Originally posted by yerssot
cause they can't find him, they simply couldn't miss i.e. Saddam so they took the easy way and are now downplaying Osama's importance
Yes. They thought that Saddam would be the easy route, but they didn't forsee the strength of the insurgency. Iraq is now a training center for insurgents and terrorists from around the world.
I just watched Dick Cheney -- "Mr. Warmth" -- on television extolling the virtues of Bush's economic policies. Yeah, that's what we need all right -- four more years like the the last ones.
Actually, I have a theory that Cheney died a long time ago. What we're seeing is a robot built by Haliburton -- at taxpayer expense, of course.
Originally posted by Ajax66
Yes. They thought that Saddam would be the easy route, but they didn't forsee the strength of the insurgency. Iraq is now a training center for insurgents and terrorists from around the world.
Originally posted by AdventChild
I don't understand why iraqi's hate americans so much... i mean it's not like saddam was a great leader....
It goes to nationalism and religion. I believe Baghdad, in its long history dating back to when Iraq was called Mesopotamia, has been invaded 39 times. None of the invaders lasted.
Americans sometimes use the phrase, "My country, right or wrong" (which was actually first coined by the British). The Iraqis may feel the same way. Saddam was bad, but he was one of their own may be their general thinking. Bush and others underestimated the intense nationalism and the sway Islam holds over the people.
Frankly, I can't say much for nations (Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq to a lesser extent) who want their women all bundled up in black from head to toe. Doesn't seem worth the fight to me.
And to be honest, despite what ever reason Bush claims to have gone to Iraq, it has really been the Iraqi people who have suffered, and they see the Americans as the cause of this. Is this just? I can understand it. The US did help put Saddam in power, then left him for a time, then fought against him in the Gulf War, then left him again while putting crippling sanctions on the nation which killed so many, then invaded again and are currently occupying, and in the process opened the door for all kinds or rebels/terrorists/insurgents to wander around killing civilians, Americans and everyone else.
No body likes being occupied, most people have some manner of national spirit, and there are many reasons why people in Iraq might hate Americans and Bush in particular.
During the Iran-Iraq War from 1980-1988, the U.S. supplied intelligence and certain weapons to Saddam's Iraq. I guess he wasn't so "bad" back then. All of a sudden, after 9/11, Saddam was this huge threat, ready to hit us with his weapons of mass destruction. It was, of course, nonsense.
Some wars are necessary, but this Iraq thing is pure folly. I don't see any end in sight. If Iraq wants democracy or something like it, then it's up to the Iraqi people. No one can do it for them. I thought the U.S. learned that little detail in Vietnam decades earlier. Guess not.
first.... wars have always been started to get more land, money or raw materials... i think the iraq war didnt differ to that.....
and.... i think president bush is a genius.... because at least he became president... he's been so much time on vacation.... and pushes with two simple wars (anti-terror and iraq) the stock exchange up again..... and after all he gets reelected.... well THATS a genius!