Free Republic

I hope that your husband, whom I assume is in Iraq. Does not come home as my wife's nephew (also a Marine) did. In a body bag.

Now, tell me again why I should support this effing war! So forgive me when I tell you to take you news articles and your cute little pictures and shove them!

If I could bring before you iron clad evidense that the war in Iraq was trumped up and it would not make a difference. So, I am not even going to bother. I have not the time to waste, nor the inclination to continue to beat my head against the wall.
There may be some good that has come, or will come in the future concerning this war. Time will tell. Will it be worth the cost in blood and money? Perhaps. But for now, you cannot convince me or millions of other Americans of it.

Sorry sport. I do not have any heroes. Politicians make poor ones in general. Politicians, all of them need to be held to a higher standard.

You have way too much time on your hands. Look, I can waste my time and read through all that crap. And, if I wanted to p!ss away more time on this subject, I am sure I can find as much if not more crap to put up against it. In the end, it is just that. CRAP! Besides, looking at most of your links. It is hardly a balanced representation, let alone factual.

I am not going to take what is posted here as news or anything posted on any politically biased board as fact. You and the Michael Moore's, Al Frankens, Ann Coulter's and Rush Limbaughs of the world are all spredding the gospel as you see it. No thanks, I will make up my own mind without passing every nugget of information through my right/left wing mood decoder ring.

The good thing about the internet is that if you look hard enough, you can find enough people who say what you have to say and spin it in whatever direction you want. It does not make it any more true in any case. I can probably find scientific proof that GWB was the one who assassinated Lincoln. It does not make it true.

And if all your assertions were so cut and dried concerning Iraq, wouldn't there be more support for this war on a national and international basis? Wouldn't we have proven our point that the invasion was a great thing to do by now? Sorry, but you have to do better than cut and paste.

Whatever gets you to sleep at night. It is just that before I would want the blood of American soldiers on my hands. I would want to make sure that it had to be there.

At the end of it all. Newsweek were a bunch of boneheads for printing what is irresponsible journalism. But to hold them to a higher standard than you would your own government is just wrong. I expect more from our leaders than what we are getting. But, if you want to let Bush slide on the whole "try and scare the pants off of the world for Iraq's WMDs" that is your perogative. I think that he and his administration did a half @$$ed job in doing their homework prior to the war.

How about this. You focus on Iraq as a sponsor of terrorists. And for this they had to go down. Never mind that they had not actively sponsored terrorist activity in years. Did they in the past? Yes they did. But so has countries such as Libya and Syria, but we did not invade them.
But, do you really think that because we have invaded Iraq and defeated his regime that we are any safer than we were before? It has been proven that he possesed neither the means nor a plan to actually manufacture or deploy any sort of weapon that was capable of being considered an imminent threat to this country.

You look at the invasion of Iraq as if the problem is solved. Or, at least a big part of it. At the very least, you consider it to be a victory for this country and democracy as a whole. Hate to disappoint you but it did not take a whole lot of money, nor WMDs or even the support of an Iraq to carry out 911. Saudi terrorists, Saudi terrorist leader and Saudi money were used. Saddam Hussein was a d!ck. But he had no connection to 911. Iraq is a convenient diversion to make it look like we are actually doing something to defeat terrorism. It has done and will do nothing to prevent further terrorist attacks from occurring on American soil. It would take very little to get terrorists into this country and carry out another attack that will leave hundreds if not thousands of Americans dead. We cannot even keep people on the no fly list from entering the country. How long until you think that American buses are going to start exploding like they do in Israel or before car bombs start going off in midtown Manhattan?

I am sorry, but the invasion of Iraq is smoke and mirrors to take our eyes off of the real threat that is posed by terrorism. You cannot win a war on terrorism by invading countries and spending money trying to kill a mosquito with a hand grenade. It will have to be fought on a level that does not make for headlines or photos ops and sound bites on the six o'clock news.

Iraq scared you!? What we are doing there. How we are wasting resources and not addressing the real problem is what scares me.

Why yes I have. As a matter of fact I have a family rich in military service. I just take exception to sending the military to war when it is not absolutely necessary.

There is no way that you are ever going to prove that this country HAD to invade Iraq at this point in history. You might be able to justify it in your own mind. And to make it serve your purpose. But there was no justification behind a rush to war.

And, if you are going to talk about preemptive strikes, then yes you are scared!

Against IRAQ!? was dat big bad Saddam going to hurt you???

