Why We Fight

House.Gov ^ | 9/8/2005 | Congressman Ron Paul

[Allosaurs_r_us]

This just about sums up my reasons for opposing this stupid war since Day 1.

I don't know about the politics of this war and I really don't give a rusty about all of those who try and make this some kind of political war zone. I believe it is our DUTY to protect those that cannot or do not have the means to protect themselves from the monsters of this world. Anyone who would try and defend the Butcher of Baghdad for the purpose of political shenanigans has no business in this discussion. The man was killing millions of his own people for the sole purpose of remaining in power. I do not believe any human being on this planet needs any more excuse to remove him from power than that. We removed Suddenly Insane because we could. Why does any sane person on earth have to find any other reason than that? If this board would allow four letter words, I have a dump truck full aimed at those that think we needed any other reason besides he was committing mass murder and he needed to be STOPPED!

The man was no better than Hitler and in many ways much worse. It would be traitorous to the human race to sit by and let an individual wreak such havoc on our fellow humans without doing something to stop such crimes against humanity. What in the hell is wrong with those of us who need or want some profound excuse to send this SOB to hell? We have been complacent many other times in recent history and look what it has caused our society. It is past time to play political Bull Shirt! Every time I read these threads I am forced to try and understand what in the hell is wrong with society when we need some kind of mandate from a political wing to justify snuffing out a tyrant. I'm sorry, I just don't know what in the hell  the argument can possibly be when death is so easily recocognizablly being committed by one individual.

[BykrBayb]

Najaf? The same Najaf that was a "quagmire?" That Najaf? But, but, but.... I thought we lost the war. I thought it went straight from quagmire to theocracy. How can this be?

[UncleDick]

And if George Washington was in charge, would he do something different?

I seem to recall President Washington mentioning something about steering "clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world". Presumably, Washington wouldn't have our troops mucking around in the Middle East in the first place thereby removing much of the impetus for an Al-Qaeda attack.

[BykrBayb]

That's an awful lot of spinning to come to the conclusion that it's America's fault that muslim mothers raise their children to be terrorists. Does it follow that it's to Islam's credit that my son is honorable? It can't possibly have anything to do with the way I raised him. The way I raised him is to blame for all the strife in the world. This game of shifting the blame and credit around to those who cannot possibly be responsible for it can be fun. Btw, you're to blame for all the looting in New Orleans. Gee, this gets more fun as we go.

[darkwing104]

Just got home from work and don't think I forgot about you. What is your opinion?

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Viking Kitty/ZOT ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[MikefromOhio]

I will, don't worry about that.

I don't want to be confused as someone who did anything super special over there. Just my job.

[Allegra]

The real clowns are the ones who hear he was at Abu Ghraib for part of the time and lecture him about what really went on there.

Those experts and keyboard commandos are something, aren't they? ;-)

My favorite is when a FReeper told me my vision of it all is "skewed" because I'm in Iraq.

You know, as opposed to getting my information about Iraq off of CNN or something, I guess.

I still get a good laugh out of that one.

[Allegra]

I think I need a shower after reading thru the BS on here.

Where does FR get these people?

They can be amusing....for a few minutes.

Then they just get annoying. ;-)

[Allegra]

I do sometimes find myself disoriented at home because I can vividly remember Victory.

Victory is always changing. Every time I go over there, they've changed stuff.

You'd still recognize it, though.

The PX Plaza is now all sand. They took those flagstones up because a mortar came in there and chunks of that stone were thrown all over the place like little missiles.

Go Longhorns. ;-)

[billbears]

Well first let's hope it's not the same 'solid' intelligence that told us about the plethora of invisible WMDs in Iraq. Secondly, until this nation of states is attacked, one can not undertake a pre-emptive police action to stave off possible attacks. Defensive measures should have and could have been undertaken to prevent said attacks. Four years later the government has done enough to bother little old ladies in wheelchairs, not to mention countless others who have had their privacy invaded by inept government contractors needlessly searching for plastic knives and nail clippers.

A conservative would ask if the government has wasted enough tax dollars bothering citizens of the respective states going about their business, surely they could have done it more efficiently before knowing specifically what they were looking for. Well that is unless you believe these inept government contractors sitting at the airports have actually done something to prevent another strike.

If you're asking do I believe in pre-emptive strikes, no I do not. It removes the arguments and defenses of a just war

[sheltonmac]

If you're asking do I believe in pre-emptive strikes, no I do not. It removes the arguments and defenses of a just war

Exactly. The Bush Doctrine is a prescription for perpetual war and will actually serve to create more terrorists than it eliminates. Unfortunately, there is no room for logic and reason in this debate. Emotion is king.

"My country, right or wrong." "You're either with us or against us." "You can't be for the troops and against the war." Their brand of "patriotism" isn't just a joke; it's one big cliché. They claim to be concerned for their sons and daughters in the military, yet call for a war against Islam and its more than one billion followers. They say our opinions don't matter because we haven't "served our country" (a very socialist concept), but ignore that requirement when Limbaugh and Hannity open their mouths in support of the war. They forget that our own country has offered its enthusiastic support for evil regimes (Saddam's included) when it was "in our interests." They also choose to believe that America can do no wrong (at least as long as Republicans are in charge).

