With the announcement from Iraqi Prime Minister al Maliki that U.S. troops must be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011 as originally negotiated, the TV pundits, both liberal and conservative, are shouting “foul” and are left to ponder serious questions giving rise to grave doubts.
Can we leave Iraq after this many years, that much money and those numerous lives spent and grievous injuries sustained in the hands of a prime minister, though popularly elected, who as a Shia is a potential ally of the Shia government of Iran? Was the invasion of Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein a mistake afterall? Have we exchanged a largely irreligious and ruthless secular leader for a leader who may be sympathetic to our arch enemy, Iran?
Perhaps having failed to learn our lessons regarding regime change in Vietnam, but forgotten them 20 years later, can we remember them now? Where we used democratization as a pretext for removing one government but after the election may not get the replacement we desired, perhaps we ought to not interfere. In interfering with the internal affairs of a government, we take the risk that the plan will either backfire or go awry in directions we did not expect and yet we still ought to not interfere. After all, this land is our land, that land is their land. One is made for you and me, the other is made of them.
Dale Whiting, Chandler
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Dale Whiting posted at 12:08 pm on Sat, Jan 1, 2011.
Wow, I got both the above piece and a vent on the same subject printed. Just goes to show that putting pieces of thought together, demonstrating prior thought inconsistencies by politicians, lends itself to being picked up. And this was the real genius behind Buckley's Firing Line program. As a true conservative, not one of those neo-cons, I appreciate this irony. So did Buckley.
Slabside posted at 2:36 pm on Sat, Jan 1, 2011.
"As a true conservative, not one of those neo-cons, I appreciate this irony." Oh bwa ha ha ha ha ha! That laugh starts 2011 off real nice!!![beam]
Dale Whiting posted at 8:24 pm on Sat, Jan 1, 2011.
Now folks, let's look at Slabside's comment! Does he address anything in the Letter to the Editor? No. Does he address anything in my supplemental comment? Not really. Does he state any facts he finds appropriate to be considered? No. So what does he do? He laughs at me! Since he cannot descend, he cannot be condescending. He can't even do a good job of rediculing.
But it is nice to see Slabsides M1911A1 caliber .45 back. Look's like he's his old self again!
Slabside posted at 11:31 pm on Sat, Jan 1, 2011.
Thank you... thank you! I'll be here all week![beam]
Dale Whiting posted at 12:09 pm on Sun, Jan 2, 2011.
I'd much rather you and I take a trip down the Gila to those lettuce fields and see how growing that crop depends on illegal aliens. When can we depart?
EmperorSmith posted at 1:03 pm on Mon, Jan 3, 2011.
Vietnam and Korea there was the soviet block behind them. The middle east it is radical thought the British,Russian and now us are in Afghanistan. You can not change a mind set with guns.
Dale, I can not go on a raft ride, medical condition, but more than willing to take a drive
Dale Whiting posted at 8:20 pm on Mon, Jan 3, 2011.
I'll look into the appropriate months and see when and where we might go. Good to know someone is interested in getting the facts before they render opinions.
Rich, are you interested in coming along?
rrffcc1 posted at 9:25 am on Wed, Jan 5, 2011.
"Ought not to..." sort of implies there was a time we didn't interfere, and then began to. I think that the US has never NOT practiced interference in other country's affairs, all too often at the behest of one or more commercial interests. Regarding Iraq, it appears we will "leave" as soon as the hundreds of millions made by Halliburton and others declines past some ROI goal, and/or another fertile area is identified we can destabilize and invade. Also, for now, gotta keep the military expenditures going. Certainly don't want them to become a target for budget savings - oh no, can't have that.
Dale Whiting posted at 6:56 pm on Wed, Jan 5, 2011.
rrffdd1,
Good point! You'll get no disagreement from me! Well almost none.
Before Vietnam, the US was slow to react and ordinarily allowed its allies to lead it into war. Then came Vietnam. We stepped in almost as soon as the French left, putting Military Advisors on the ground to fight the North. When neither the South Vietnamese troops nor their government did what we expected them to do, and acting on that attack of a US destroyer by what turned out to be a shool of dalphines, LBJ has Congress pass the Gulf of Tonkin resolution and off we went to war. And we pioneered Regime Change, change noone really believed in.
I lost two friends on the ground in Vietnam and my eldest brother, a Navy anti-submarine a/c crew member. No one ever found anything in the Gulf of Tonkin other than of course those dolphines.
After 1964, the US began to interfer in the internal affairs of many other countries on a world wide basis. Before then, we limited our interference to our South American neighboring countries. You know, we were Ugly Americans, operating under the Century Old Monroe Doctrine.