So amazed by just how scared you people are. It must be a shame to go through your lives so scared and insecure of every little threat or perceived threat. dubya and his crew sure have done a good job at keeping you all wetting your pants on a regular basis. May I suggest Depends for the next three years or so.

Brink of war is one thing, real war is another.

The only reason that you say that we cannot compare the two is that you do not like the comparison because it makes your American Idol, GWB and his lackeys looks stupid.

Best available intelligence. If that is the best this country can do, we are hurting. For what good reason did we have to invade that country at that particular point in time? We were that afraid of what might someday happen!? Have to admit it goes along with Jeb's new "Shoot first and don't ask questions later" legislation. Are we as a nation that scared and insecure?

Safety of the U.S. You are kidding me. Were you actually losing sleep over Iraq and Saddam? He was never more than a two bit hood. A third rate dictator whose military was in the dumper. Look in the world at the likes of N. Korea and China. China is sitting back quietly building a world class military while we dump more than $300BILLION into the Iraqi money pit. Bejing has got to be laughing their butts off. N. Korea HAS nukes and a cuckoo for cocoa puffs leader.
And Iraq was a threat. Yeah, right.

Like exactly when did we begin to give a rat's a$$ about the U.N.? The current Bush in power seems not to care about the wishes of the U.N. Bush I did not have the testicular fortitude to finish the job when there was a real reason to remove Saddam from power. How many Iraqis did we leave to be tortured and killed by Saddam when we left the country high and dry after not finishing the job the first time? At least then, we had a real coalition of allies and not one where we end up the ones stuck paying the check at the end of the evening. Sadly, the price for two Bush presidential screw ups is being paid in American soldiers and more Iraqi civilians blood.

I always wondered about these kinds of people that you see protesting. I want to ask them if they have nothing more constructive to do with their day. Even in this case. Get off of the street and do constructive to support whatever your cause du jour is. Otherwise, you end up looking like you belong at the Michael Jackson trial with those losers.

Yep Newsweek's actions of not having their facts straight has led to the deaths of innocent peopl and they should be held accountable.
So, should the Bush administration's failure to get their facts straight before going to war over Iraq's WMDs be cause for them to be held accountable as well? After all, while they may have not actually lied. They were oh so wrong and hell of a lot more people have died as a result.

Thanks for that witty insightful post. I shall ponder your infinite wisdom thoughout my day.

My point is that we helped arm and support two of the three in the axis of evil. One of these coutries we have already defeated in war. But we left Saddam still in power. My point is that this country does not always do the smart thing. And as a result, people die and money is spent like it is water.

Looks like they were wrong then, huh? Still no weapons of mass destruction found. Where is/was this great threat that had America slleples in fear at night?

Just because you get a lot of fools to agree to something. It does not make it right.

At the end of the day. You do not go to war because yopu want to. You go to war because there is no other alternative.

Who loves ya' baby!

That seems to be what it comes down to. If you see Star Wars, you are a...
gay loving,
America hating,
Koran reading,
Godless,
commie,
father raping,
feeding tube unplugging,
sack of whale vomit.

Oh, the horror of it all.

AMF

Pigs! All your righteous indignation went down the toilet when you resorted to cowardly name calling. You talk about campus speech codes, when your speech code has failed to leave the playgrounds of elementary school.

It is pretty scary when you have to look for an alternative to a nuclear strike. But, I think we could get a point across in the event of a failure of diplomacy, by placing a few well aimed Tomohawks into the presidential palace to shake him up first. If that does not work, you go on world television and let him know that he can build all the nukes that he wants. But the nanosecond that we detect anything bigger than a model rocket launching from his country, we will unleash a strike that will guarantee that he will not be around for long.
If you are afraid of him turning nukes over to terrorists. There are enough existing nukes to be concerned about without worrying about Korea giving them up. I keep wondering about the ones in the former Soviet Union that are not being well looked after. Hell, Pakistan has the nuke. There is a stable little haven of democracy, that loves the U.S. How paranoid do we let ourselves get without just going out and nuking everone that goes bump in the night.

I am sure glad that we in this country do not have a riot everytime they show a burning U.S. flag on tv. Hypersensitive extremists seem to take everything so literal and personally. Seems they are always looking for something to be p!$$ed off about.

A pre-emptive nuclear strike! God help us the day this country ever tries that strategy. How afraid would we as a nation ever have to be to do something as this? For over 40 years this country faced off against the Soviet Union and nothing like this ever happened. Are we so paranoid and frightened that we would be the first to launch such a strike?

