Bush said they weren't ready.
When we pulled out prematurely Malaki installed all Shia commanders
the Sunni's split and the whole deal fell apart.
Wouldn't have happened if Obama took Bush's advice.
Had Bush taken any advice whatsoever there wouldn't have been regime change in Iraq,
we wouldn't be talking about the Islamic State.
Had Bush taken any advice whatsoever there wouldn't have been regime change in Iraq, we wouldn't be talking about the Islamic State.
Historical revision off-the-cuff you can't prove.
Because he was a lackey of Iran and became the butcher of innocent Sunni women and children.
Many were massacred before they could split.
"REAL" Sunni soldiers had weapons taken away--as with the Baath soldiers.
What advice would any new POTUSA had taken from Bush, especially Sen. McCain?
Bush couldn't even negotiate our soldiers to not be under Sharia law.
And yet all you argue about is that Obama completed Bush's timeline .
Maybe they're sympathisers to the Islamic State cause. Sure would be nice to be occupying ourselves solving problems in places like the Middle East, had we not been such a contributing factor to the troubles the people in Iraq were suffering under to begin with.
Wish in one hand and spit in the other. See what you have the most of.
Do you recall Powell's prophetic Iraq warning to Bush, hmm?
I'm not very interested in talking about history. If Bush hadn't invaded, If Obama had an intelligent plan for pulling troops out. Both of those were mistakes and we wouldn't be having this conversation if either of them had done something different. Guess what. They didn't. How do you like what this administration is doing about ISIS today? Obama says we are winning but have had setbacks. I know people who were taking the same kind of drugs in the 70's that he's on now.
I understand not wanting to discuss embarrassing history. Obama's wrong just as Bush was, you cannot win a war of words and ideology against extremists. Extremists can be contained, or let out, Bush let them out, and Obama's policies have strengthened them subsequently.
I'm not very interested in talking about history. If Bush hadn't invaded, If Obama had an intelligent plan for pulling troops out. Both of those were mistakes and we wouldn't be having this conversation if either of them had done something different. Guess what. They didn't. How do you like what this administration is doing about ISIS today? Obama says we are winning but have had setbacks. I know people who were taking the same kind of drugs in the 70's that he's on now.
And Reagan wished we would have declared war on North Vietnam in a 1984 speech.
Think any of us would be around right now if that had happened ?
And Reagan wished we would have declared war on North Vietnam in a 1984 speech.
Think any of us would be around right now if that had happened ?
I didn't know that. What was his point?
If I was cynical, I would say it was all part of his "Patriot" card--but not this weekend.
Some call it Reagan winning the Vietnam war.
To be fair and true to my Vietnam friends who have now passed away and are still alive,
I must believe that Reagan was trying to bring closure to a Nation still divided.
And bring the Vietnam Veterans back into the fold of society.
I remember how my buddies were turned away by their own VFWs.
It wasn't long after Reagan's 1984 speech, 1985 and 1986 respectively, that New York and Chicago had huge parades for Vietnam Veterans .
Oh I think I see. You mean that Reagan thought we should have had a more legitimised congressionally declared war?
If this cut-and-run surprises Mr. Obama's Secretary of Defense, it shouldn't. We can expect to see more of the same skittishness, shown in various ways, from nations who either are or might have been our allies. When the United States is strong and stands by its commitments to those nations, it makes them more willing to follow our lead. But when it disappears on or even betrays its allies, they realize we are not standing behind them--and react accordingly.
With this president, every government in the world knows it is dealing with a weak sister, and that there is no U.S. foreign policy worthy of the name. Mr. Obama's shameful appeasement of the Islamists who rule Iran has encouraged them to become more aggressive in Iraq, among other places, and that has put the Sunni population there in a very difficult position. Most of them probably don't much like the evil jihadists in ISIS, but they may well consider them less of a threat than millions of Iraqi Shiites--some of whom are also jihadists--under heavy Iranian influence. Any sense that they are all countrymen and can trust each other seems to be almost completely missing.
The U.S. cannot live with ISIS, and neither can the rest of the civilized world. The ugly truth is that the people fighting for that group are fanatics who are determined to kill not only unbelievers in that region, but unbelievers like us. They have a vast safe haven, and they have plenty of money and plenty of time to draw their plans. Americans will never be safe from large terrorist attacks--possibly another 9/11, or even worse--while ISIS exists. Defeating it probably would not require killing every last person who fights for it, but it would certainly require killing most of them. It should be obvious we cannot rely on Iraqi forces to do the job, and it should also be obvious that it will not get done with the small and half-hearted air campaign that has been the main feature of the U.S. effort so far.
Apparently Obama's strategy of sending in advisers to "train" Iraqi forces is a failed policy.
Literally every decision Obama has made in Iraq has been the wrong one. Imagine that, an anti-war liberal college professor doesn't know how to win wars. Is it 2016 yet?
It's a helluva lot more complicated than that... it always has been. Unfortunately, complexity is not something we pay Republicans to get.... never saw such a group of simpletons.
Sorry, but it was the Bush Administration that tinkered with something they did not understand. It starts with the fact that Iraq is not a real country, but something that was kludged together at the end of the Ottoman Empire. Its no wonder when you broke the glue that held the mess together (the strong arm dictator names Saddam) and had no clue how you were going to pick up the pieces that you were not going to be able to put the country back together. The NeoCons naivette on this extended to a policy of de-baathification, which involved removing Sunni's from power (including disbanding the military, the power structure of which was largely Sunni). The government that the NeoCons chose to support was Shiaa, which put us on the side of Iran..... So, with the Sunni run from power and all of the command and control expertise of the military now out of work Sunni, its no wonder they set up shop across the street.
The reason the Iraqi military is ineffective is that its command and control was gutted in de-baathifcation AND the current military is of a country that really does not exist. No one wants to die for Iraq. Its a mess and there is very little the US can do about it. Its too bad we had to spend between $2 and $6 Trillion dollars knocking of a two-bit dictator that had is finger in the dyke of middle east war and peace. But, that was the Bush Administration: brass, crass and stupid.
We Dems apologize that we could not fix in seven years what Bush screwed up in eight.
Which raises the question why the US continues to make the mistake of being involved there at all. It was an mistake to get involved 12 years ago, it was a mistake to stay involved for 10 years, and now it is a mistake to get sucked back in. The Iraqis don't care enough to fight them, so why should the US? Let ISIS take over and then deal with whatever governnent they hobble together.
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