Reply #15: I agree. It isn't as simple as saying Bring the Troops Home

[TayTay]

I think that Max Cleland and Chuck Hagel are influences on Kerry's thinking. They are intelligent people who usually have good reasons for why they think they way they do and someone as savvy and politically intuitive as Kerry would be smart to pay attention to them. He also shares a background with both men and knows where they are coming from. They are all veterans of a war that was a mistake.

Saddam Hussein was a very bad and evil man. He did gas his own people. He did order the deaths of tens of thousands of people and he did run an absolute dictatorship that was devoid of concern for human rights. This background is part of the reason why * eventually got support from the American people to invade the country. However, Americans don't go to war just to free an oppressed people. (In fact, we are extremely reluctant to intervene in another sovereign nation just for human rights reasons. It is actually a problem. Look at who supported the intervention in the Balkans and why it was not deemed a worthy military goal by so many. This is a good topic for liberals to explore; when should the US use force in another country? Sigh!)

You hit the nail on the head Sandy. Kerry knows from his BCCI investigations that international terrorists were receiving funding and money laundering services from countries in the Middle East. We know that the Saudi's are, at best, deceptive friends as they fund the extremists teachings of Wahabism. (See Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahabi) The Middle East is not Vietnam and we can't just ignore the area.

We also might not be able to stay. The world community knows that our occupation is fueling the insurgency, which is a home-grown effort. (The * Admin wants people to think that the insurgency is fed by foreigners streaming into Iraq and that the Iraqis are not as behind it as they really are.)

I wish Senator Kerry a lot of luck on this. As you said above, he also needs to articulate what happens next and what a comprehensive policy toward the Middle East would and should look like. What happens post-Iraq? It is in no way as simple as saying, Get out now.