Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Should the U.S. attack Iraq?

Hey y'all,

I just thought I'd pose the question. Everyone who has an opinion, please feel free, here's mine:

I think that the UN has to do more to protect citizens all over the world in the near future, and lame inspections for WMD's doesn't cut it. I fear a suicide bomber coming over...not with a bomb, but infected with small pox (if you were born after, I think, 1975, you are NOT immunized against it and once you have it, make a will) or some other god awful creation, killing millions.

Attacking pro's: Protect the world from a fearless tyrant, and make the world a safer place. War could jumpstart our lagging economy, like it did in the past. Would supress terrorist activity in the region.

Attacking con's: If intial attack fails or is slow, we could be a potential target for WMD. It would be expensive and could cost many lives. Oil reserves would suffer (even higher gas prices).

Most of the Iraqi population doesn't share the same beliefs as Saddam (he did use chemical weapons on them ), also half of the army surrendered in the Gulf War without ever firing a shot. So Iraqi support could be somewhat favorable considering. I say, send a couple B-52's and wait for the defication! The only thing that would suck is that we would have to maintain presence in the country until it was stable. That is expensive and well.....Black Hawk Down.

Just my 2c.
~Chuck Vashro

-Create yet another martyr for radical Islamic fundamentalists
-Create more reason for terrorist payback
-Increase hostility towards America's supposed Imperialist tendencies

I think all this talk of an overthrow is mainly posturing. Seems to be working, judging by Iraq's recent statements about inspections.

all i can say is tom clancey's rainbow six. thats how to do it.

Let me see...

1) Chemical, Biological and by 2005 if not sooner, Nuclear Power that HATES the U.S. (this coming from a former nuclear engineer named Khidir Hamza that defected from Iraq in 1994 and further confirmed by German intelligence).

2) Total dictator that has gassed his own people during uprisings a few years back. He's executed family members that have tried to defect, not to mention kept most of the country in abject poverty while building massive palaces all over the place.

3) The only Arab country who's economy is pretty much geared solely for war. Last time I checked, Bagdad wasn't on my top 10 tourist spots, nor did they export anything apart from misery and suffering (a.k.a. 9/11, due to many of the hijackers having obtained intelligence and briefings from Iraqi Intelligence officers).

I hate seeing American lives put at risk, but this a$$hole along with most of his family and ALL of his military need to be used for target practice. Make NO mistake that when these suckers get any sort of cohesive nuclear capability, then Israel and ANY other U.S. interest, military base, aircraft carrier, etc., will come under direct threat.

We are unfortunately thrown irrevocably into the mess that is the Middle-East right now, due to economic and military reasons. Apart from the CIA pulling off a brilliant coup in getting perhaps Iraq and Iran into some sort of conflict that let's them kill each other (so they keep their eyes off of us), I don't see any other way around sending our Nation's pride and joy into battle.

Some decent diplomacy could bring Iran around a little. There is a growing minority in Iran wanting democracy and they are gaining in political power. Pres. Bush mentioning Iran in his axis of evil speech did the US no favors.

As for Iraq, this morning's USAtoday http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2002-08-01-iraq-peace_x.htm puts the cost of an Iraqi invasion at 16-20 billion a year to include 70 - 80k troops being in country. Thats a lot of cash and for what ?? 10 months after 9/11, intelligence hasn't come up with a lot to link Iraq to the attacks AFAIK.

Yes, Iraq has chemical & bio weapons. Hussein, I think, knows that using these against western forces or in a terrorist attack would bring severe & immediate retaliation from the west. At present, I think it would be better to contain Iraq until a less costly (human & monetary) way of toppling him can be found.

Remember, the US would likely have to go it alone this time unlike the gulf war.

Just my 2c.

Our own "leaders" do this too...

Last time I looked out the window here in the U.S., I saw a profound lack of mud huts, abject poverty (3rd world poverty and U.S. poverty are two VERY different things), high education and one of the highest per capital earnings per household on the planet.

Believe me when I say that Iraq's poor make most of the impoverished here in the U.S. look like lottery winners...

WTH? The White House has been around how long? :rolleyes:

Iran was thrown in there for an idea. They are a thorn to U.S. policy and interests, but nowhere near the blatant threat that Iraq is. The major issue is that of Al-Qaeda finding refuge in Iran due to similar Islamic extremist beliefs and creed. Given our ties to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan (for the time being) and somewhat to Tajikistan, rooting out some of the extremists will (hopefully) be easier, as many of their leaders have scattered to the four winds.

I will say things have been cooling between us and the Saudis as of late, though, which doesn't help matters...

As far as Iraq's ties to 9/11 I believe that Mossad and the CIA all had someone or another confirm through sources about a month or two after the hijackers meetings with Iraqi Intelligence. Let me search and see what I can come up with. 27 and I've got a memory of an 80 year old...

It's a little unrelated to the discussion, but it's something I came across. Just to give you a flavor of what these Al-Qaeda pricks are like and their flavor of coffee-table literature, go here:

http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/trainingmanual.htm

It's an Al Qaeda training manual found in the UK during a raid. IIRC, Hussein all but came out and danced for joy when 9/11 took place. Funny that some of the rhetoric is very similar to press releases and the like that Saddam Hussein puts over the wire when we rattle the sword at him. I'm NOT saying he's a card-carrying member of Al Qaeda, but his aims and goals in this life are EXTRORDINARILY similar.

To me, it's rather simple. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's a duck. With the things that Hussein has done over the years (though it's VERY sketchy and rather scant on details, take a look at his bio here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/walden/sad_timeline.shtml ), I easily lump him into the "discard" category for humans that currently populate this planet.

Better being proactive with this filth and take him out quick NOW than being reactive when he's got nuclear capability. It's like having the chance to shoot and kill someone who's putting together a rocket launcher in front of you to USE on you. Would you rather shoot now, or wait until he's got the damn thing built and ordinance shoved down the tube with it aimed at you?

I'll gladly hand over another 5% in taxes to have our boys go in and clean house, given that the job is carried out to completion this time (also given that it'll drop back down when we've got Hussein's skull mounted on a pole).

Just some thoughts...

Well, the way I see it...we can sit back and talk about how Iraq is bad and how they support terrorists and hate Israel as well 'til we're blue in the face.

And while we're talking about this and debating about that and worrying about how much it will cost...and being concerned about if it will benefit the Iraqi people to overthrow Saddam Hussein (quote from Senator Joe Biden in a speech given yesterday)...the Iraqi supported terrorists are planning their next attack.

Next time it wont be a couple of hijacked air planes killing a couple thousand people. It will be a nuclear or biological attack on a city that will kill tens of thousands.

The terrorists are ok with dying for their cause, I say we help them out. Saddam Hussein and his cast of despicable characters do nothing but bring death and misery to this world. It's time to put a stop to it...before we're attacked again...and again...and again.

1979...U.S. Embassy in Iran (hostages)
1983...U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut
1988...Pan Am bombing
1993...First World Trade Center bombing
1998...U.S. Embassys in Kenya & Tanzania
1999...Khobar Towers
2000...The U.S.S. Cole
September 11, 2001

What's next...?