Originally posted by PDXSVT:
I'd speculate some senators grumbled during WWII over whether resources were applied effectively, whether priorities were correct, why a 37 mm cannon on that tank chassis instead of a 75, why fighters and not bombers, why not more battlewagons, why not .30 cal MGs on planes instead of .50 cal (Thank you Hap Arnold for getting it right). I'd speculate there were similar minor grumblings among coalitions during Korea. But ever since Truman and MacArthur's frictions were not kept secret so well, media attention IS a fact of life.

Bush WILL do troop drawdowns in time for the 2006 mid-term congressional elections. Mostly because of public opinion.



Wow....between you & Caltour so many false assumptions, so little time (must get back to work).

1) No problem with a Senator who says "I think we should use a bigger stick" Not the same as saying "Quagmire". "Gulag" is not a minor grumbling. A huge problem with left in general, complaints without solutions. And in 2008, if your guys are still offering no real solutions..they are toast again.

2) Yes, Bush will probably draw down troups in 2006, because that is the estimated timetable based on trajectory of Iraqi army growth and ability to assume greater responsiblity..and the fact that elections/constitution will hopefully be completed. I have no doubt the left win try and spin this as a "failure of support" or something else to attack Bush..which is a real shame because optimally, we cannot let jihaddits think they kicked us out or outlasted us.

3) Any Senator that spoke out against Vietnam war, saying we should leave would likely have encouraged the Viet Cong to hang in there when things were going badly. Which they basically did. Fortunately, Al Gore had not yet invented the internet and it was a little harder to pump sound bites into the jungle back then..

4)
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Ho blindly took on the strongest nation on earth. What a nut!

...Maybe he just studied the Korean war and noticed the rather obvious point that we were unwilling to mess with China..Maybe Bin laden just looked at the Soviet/Afgan war and noticed that the might Soviet Union got their butt kicked in the mountains of Afganistan by backwards tribesmen. Maybe Saddam just looked at Gulf War I and said that little Bush will not kick my ass because the UN will not let him do it, just like didn't let big Bush do it a deacde before (despite invading a country and gasing his people). And with the French UN Security counsel telling him..don't worry, we will veto the vote, it was a pretty good bet. These guys were not stupid..they looked at history and picked what appeared to be a solid bet. They just bet wrong.

5) Caltour, I maintain that any Senator who sobs to the press that we are in a Quagmire, we are killing civilians, we are torturing the inocent, we are guilty of war crimes, or in any way implies we are losing with troups in the field is exercising EXTREMELY poor judgement at best and is a discredit to the office.

Oh, and
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Yes, we're stuck in Iraq. Apparently some on this board celebrate that. I hope they are correct and western-friendly democracies blossom in the middle east. But to evangelize that we're spreading freedom and democracy..

...we are not stuck in Iraq. We are doing a job in Iraq and it is for a good cause. I celebrate that our troups have the courage to do it. And spreading freedom and democracy is not a missionary crusade for me but a practical antidote for jihaddism. I heard no better solutions from the left. There is isolationism I suppose...certainly some jihaddits claim that we were attacked on 9/11 because we have troops on the Arabian peninsula..Maybe. But then, the Saudis that flew into the WTC seemed happy in 1991 to have us keep Sadam from running over them after he finished with Kuwait. Maybe we should step back from militant Islam in the Sudan, the Phillapines, Israel and let them run the show. Certainly, Hitler would have let us alone had we stayed away from Europe wouldn't he?

1999 Amazon Green SVT Contour (#554/2760) "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." -Soren Kierkegaard (as posted by Jato)