What am I trying to squash?

NO. Star Wars is a movie, and I enjoy it as such. But, I can see where people can read into things what they want to. Such people need to lighten the hell up.

There is a quote in the book "Labyrinth of Evil" (prequel story to the new movie) that makes a reference to the "Triad of Evil." It refers to the Republic's enemies. At the time the Republic is under the leadership of Palpatine. Soon to become Emperor Palpatine. That is the correct Bush comparison, not to Vader.

The lack of acceptance to dissent is disturbing to say the least. Dissent is what helps to define a democracy.

This war is not against terrorist murderers. At least not the ones who committed 911. They were Saudis, not Iraqis. And their mastermind is still on the loose.

As far as ridding the world of Saddam. Great, he is gone. Now we have Zarqawi. Not much of an improvement, especially in light of the growing need for body bags in Iraq. Not just for American soldiers, but for an increasing amount of civilian casualties as a result of the insurgency. I suppose that they are just part of the cost of freedom.

Saddam Hussein was not threat to this country. He had no WMDs nor a program to put them into place. Iraq was not actively involved in terrorist activities against this country at the time, nor had they been in years. Did you really go to sleep at night worrying about Iraq?

Iran on the other hand has been involved actively in terrorist activities and is in the process of developing a nuclear program. They may or may not be planning on developing weapons from this program. But they are a hell of a lot closer to a weapon than Iraq ever was.

Consider then, North Korea who many say has a much more developed nuclear weapon program than either Iran or Iraq. And they have the missles to deploy them.
Why was Iraq more of a threat than either of these two countries who are much more capable of becoming a threat to this country?

So, why are we fighting this war in Iraq again? Are we fighting for Iraqi freedom since the whole WMD thing did not pan out? Is that what it is about now? Is this the cause that we can now use to justify 1600+ American deaths? I am sorry but I take war very seriously. I want to be damned sure that if American blood is going to be spilled in some far away land that it is for a very good reason. Not to mention the hundreds of billions of dollars that we have poured into this cause.

Through BRAC we are supposed to save $50billion over 20 years. Imagine the cost savings if we had chosen to handle Iraq a bit differently. And there might be about 1600 moms that would have had a much better Mother's Day a few weeks ago.
I pray that some day, something worthwhile will spring forth from this war. Right now, I am not sure.

As far as your going to boot camp. If that is what is you want to do, good on you. I did my time in service. And if this country were truly in need of my service, I would serve again. I just choose to wait until such time as there is a real threat to our freedom. Iraq is not that threat.

Whatever you say big guy. If it helps you feel good.

Old enough to know it is useless talking to idiots.

Do not forget that WE were the ones who initially backed Saddam and Iraq. I also remember that we had Iranian Sailors attending US Navy run Data Systems schools back in the 70's. It seems like we are the pot calling the kettle black when it comes to arming our "enemies." We have supported both Iran and Iraq in the past. Two of the three in the so called "Axis of Evil" It would be laughable if it were not so ludicrous.

I tend to agree with Lucas that this country is losing it's democratic ideals. This whole black and white "with us or against us" mentality is unrealistically simplistic in the modern world. Churches are wanting to excommunicate democrats, Republicans want to do away with the filibuster since it is getting in their way of having things the way that they want it. If you speak against the current administration, you are some sort of Anti American scum that should be branded and sent off to some camp somewhere. The extremism in this country is pretty frightening.

Heaven forbid if not everyone shares your political beliefs. Ya know. I am going to see the new Star Wars movie. Two, maybe three times. And I will buy it when it comes to DVD.
Boycott this, boycott that. Get a freaking grip. This is still America and we still have the freedom to think and believe as we all see fit. I swear if some of you had your way, you would make it illegal to be a Democrat or even oppose the current administration.
You know what? When it comes to Iraq. I have yet to see any result that is worth 1600+ dead American soldiers and hundreds of billions of dollars. MAybe some day it will happen. But, right now you have a hard time convincing me that this war to stop Saddam's WMD program is anything but a waste of resources.

I think that more people are just plain giving up on the theatres and waiting for most movies to come out on DVD. Why pay up to $10 a piece for a family just to get into the theatre when you can own the movie on DVD a few months down the road?

The autopsy could show that the TyDBol man was floating around in her head and there will still be people that believe that she was just a moment away from a full recovery.

