Originally posted by GySgt:
Alright...here I go...
Iraq is a part of a bigger picture and mushroom clouds are a part of that. You know this...you are just content with bashing mundane details and pretending to be ignorant to the issues, because doing otherwise means that you have to question your convictions. There is nothing to question here....dealing with a civilization where millions want you dead, is not the same as Gandhi facing the British Empire.
Your second paragraph is utter bull ****. Terrorism has not increased. Don't fall victim to some intel officials who are more concerned with saving their own asses than reporting truths. It is always safer to report failures and negative scenarios than to report complete truths and be wrong. I've seen enough of this kind of thing over the last decade to know the difference between sincere intel and self preservation. You mistake some desperate attempts by Al-Queda to show the Muslim world that they are still a formiddable force by slaughtering other Muslims in Indonesia and Jordan as an increase in strength. You forget that their targets used to be on U.S. military personel, ships, buildings, and bases. Now they are reduced to slaughtering their own people for revenge. Al-Queda is wrecked. Their funds are depleted or frozen. No country will harbor them, because they have Afghanistan and Iraq to remind them of the consequences. The insurgency into Iraq is no longer a serious threat, because the good majority of the fighters inside Iraq are local Sunni. The "martyrs" that were crossing over from Syria are no longer in a hurry to see their god in hell. Our job their is almost complete. Diplomacy is what is mostly left for us. An extremist group (forget the name off hand) in Ethiopia are being destroyed right now by East Coast Marines. This group launches its terror attacks into Sudan by the way. The Phillipine government is acting with Far East Marines based on Okinawa and chasing down Islamic terror groups in the Phillipine jungles. Currently their is a Marine/CIA consultation inside Indonesia working out some future endeavors against their extremist groups and yes...Al-Queda has a minor base of operations. England is cracking down hard on their Islamic Mullahs. Hate speech is no longer a luxury they have. Australia has, so far, been the only nation that has taken the drastic steps necessary to force their Mullahs to assimilate or leave. (Our country will, of course, be the last ones to do the right thing for our security because we recognize their right to hate and spew venom, because we are stupid.) Russia, despite their ties to Iran for business purposes, are cracking down in Checnya. China is deeply concerned about their western Islamic province. Syria is imprisoning hundreds of reformist for speaking out about positive change within their borders towards a more democratic government. The vast majority of Iranians do not want their current government and do not adhere to the Mullahs sense of Islamic rule. Jordan has finally publicly condemned Al-Queda and is chasing extremist out of their country (It took an Al-Queda attack to open their eyes to what their "martyrs" really are). With every new terrorist attack, more Muslim eyes are opened.
The Muslim world is desperate for answers, but they are not stupid. They see what being a part of a terror group will do to their personal safety. Your continued focus on Iraq is blinding you to what is actually happening all over the world. There have been attacks that have not taken place on our soil because of the CIA and the FBI. Some of this is being brought out in the news currently. There have been captures. Even with Iraq you refuse to see what great things are happening with their new government. And there is nothing I can say to make you see it. I've tried.
...and by the way...the war started long before nine months. Don't be naive. Your government and military has plans for all kinds of things. That's how much your security matters.