Worst of all, they have no idea what terrorism is. The argument that started all of this was the ridiculous notion that "we're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here." For some strange reason, they believe that terrorists from all over the world are dropping what they're doing and running to Iraq to take up arms against U.S. troops. Terrorists don't work that way. As we saw on 9/11, the terrorists we're up against are seemingly normal people, many of them with families, who blend in and strike when we least expect them. The only way to combat that kind of threat is to infiltrate their networks and flush them out through joint intelligence operations and good, old-fashioned police work. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: you can't fight (much less win) a Fourth Generation war with a Second Generation military.

I'd love to be able to respond to each inane post, but it becomes useless after a certain point. They have more straw men than I have matches, and their copy-and-paste tactics eliminate the possibility for any real debate or discussion.

[Linda1956]

"The only way to combat that kind of threat is to infiltrate their networks and flush them out through joint intelligence operations and good, old-fashioned police work."

Sure. Infiltrate them and flush them out. More easily said than done, and how many are you willing to sacrifice to these networks who will send the heads of those who attemt to 'infiltrate' to Al Jazeera and laugh their fannys off at the same time.

Idea, you send your infiltration idea to the White House and offer to have the heads of those who are murdered sent to you, C.O.D. and pay for their funerals and comfort their families.

One point here; since 9/11, there has not been ONE ATTACK on US soil, not ONE! We're fighting them over there instead of over here, alright. My son has been there and is going back, and he, unlike you, has actually spoken to the Iraqi people. I trust him and every other soldier who has been there more than any garbage posted by the libs here or the MSM.

Another point; you know what the world does with terrorists? They give them the "Nobel Peace Prize" like they did Yassar Arrafat. No doubt about it, if the touchy feely folks like you ever find Osama Bin Laden, he'll get one, too, because deep down in your heart, you think we deserved 9/11.

Thank God for our troops and our President.

[pfony1]

"Oh please" WHAT?

Please don't remind you that "appeasement" has NEVER worked?

Please don't remind you that the best defense has ALWAYS been a good offense?

Please don't remind you that EVERY terrorist killed in Iraq will not be able to set up shop in, say, Canada?

Hey, it's a free country. You can be a "holier-than-thou" pacifist if that pleases you. But don't be surprised if your journey towards cultural suicide is a lonely one.

[pfony1]

"Oh please" WHAT?

Please don't remind you that "appeasement" has NEVER worked?

Please don't remind you that the best defense has ALWAYS been a good offense?

Please don't remind you that EVERY terrorist killed in Iraq will not be able to set up shop in, say, Canada?

Hey, it's a free country. You can be a "holier-than-thou" pacifist if that pleases you. But don't be surprised if your journey towards cultural suicide is a lonely one.

[Steve Van Doorn]

“The only way to combat that kind of threat is to infiltrate their networks and flush them out through joint intelligence operations and good, old-fashioned police work.”

Police work only works in countries that don’t want terrorist. What do you do about countries like under Saddam’s Iraq that wanted terrorist?

[Mr. Silverback]

How could I do better than having an allosaurus charging down the hill behind me? :-)

[Mr. Silverback]

I got the 73 years figure from the following "Dezinformatsia" item in the Federalist Chronicle, dated 7 September 05:

This week's "Non Compos Mentis" Award: "In the nearly 2-1/2 years of the [Iraq] war, the average death toll for U.S. troops has been 2.1 per day. If that pace continues, the U.S. death toll would reach 2,000 in late October. U.S. military deaths still remain far below the total and rate of the Vietnam War, in which 58,000 U.S. troops died." ---Reuters **"Also if this pace continues, the Iraq death toll will top Vietnam's in just
73 years." ---James Taranto

[KC Burke]

Ron Paul is an interesting fellow. He is consistant in his particular version of the libertarain vision. He serves to demonstrate for us what conservatism might be like without Whitaker Chambers and the confrontation of the "armed doctrine" by the change in conservatism in the 1950s.

And being consistant and somewhat well reasoned on many items, he is always useful on the subject of limited government. But he is like dermal abrasion, a useful cleaning tool, but daily use will cause more harm than good.

[Steve Van Doorn]

"58,000 U.S. troops died." ---Reuters **"Also if this pace continues, the Iraq death toll will top Vietnam's in just 73 years."

the drop off rate will be much higher then that after they hit 65 years old LOL :)

[JLO]

Yes, I see the new Mom got tangled up wih bridget7.

Fine - who she wants to add as a FRiend, I guess. I've addressed several threads to her directly - no responses. I don't think I'll respond again. Especially when bridget7 couldn't punch herself out of a wet-paper bag, via FReepmail, lol.

OBVIOUS - I'm through posting them. PS: Hey, Tonk - the Coast Guard is receiving MEGA media kudos! Thank you for what you continue to do!