SUV's are preceived safer because they are bigger. I like to think of it as a lazy person's safety. Safety for those who are too lazy to learn how to drive the damned things properly. Most SUV drivers just point the things in the general direction they want to go without regard for anyone else on the road. Simply because they are big they think they can get away with it.

Geez. This was the first time that I can remember where she did not come across as some sort of Stepford Wife. I thought "Wow! she actually has a personality." Oh well. I did not realize that this would lead to the moral destruction of the free world as we know it.

I am thinking that she is just empty headed. Just my opinion. But she does not look like the brightes bulkb on the marquis.

Maybe he will go on TV again whining about how the media is hurting him.
He needs a special made bat with a Kleenex dispenser in the handle.

Just what I was going to say. I can hear it now. "Make jokes about my president. I'll kill ya."
Some people get their panties in a bunch over anything and everything.

Some people are so guilty of taking everything so seriously and so literally. IT WAS A JOKE! Having a sense of humor is one of the things that serarates us from the the fundamentalists like the Taliban. We can joke about things without having to be afraid of getting shot. If you think it was not funny, so what! that is your opinion. But, do not try to make those of us who did find it funny feel like we are some inferior beings that should be scraped from the sole of your self righteous shoes.

I used to think that abortion was wrong. Until I started to meet people who had had one and listened to their reasons why. I found out that I could not impose myself as judge , jury and executioner upon them for decisions that they made under their individual circumstances. In a perfect world there would be no unwanted pregnancies. But this is far from perfect and these people have to do what they feel is right for their circumstance.
I wonder how many pro lifers are also against the sort of education that might prevent this sort of thing from happening with today's teenagers?

You can call a fetus a baby once you figure out a way to put a diaper on it. When you can relate to me your in the womb experiences, you can call a fetus a baby. A fertilized egg does not a soul make.
What is the difference between two people having sex and using birth control to prevent an unwanted pregnancy and a person becoming pregnant and then deciding not to have the baby? Either way, you are preventing another baby from being born.
I'll tell you what. You find loving hetrosexual Christian parents (because God knows we cannot have gay couples raising otherwise unwanted kids) for all the kids in orphanages and foster homes and then you come talk to me about outlawing abortion.

Orphanages and support services. Straight out of the right to life robot-right manual. You ever take notice how many kids are passed around foster families like a goatskin flask at a Grateful Dead concert? Tell me more about how perfect life is in your black and white Pollyana world. Face it! You people do not give a damn about these kids one minute past their birth. And God help them if they have to rely on some form of welfare or other government sponsored program. You cry for their right to live but damn them for doing so on your tax dollar.
Abortion is not the best alternative. But for some people it is the only realistic alternative that they have.

That is pretty scary!
You hear everyone talk about the emotional scars of a thirteen year old having to have an abortion. I wonder what about the opposite. What is the emotional toll on a thirteen year old being forced to carry and deliver a child that she does not necessarily want. Try as many want to believe, abortion is not a black and white issue. Very little in life is. I do not believe that is should be taken lightly. But, I believe that there are cases when it is the right thing for some people to do. Of course the self righteous "Culture Of Life" cultists will have a cow when they read that.

I wonder how many of today's hot musical performers will be giving reunion concerts like this in 35-40 years like Cream is doing? For some reason I am not seeing a lot of them.

A lawyer for a fetus! Let's take it one step further. Lawyers for sperm and eggs. Then we can start to sue the contraceptive companies for murder. Or just go even one more step further. Outlaw sex except for the purpose of creating a baby.
I wonder just how many rabid right to life advocates will give a damn about either of these children five minutes after she gave birth?

Sorry. I just think that there are some thing s that you do not do. Spitting on someone is one of them. If you want to make a point, it is useless to resort to a level that is beneath you.

A few years ago a baseball player spit on an ump and he was the lowest S.O.B. to walk the planet. Now a former marine spits on a 67 year old woman and he is some sort of all American hero. Bull! I think it is a pretty dishonorable way for any man to behave, much less a Marine who is supposed to value things like honor above all else.
What Jane Fonda did, was and still is dispicable. But, spitting on her was no way for a person of honor to behave.

To whine about it after the fact either makes her look incredibly stupid or like she is just miling it for more than it is worth.

Frankly, I never saw anything about her that so many guys go gaga over. The chick has no shape whatsoever.

However, if it was still a Kill Bill Tshirt and had a picture of Clinton on it. I wonder how fast many out there would change their tune?