On petty dreams and wishful thinking

Iraq may be stable, but the war was a mistake - Fukuyama

 

Ok, seriously, what the ...

 

Isn't that like saying, "Ok, the hungry are fed, but cooking dinner was a mistake."

The results of the war are undeniable.  The biggest issue now is on getting our troops out of Iraq while maintaining the stability that has been gained there.  Most of the violence is from factions that see us as an occupying force, which we are not.  We will leave that country in the hands of her countrymen; free to do as they wish.  No longer under tyrannical rule.  Perhaps that type of rule will return, but if the people can come together then they have a shot.

I realize that total freedom is as strange to these people as true oppression is to we Americans, an perhaps that is an impossible dream, their religion determining a large control on their lives.  However, I feel that a political model can be contrived that will allow all sides to be truly and equally represented and real voting and democracy can develop.

Mr. Fukuyama?  You have gotten it totally wrong and your piece is simply wishful thinking.  In reading between the lines, you would have had America and her people totally fail and be ridden over.  And to this undercurrent I say: never.

Why I would never make a good statesman

Iran is making like one of those annoying little yappy dogs that the elite people carry around in their pockets. Annoying and really hard to do much about because you know that the issues that arise from any actions taken will not really be worth the satisfaction you get from kicking the mutt in the chops.

If it were up to me, I would have had Iran shut down with military blockades within hours of the sailors being kidnapped. Nothing comes out of, nor in to, the country by sea, land or air. And strategic bombing would have started within 72 hours: the presidents house would have been the first target. Like we did to Libya when they were making similar types of actions back in the early Eighties.

One almost gets the sense of a petulant child when they see and hear Iran in action. They are afraid that Iraq is getting too much world attention and so they are making life miserable for everybody.

Then, about a week before the British Sailors were kidnapped, the US/Iraqi forces had a fire-fight with Iranian forces inside Iraq. We haven't heard too much about this as the military is not talking about it, but every indication is that Iran was going to try the same thing with US forces. The US forces, however, threw a wrench into the works when they refused to be taken hostage and returned fire killing Iranian forces.

You have to wonder what Iran really wants with Iraq anyway. Should they even be involved in the rebuilding of Iraq? These countries have been at war with each other several times over very trivial matters.

I remember reading that the reason Iran is being such a pain is that they are trying to artificially inflate oil prices to boost a rather sluggish economy. I can not lay hand to this article right now to substantiate my remarks, but it conflicts with another article that I read that indicated that Iran actually has very little oil to sell and has to import much of their gasoline.

At any rate, we have two carrier groups in the Gulf right now and I think it would serve us well to actually shut Iran down for a couple of weeks. If nothing else, it would serve my own personal sense of justice.

Kicking it all off by waxing political.

As a man just starting into middle-age, many things are suddenly starting to make some sense to me and other things are starting making me go, "Huh?" We will explore the meanderings of my mind on many issues that face America today from the viewpoint of an average American. You might agree, you may not; but that is what makes this such a great country. I will listen and consider any opinion as long as it is well thought out and not just soundbites being parroted around. I am willing to learn, but I am fairly set in my ways and my mind will be hard to change. I also do not take spelling and grammar into consideration as these were never my strong suit.

On with the show...

Politics have always made me go,"Huh?" But suddenly (well, over the past ten years or so) I have started to pay attention, read and learn, develop my opinions on several issues. After all, truth is often subjective to a point and opinion is the main guiding factor for our mindset and that on which we base our lives.

I tend to identify mostly with the Republican party in the sense that I am a fiscal and social conservative for the most part. But with the way the GOP has been wobbling around all over the idealogical map, I could almost be considered a Libertarian as I will not sacrifice my ideals and principals just to follow a bunch of people who tend to follow polls that are fuzzy science at best.

I support our President for the most part, but find myself separating from him on many issues: immigration, education, and the war to name a few.

I have supported the war in Iraq since its inception and will always support our troops; but I feel that we are now done there. Having family and friends who are serving there right now and given what they are saying about the war indicate, to me, that we should start a "Phase II" to the liberation of Iraq. Let's pull back to Kuwait or Saudi Arabia and train the Iraqi forces and then arm them (this will eventually bite us in the butt, but that is for another time) and send them back home to deal with the insurgents. We will still have troops in the area if needed and could even patrol the boarders to help keep foreign fighters and weapons out of the country. Then the bulk of the troops could go into Afghanistan and re-suppress the Taliban and perhaps flush Bin Laden out of Pakistan; with or without their permission. I do not claim to be the smartest man in the world (Joe Average) and I can not be the only person to have thought of this line of action.

I do applaud President Bush for holding to his beliefs and sticking to his guns this far. I will always feel that we have done the right thing in this regard. The Liberals (can't say Democrats, because they don't all feel the same) will put our troops, the Iraqi people, and our country in danger if they put a time line or budget restrictions on the Iraqi war. And that is a very slippery slope that we can not afford to approach.