemy was easy to identify and once they was destroyed, war was over. Just had to clean up the scraps. Here, it's more of a political and media war. Check this, for everyone of them we kill there are two to take his place. Why? Because if you read some of the papers and see some of the Mid East. media to come out of there or even stateside media, you hear, "Marines kick in door, they open fire, killing the father the brother, three little girls, the grandmother, and the wife." Now justing thinking about that, suppose the police (god forbid) did something like that somewhere in the states. There would be outrage. And that's what people over there are feeling when they see stuff like that. And that make it easier for them to recruit replacement terrorist. We are basically making thier recruiting videos. Sure according to the media, and word from my friends in Iraq, the people appreciate us freeing them but they reallt don't like the idea of us staying so long. That's like you calling an exterminator for roaches and when he's finished his job, he decides to takes his shoes off, raid your refridgerator, moving your furnature around, taking over your television, driving your car, and taking over your bed. I'm saying the US got to that point yet, but we are starting to get too comfortable. I'm not trying to sound cold, but if they want to have a civil war, that's not our buisness, just as it wasn't England buissness when we had our civil war. They have been fighting for thousands of years, longer than the USA been around and we, not even understanding the root of it will not stop it.
And surely, the media, with only the bad news for ratings will not help the process either. I mean, between the questionable raids, and questionable tactics, the soldiers are doing plenty good in keeping the people generally safe, and even helping the people out in other ways. But none of that hardly ever make it to the news. It's not good for ratings I guess. They making it seem like we are nothing but ruthless trigger happy hoodlums over there and that's not the case. I'm not saying we are perfect, I'm sure there are always a few bonehead soldiers that put thier personal emotions above the right thing to do, but over all, we are doing the right thing on the ground.
And sure now there are more bigger threats than fighting a scattered enemy, like Iran, and I pray that we carry on more diplomatic methods just for a little bit longer this time because this is not the time to get hasty, with Iran and or N. Korea. Even they know we are spread thin and what better time to get bold and try risky things than now? And just dropping everything and leaving is an option but one that is like a coyote chewing it's own limb off to get out of a trap. But it really don't matter when we leave, tomorrow or ten years from now, there will still be terrorists and they would be happy to try anything to fight the "big absolute evil united states". Even if that includes following us to the Iran war or the N Korea war. And speaking of Iran, don't anyone realize that we just basically helped Iran out tremendously? Now we questioning why they are feeling powerful now? Easy. We just took out thier greastest threat. Iraq. But that's a different thread. But if we took more time to get more of the mid east on our side and to chip in to protect thier region, mayybe this thing would've been a little easier.
And to place a definate worth on is Iraq worth fixing is like asking that about a brand new car. At first, it's always worth fixing, it's brand new and has a warr. Then as it starts to age and more problems start to happen the question takes longer and longer to answer. But it's a lot harder to abandon a war than it is a car, but it's harder for you to go get the same car again, even if it's brand new.


"An enemy of my enemy is a friend"

 

very fair words blackwolf.

what will be the situation in iraq one year from now? (just guess).

 

Probably about the same it is now. Except that the new Iraq force will be a little more powerful but there will be great unrest within it between the groups. And we will find a better method to get over these IEDs and find a better way to detect them, but the terrorist will move to a more sophisticated method of IED with increase funding from neighboring borders that is taking this opportunity to weaken our forces before we get to them. Which in turn starts the whole process of dealing with a new type of IED. And Bin Laden wil still be sending tapes to the media. But I believe that as we get closer to the presidental elections, the pace to clean up will quicken. At this rate, the republican party may not stand a chance in the big time election due to this situation and they are starting to realize that. That's why you having some of them actually turning. (or because it's gotten to the point where it's even thinning their pockets.) But the fact is that the next president will definately have his work cut out for him/her.

 

This wasn't going to happen with Iraq. Don't forget that Saddam had France, Germany, Russia, some lesser countries, and some individuals in powerful positions in his pocket? Our allies! These countries and individuals stood to lose large monetary sums if Saddam were to disappear from the scene. It was their mission in the lead up to the invasion to keep the US out of Iraq, but for selfish reasons, not moral ones.

Don't forget that Saddam eventually refused to let the UN inspectors do their job? He wasn't going to let them collect anymore evidence. Our "allies" encouraged him to stall in this manner so their gravy train would continue. Don't forget about the UN Resolutions that forced an action against Iraq?

No. That wasn't a reason.

There certainly would be outrage. "War is Hell." The problem with this war is that we get real-time media coverage that's nearly unencumbered. It seems that every soldier's every step is scrutinized. I know it's not quite that bad, but it is if you compare it to past war coverage. Soldiers, like everyone else in the universe, aren't perfect. They make mistakes. However, today there are people who watch every step like a hawk and think they feel they must give aid and comfort to our enemy when they notice a mistake. Just as many imperfect soldiers fought in previous wars. Don't think civilians weren't killed in error and the locals didn't feed off of it.

Don't forget that Saddam ignored many UN Resolutions, the diplomatic approach, for over ten years. Isn't that long enough? If not, how long is long enough? We haven't done anything more than deal through diplomatic channels with N. Korea and Iran. Your prayers are being answered, but how long should we fart around with these two countries?

Imagine yourself in a dark alley with a handgun raised to a firing position. There's a growling Rottweiller charging right at you. You recognize this particular Rottweiller because it's been in the news for attacking people in the area you're in. What would you do? Would you shoot it or wait until the dog chewed at your leg before shooting it? Would you wait to find out if the Rottweiller just wanted to lick you and play some fetch because deep down you're a nice person and just want to give the dog a bone? The Muslim countries have proven without a doubt to reasonable non-Muslim people's of the world that they want to kill us all without remorse simply because we aren't Muslim. I'm not sure why so many people in the West refuse to see it, accept it, and defend us against it.

 

They aren't happy unless they're fighting and killing and dying. That's the way they'll always be because they don't really know anything else. Islam teaching them that it's their destiny. They don't know what they're fighting for, they just do it. If Israel were "wiped off the map" and there were no Jews left in the world they'd just find another reason to fight and kill and die. They'd fight and kill each other. As soon as the US pulls out of Iraq, they'll start full scale unrestricted murdering of each other.