Comments on: Reality in Iraq

By: Sheepywoman

Sheepywoman — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:35:49 +0000

I think they were complete failures. We did have decent intentions going into the war. Aside from the WMD’s, we took down a ruthless dictatorship and our aim was to improve the quality of the Iraq people’s lives. We did, to some degree, assist the Afghanis in rebuilding public infostructures and advancing their society. The failure came in the reconstruction of the government, which fueled and aided the cause for terrorist movements. And keep in mind that we are fighting people (a lot of people) who absolutely hate us and think that our way of living should be abolished and destroyed in the most brutal way possible.

By: Ian

Ian — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:15:37 +0000

I think the question comes down to who is benefiting from the war. As Sheepy points out, its obviously not the Iraqi people. Or at least in the short term and for the foreseeable future, they aren’t. The American people aren’t gaining anything here. We get saddled with the debt from the war and its not like gas prices have shifted in a positive direction. Congress didn’t benefit. Those people who voted for the war have been losing elections (See: a handful of Republicans who lost their seats and Hillary Clinton). Bush isn’t even seemingly benefiting. His approval ratings went down the tubes which has had some effect on his ability to press his domestic agenda since Congress shifted to the Democrats (”some”). He also has suffered greatly in how foreign countries are willing to deal with him. For example, Saudi Arabia embarrassed him back in May by refusing his request for more oil and have made clear they are waiting for his replacement. The only people I see benefiting from this war are private contractors who get all these contracts in Iraq. While I am sure that this was always part of the intended outcome, I don’t think it was the primary reasoning for going to war. Am I missing something? I mean, it just looks like one massive mistake on the part of the Bush Administration with no real underlying intentions. If there were underlying intentions, they don’t seem to be clear right now or they were complete failures.

By: Sheepywoman

Sheepywoman — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:39:02 +0000

As the female voice, I would try to argue that our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan have improved women’s rights. But because so much of the mistreatment of women are justified by their faith and culture, I can not legitimately claim this. Additionally, I think being a displaced refuge from a homeland of an unstable and violent government trumps women’s rights. The atrocities have snowballed to so that the most basic and simple human rights are violated on a daily basis. No wonder why the World hates us.

By: Ian

Ian — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:06:16 +0000

I don’t think it has ever been tried to be justified. I mean, they admitted there were no WMD’s, so why are we over there? What is the real reason?